The Captain’s Socks or Horween New Balances

Attention: Used Derek Jeter game socks are on sale from Steiner Sports Memorabilia for only $409.99. Peep the screenshot.

Not a joke
Not a joke

Since you bought a baseball player’s sock for so much, it put a huge dent in your basketball sneaker budget and you can no longer afford $240 for these new Titolo Reebok pumps. No problem because Shaquille O’Neal now has his own inexpensive brand of high-tops available at Walmart. 

CheapShaqSneaks
Pic by Funyagi

It’s no secret that Nike is chomping their competition in worldwide sneaker and apparel sales. Rival Adidas went and hired three Nike design vets and will stick them in a Brooklyn design studio in hopes they can carve a bigger piece of the North American pie.

Since you bought that Jeter sock, you won’t have enough for a pair of these $400 New Balance Horween leather models

ubiqlife.com
ubiqlife.com

Bus to Philly for a chance to buy some of these limited edition U.S. made NBs on October 1st: $11

ubiqlife.com
ubiqlife.com

 

It appears the New Balance Berry-compliant 950v2 models we talked about earlier this year  may be closer to hitting real ground.

New Balance
New Balance

Members of congress visited a New Balance biomechanical research/prototype lab in Lawrence, Massachusetts last month to see how an athletic sneaker is made entirely in The United States using US materials. The Department of Defense is expected to make a decision soon about enforcing a rules that states new military recruits should buy products (sneakers) made in the USA with their vouchers. Read the full article in Navy Times

Autumn Shoerageously

Pssst. There’s still a few days to see the Shoerageous exhibit put on by Creativity Explored in San Francisco, CA.  There you’ll see a handpicked collection of drawings and sculpture inspired by the shoe and sneaker.

You already know right? Basketball star Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace..

mettaworldpeace.com
mettaworldpeace.com

He’s playing for the Sichuan Blue Whales in the Chinese Basketball Association this year.

twitter.com/MettaWorldPeace
twitter.com/MettaWorldPeace

Art came to life via sneakers and books available for sale directly from Metta’s World Wide Website.

From MettaWorldPeace.com
From MettaWorldPeace.com

RonArtestThePandasFriend

twitter.com/mettaworldpeace
twitter.com/mettaworldpeace

What more can I say? He’s top billing.

You are going to get it; shoes with blood designed onto them. The NBA’s Dwyane Wade posted them first.

Grabbed from instagram.com/dwyanewade
Grabbed from instagram.com/dwyanewade

Sneakers actually; just in time for Halloween from Li-Ning. They might have something promotional to do with a cable TV show about a killer. Surely they’ll be great to wear at job interviews and other dress-to-impress occasions. 

Grabbed from instagram.com/dwyanewade
Grabbed from instagram.com/dwyanewade

Not to be misread as the shoe company Dexter– the old school New England brand whose founder is said to have started the country’s first factory-outlet…

DexterBowling.com
DexterBowling.com

Readers may recognize Dexter as the inexpensive offerings seen on  JC Penny, Payless, and Sears shelves. Did you know Dexter has a deluxe bowling category and sell what they claim is the world’s most advanced bowling shoe– the SST 8, featuring removable heels and soles?

Visualiser at dexterbowling.com
Visualiser at dexterbowling.com

 

What are.

The most expensive shoes in the world ?

NickCannonRemovesDiamondShoes

What more can you say about the shoes Nick Cannon wore hosting an America’s Got Talent TV show? Shown above kindly removing before walking on a performer’s smart dress…

Grabbed from instagram.com/jasonofbh
Grabbed from instagram.com/jasonofbh

 Cannon and Tom Ford brought them to life in the form of diamond encrusted loafers. Jason the jeweler tags them at 2 million. Chances are they’ll be auctioned off for charity; then we’ll see if they fetch more than some $666,000 ruby red slippers that Judy Garland had worn while filming Wizard of Oz did at a Christie’s auction fourteen years ago.  

Smithsonian
Smithsonian

According to Guinness, no one knows how many red shoes Garland used in the production of W.O.O. The above pic is from the Smithsonian (not the pair auctioned). 

One more thing: Toe cameras put the sneak in sneaker.

Toecamsneaker

A Japanese law-enforcement official points out the pinhead camera embedded in a brand of sneakers which have already sold 2,500 pairs while society figures out if they should be legal.  It’s a law tightrope, because multiple cameras on just about everything we wear are “OK” (really though?) , but being so easily able to take photos upwardly, undetected… skirt wearers take note. 

