I remember when I bought my first pair of Vans.
The year was 2005. I was browsing the Vans Outlet and found the glorious jackpot: a brown pair with an ugly orangey accent stripe, in my size, for only $9.95.
They quickly became the loves of my life.
I took them to Six Flags for a road trip freshman year.
There was a huge rainstorm that made the trip absolutely miserable, and my Vans were soaked. And the left one stayed the darker brown of a wet shoe. I don't even know how that works.
I took them to Italy last summer. They took me to the Colosseum, a Florentine soccer game and past the transvestites that hung around outside our apartment.
I took them to campus every day.
Once, I was riding my bike to school and my shoelace came untied. I was swerving through Hayden Mall, so I wasn't about to stop to fix it.
Then my shoelace became caught in the chain ring and all hell broke loose. I was going pretty quickly and I couldn't stop all that well. So my shoe kept getting tighter and tighter as the lace wound around the chain ring. I seriously thought I was going to die.
My shoelace ended up snapping, thankfully. I was about to face plant in the middle of the sidewalk and probably take 14 people down with me.
I wore the shoes every day for three years. And they were awesome. Along the way, I collected more pairs of Vans.
In my closet, there are lime green ones, black ones, gray ones, canvas ones, tweed ones and suede ones. And a couple of months ago, I bought a new brown pair to replace my trusty kicks.
I may not have the dedication of a Nike connoisseur (page 12), but I like my shoes.
Luckily, my shoes of choice aren't hundreds of dollars. Most of my Vans have been $20 or less, and it is fantastic.
And even though I can always count on snagging new pairs of Vans for cheap, nothing will replace the originals.
Even if they are different colors and one only has half of a shoe lace.
Reach the reporter at: celeste.sepessy@asu.edu.
