Methods of Distraction

100 years of Chucks

I have apparently been fashionably cool without even knowing it. I basically live in my Chucks when I'm not working and now the rest of the world is joining the bandwagon. Celebrities have been touting the iconic Converse shoes for years. People such as Sir. Paul McCartney, Hunter S. Thompson and Ellen DeGeneres have been known to sport them. Movies and television continue to showcase the shoes. A couple of years ago, filmmaker Sophia Coppola caused a small riot when she had actress Kirsten Dunst traipse around Versailles in a pair of pink Chuck high-tops for the film "Marie Antoinette." When I was growing up, Punky Brewster wore mis-matched Chucks and the image has stuck in the heads of many 80s children. The Converse shoes have experienced highs and lows during their 100 years on this planet. I, for one, have owned at least one pair consecutively since the early 90s. I bought my first pair when I was still in 8th grade. I saw them in a J.C. Penny catalog and needed them at once. They were "natural" and olive green striped and, true to the Chuck tradition, were extremely comfortable. Sadly, they died during my first year of marching band. The soles and canvas were not strong enough to withstand about 30 hours of marching every week on top of regular wear during school and such. I cried as I put them in the garbage bag that winter. They also smelled to high heavens. Since then, I have made sure at least one pair of black low-top Chucks are in my closet or the shoe basket under my bed.

There's nothing quite like them.