Summer’s Not Over Yet

You heard about the Killer Heels exhibit taking place at the Brooklyn museum- “The Art of The High-Heeled Shoe”. Along with shoes like these…

there are some original short films running alongside the exhibit that use the heel as a conceptual starting point.  Check out this teaser of SMASH by Marilyn Minter:

What about guys who want to wear something killer? We need to look in the direction of boots…

Salomon S-Lab X Alp Carbon GTXlike these Salomon S-Lab X Alp Carbon GTX  waterproof mountaineering boots- shown here with optional crampons.

For more formal situations, Allen Edmonds just released some new boot models. This leather mid caught my eye.

AE Odenwald Boot
AE Odenwald Boot

 The Allen Edmonds website is using this “see with pants” feature, which allows you to visually audition the look of their shoe with different pairs of pants.

Nice. While the online revolution continues to make it easier for us to avoid brick and mortar shops, a company in New York City happily invites you to their place in the East Village to try on some select handmade footwear called Sabahs.

sabah.am
sabah.am

Sabahs are a new school take on traditional footwear worn 1000 years ago in southeastern Turkey/Syria (think: mellowed-out genie slippers). An American exposed to the style in Istanbul sought out old school cobblers in Gaziantep Turkey to recreate modern versions of this ancient loafer in which high quality leather uppers are handstitched to rubber soles.

sabah.am
sabah.am

The makers of Sabahs encourage the wearing of their footwear sockless, with no fear of swampfoot. The leather bootie shapes around the foot after a few wears as they become more ‘you’. If you can’t pop-up at their base in NYC, Keep an eye on their IG to catch where they might be travelling next. For more check Sabah.com

September Popdiatribe

Happy September. It’s time for one of these liquid posts.

FootwearMustBeWornAtAllTimesNYCNo need to remind me.

FreshFourSeasonsSlippersShout Out to Four Seasons Hotel Slippers

JawdropperSandalI had a great time at Afropunk in Brooklyn last month. Besides music coming from 3 stages and a sound-truck, there was BMX freestyle, and a little section of pop-up shops. I don’t know too much about these sandals, but I snapped a quick pic when I was strolling through. They were being sold by Jawdroppers Jewelry. Pony was one of the sponsors of the fest. I’m not sure how I feel about their “Product Of New York” marketing slogan. They had a try-on booth in effect. 

Product of a screenshot from Pony's Instagram account
Product of a screenshot from Pony’s Instagram account

Maybe someone got the idea blazing to the Capone-N-Noreaga song T.O.N.Y. (Top Of New York). It has to be tough to stand out from the Nike-Puma-Asics-didas world order. I’m sure the people who work at Pony are fine folks, but the slogan seems to be insinuating that Pony Sneakers are made in New York– which they are not. I understand Bronx & Harlem fashion culture of the late 70s-early 80s produced an environment where sneakers pushed shoes aside as the choice for city dwellers on-the-move, but Product of New York is a very misleading statement. I’ll leave it at that. 

SanaiEssentialsHeelRingHolderJust this weekend I swung through the Bushwick Vendors Market held at Silent Barn In Brooklyn. This high-heel shaped ring holder caught my eye being sold by Sanai Essentials.

I love my Dynomighty Tyvek wallet. Ever since I got my first bank account card sheathed in an everlasting Tyvek sleeve, I’ve been fascinated by DuPont’s durable, long-lasting super paper. I was even surprised when I read this New York Times article about a couple companies based in New Jersey that use Tyvek in their shoe designs. 

Papes
Papes

Civic Duty (Secaucus) and Unstitched Utilities (East Brunswick, pictured above) use the Tyvek selective barrier technology in most or some of their Keds/Vans-like steppers. P.O.N.J.

RedSoxHighHeelBottleOpenerAs a Red Sox fan (Go PawSox!), I’d pretend I didn’t see this at Bob’s Store in Randolph, MA., but here’s a picture. Definitely not handmade, definitely not real diamonds- this is a high heel shaped wine bottle holder made of metal. You’d have to be buzzed to buy it. 

EVSRshoeOnRepairI caught this patient on the operating table at the hospital they call East Village Shoe Repair in Brooklyn. I’m sure our patient is back on the streets in good spirits as I hit post on the September Pop Gallery. 

Happy walking