I thought we'd be together forever.
But one million miles down and you started to weather,
Now your sole's all adrift and your stitching's atether.
I should have bought two pair, I should have been clever,
I fear I'll find your kind again never.
Rest in peace, you precious cherry-coloured beauties. Your arch-support may have been somewhat less than existent, and your insole cushioning somewhat south of bountiful, but still, there never has and nor will there ever be a finer pair of shoes than you.
You'd think that in this world of unlimited consumer choice, a man would be able to get a pair of cherry red leather Chucks. Especially when Converse even offer a Design Your Own service on their website that supposedly empowers you to "Create your own definition of the perfect pair." But no; fickle fashion has decreed my preference to be so last whenever, and here I am, a vicim of my own contentment. If it's leather I'm insisting on, then my "Perfect Pair" can be any colour, so long as it's black, white, cactus, chocolate or sable.
The closest I've been able to get is the above Red Ochre pair in suede, but it just ain't the same thing. (And even then they don't offer the option of a red racing stripe; just black, white, parchment or, um... athletic navy (hello?), so, thanks for playing.)
UPDATE
Not content with simply moaning into the wind, I decided to email Converse directly and demand to know why cherry red wasn't on their list of colours. This was the unsatisfying pro forma reply.
Hello,Thaaaat's it, that's the way; string me along to eternity with hopes and dreams of that one day yet to come. And as my enquiry only concerned unavailable colours, could you please edit out references to styles from your cut 'n' paste response to at least give the impression that you've read what I've written? Sigh.
Thank you for your email. We unfortunately do not have any other options for colors or styles at this time. We do change these options every few months however so please come back and see us in the next few weeks to see if the style of shoes or the color option that you want becomes available.
Thank you for shopping with us!
Thank you,
Meagan
www.converse.com
Oh well, everything old is always new again, so I guess I'll just bide my time, and then buy up big when that cherry red-letter day finally arrives.
UPDATE 2
I suppose I could always buy a white pair and paint my own...
UPDATE 3
Well, ask and you shall (sort of) receive faster than Chuck Taylor drivin' through the paint. I decided to take my new friend Meagan from Converse at her word, and headed back to their website to see if any additional colours were available yet.
Turns out, there are! In addition to the previous five colour options for leather, there are now pink, gold, royal purple, royal blue, athletic navy, green and yes... red!
Not cherry red, sadly, but balls-out firetruck red instead, which, while a little garish for my particular tastes, is still a step in the right direction.
But wait, there's sort of more! Suede's been given a bunch of new colour options as well. Again, still no cherry red but, at least, you now have the option to colour the racing stripe red.
Which, yeah, is great, but, without wanting to sound like a whiner you just can't please, I kind of like the colour of the stripe to match that of the shoe... so a firetruckin' stripe would be great if the shoe was firetruckin' as well, but on a red ochre shoe my "definition of the perfect pair" would have a stripe of red ochre too.
So, I don't know, the parts are nearly all there; I just can't assemble them into the arrangement I'd like. But thanks for trying to meet me half-way, Converse. I guess I'll be back to check again soon.
UPDATE 4
Poladroid is a nifty little application for converting your digital photos into Polaroids, complete with textured paper frame. You just drag and drop, and then wait for the image to "develop". Here's one I made of my Cons. Love that magenta saturation.
Posts
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ReplyDeleteDo you think the full name of the feature should be "Design Your Own And If Your Design Happens To Match Something That We Already Have In Our Warehouse Then You're In Luck!" ?
ReplyDeleteHa, ha. Not very catchy is it, but yeah, that's certainly how it feels. Although you really can customise to an insane degree, and I can't imagine they'd actually have a shoe in the warehouse with a pink outside, gold inside, purple heel stripe, royal blue tongue, lime punch lining, parchment sidewall, red racing stripe, green stitching and pink laces. :)
ReplyDeleteI couldn't quite tell from your post just why the shoes have died? Was it a hole in the side, or something more fickle.. like the color has faded too far? Have you tried Mr Mint shopping center keys and shoe repairs?
ReplyDeleteSo thats it... they are gone?
ReplyDeleteIf you like and can give me your shoe size I have found the classic old Vision Street Wear boots in black suede over here... I know, not the same, but were the style before the chucks.
There is also a chuck store accross the road. I will check to see if there is an asian option like so many other things... i.e. Oakley... Can get in states, not in Asia, or limited edition Asian frames (must be for all us with little heads)...
They look OK in the photo actually...
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can buy some new inner soles... not the ones from the chemist, more the ones from a sports store...
Then as CK suggested, drop into Mr Mint and get some re tread...
Thanks for your interest, Misters CK and Bomber!
ReplyDeleteMy poem was actually more poetic than literal, and so doesn't address the all too real problems which are all hidden inside the shoes. The exterior is in remarkably good condition, considering their age, but the inner lining around the back of my foot has worn away, and the plastic heel support is rapidly disintegrating. I've also managed to wear a groove into the inner sole that I can still feel even when I place a fresh set inside.
I never actually thought of taking them to a Mr Minit as I thought the repairs would be too tricky. But you're right, and I guess it couldn't to ask? Might be the sort of thing they deal with all the time?
"So thats it... they are gone?"
Well, to be honest, I can still wear them, but it'll only ever be on special occasions, like a wedding, or something. Perhaps I should say they're retired more than dead, and just like that other superstar of the court, one Mr Michael Jordan, you never know when they might come out of the closet for one more run...
"I have found the classic old Vision Street Wear boots in black suede over here..."
Oh, I did love my Vision Street Wear shoes. You're right that they're no Chucks, but they're still very fine, and made a large footprint on my heart. Have you picked a pair up? If by some miracle do you come across some cherry red Chucks, I'm a US 11. Won't get my hopes up though. :)
I'm thinking you wont be able to build a better 'Chuck' than what you had.. and you will be walking around feeling kinda disappointed if you try.
ReplyDeleteBetter to retire the 'great' and try something in a new direction, yes?
Yes, good advice, CK. I try to kick back against our disposable, consumerist society when I can, by cultivating contentment with the things I already like and already have. But this approach has its own set of risks; namely that you can become rigid, uncompromising, set in your ways, and unable to accept change when it comes, as it always will.
ReplyDeleteActually, it's a bit like after Comma died. I've done poor Thelma no favours by hanging on to the idea that Comma was the very definition of all a cat should be...
ReplyDelete