vans

Skate Shoes, Kickin' it Old School and New

Vans were the first shoes specifically made with skating in mind.

"What shoes should I get for skateboarding?" This is probably one of the more frequently asked questions in the skateboarding world, but before we answer this lets talk about some skateboard shoe history. 

Skateboarders used to limp a lot more. If we go back a few decades before anyone had skate gear, before anyone looked so-called skaterish, unless they were a skateboarder and you gazed downward at the telltale sign, his shoes looked as if they been received from a trash disposal. Duck tape flapped from toecaps, broken laces were tied together, Shoe goo was globbed onto the torn material, and depending whether they were goofy or regular footed, an Ollie hole was burnt into one side of the shoe, exposing sock or even bloody skin. Trashed shoes were like a war wound, evidence on how hard you skated, not something to be embarrassed about. And most skaters limped at least part of the time from heel bruises, an unavoidable injury that occurred when running tricks with shoes lacking proper shock absorption.


In the world of shoes designed for skateboarding there was basically only one serious contender, back when the "second coming" of skateboarding hit and the infamous "Z-Boys" and other Los Angeles-area skaters convinced the Van Dorens to market their lace-up deck shoe directly to skateboarders. With their Off the Wall model, Vans concentrated on the grippyness of the sole. The company's vulcanized rubber waffle soles were like "melted gummy bears on the bottom of your feet."* Converse`s Chuck Taylors were also popular due to their thin soles, but everything about them was thin and they could be ruined in a day of skateboarding.