My Love for the ever revolving controversial “Gym Shoe”

I say controversial because in the black community there’s this debate on rather or not, we should be spending the amounts of money that we do on gym shoes –not sneakers, even though they mean the same thing, the word sneaker has never truly been in our vocabulary.

So here’s the true question: Is spending money on Gym Shoes a waste or nah!?

Here’s my opinion: Absolutely NOT -but only if bought with strategy! And the strategy part is where I’m going to lose a few of you, it takes effort so keep reading. I also think its not a waste if all other priorities for your necessities in life are met, hence speaking, DID YOU PAY YO BILLS? and did you save your portion for the future!? (If you answered no to any of the two questions, you may want to reconsider if reading on Gym Shoes is what you should be doing at this moment –Just keeping it real)

I always had a thing for gym shoes, but as a child guess who had control over this thing? –my Moma! It was routine, two pair of shoes for the school year that I got every August: They were always a pair of white Air Force ones and a black pair of any Nike shoe. I never got shoes for Christmas. I can hear my Moma’s voice now: “Girl what you need Gym Shoes for in December, aren’t you wearing boots now?” My birthday is in January, and it’s still winter in January which meant…”No Gym Shoes” The next time I probably got another pair outside of my school shoes was maybe April/May -those were called Summer Shoes, “And you better keep ’em clean because you are NOT getting anymore until School starts.” 

Then one day, I grew up a bit, and something happened. I was in undergraduate and my then boyfriend and I were going through a rough patch. To be honest, it was the beginning of the end for us. It was March and I received a long over-due refund check from school. Ya Know, those funds that you really don’t need but you ask for it anyway.… then you blow a portion of it at the mall on items that you know damn-well you wouldn’t buy if you didn’t get that refund.

And that’s when it happened. I went to the mall to make myself feel better, I was newly single, away at school by myself and had nothing but money, time, a car and a mall 15 minutes away. I drove, with nothing in mind to buy, but I knew I was leaving that mall with something.

I walked into Footlocker and saw a pair of loud green Nikes with a dark green pattern, that look like camouflage.

I asked the guy: “Do you sell these for women?”

He Laughed (Because in reality, they were a basketball shoe and technically, most basketball shoes don’t come “labeled” for women) “Nah, we don’t have them in women’s but we do have them in boy sizes, want to try them on?”

I was still confused because in my head I was thinking  “Im not a boy, why is he asking me about boy sizes?”

He insisted, measured my foot, went to the back and brought a Nike box that said 5.5 on the white label. I tried them on, and it was a wrap. I feel in love with a pair of KD 6 “Easter” … So that camouflage I was telling y’all about, yeah.. It was actually bunnies, the shoe was released a few weeks before Easter!

 

The rest has been history. The feeling that those shoes gave me (that I still wear to this day) provided me with a sense of extra juice to my already non-pink, non-prissy style. As a woman, it is the societal norm to always be made up, always in heels, in pink and glitter, but that was never me! As a child, I was the kid on the block that liked to bike ride, get dirty and had to be dragged in the house AFTER the street lights came on. So though I do own a few pair of heels, for special occasions that cause for formal attire, suits, etc. Gym Shoes will always be my preference! 

Those KD 6s made the breakup that much better, after leaving footlocker that day, stopping by the ice cream shop and getting carry-out Thai Food, I was so good!

I started buying more, which meant that I had to include Gym shoes into my budget now.

Instead of eating out often (which is a guilty pleasure), I started cooking, packing my lunches and saving that money to buy shoes. Then I started looking up shoes online (most times in class) and found out that I can get even more shoes at a discounted price! It became a thing, a big thing; My walk in closet was then occupied by Nike, Jordan, and Adidas Boxes and I got a thrill each time I added to the collection. Here’s the thing: We all have something that we buy lots of. For some: its Baseball Cards, Old Vinyl Records, China Glasses, etc. For me, its GYM SHOES, Books, Candles, Purses and Stationary (See Future Blog post for those). I can have on a $5 tee and a pair of jeans with my crispy “gymmies” and I would be the happiest person. But that’s the thing, my outfits depend on my feet; not my tops or pants.

So back to the controversial part: Gym shoes and the impeccable amounts of money we spend on them for ourselves, the little people in our families and damnit, you cant forget about the significant others and the endless photos that surface the internet of matching couple shoes. I hear a lot of people speak on how we should take our dollars that we spend on shoes and do something “better” with it. Here’s the knack: People spend upward of a few hundred dollars when they go out on Friday night; I don’t. People stock their cabinets with hard liquors and collections of expensive “dranks”; I don’t. People will spend $100 on a top that looks like it could have been purchased in Target for $20, I don’t. And though none of these are necessarily wrong, the point that I am trying to make is that people will spend money on what they wish. You can’t get discounts at the bar on Friday Night, unless you try real hard or your game is that GOOD that the bartender pours all night for free. You can’t get discounts when you’re walking into Saks, Nordstrom, or even Target, UNLESS they decide that they want to sell it for cheaper during Family and Friends days, or Back to School. You can, however, get discounts on Gym-Shoes as it seems that there is ALWAYS a pair on sale!

My brother is hitting 8 years, and he’s into shoes. I’m not exactly sure if its because of his own, “coming into his-self” or if its me unintentionally recruiting him into this life. Anyways, he wants shoes and in my family, the shoes are my responsibility. Well, he knows that he doesn’t get a pair of shoes until he reads so many books or brings home good grades. When he does those things, on top of the fact that I think the boy is a math genius, I buy him shoes. My theory, which is now his theory is “You cant be walking around fresh as hell yet be dumb as hell.” So do I think we should buy cheap shoes? Not at all. Do I think we should be smart about it, YUP! Our Fashion has always been apart of what makes Black Magic, BLACK MAGIC. No need to give that up, however, do be aware of things: The Fashion Industry is maximizing the opportunity of the Black Dollar, when the market opens –Invest in all the brands you spend money on! Nike may get my money, but I also have a few shares! Read Below for tips and tricks to stepping your shoe game up!

1. Use all of your outlets – Footlocker, Foot-action, Finishline and Champs carry most of the same brands and shoes. However, during different times the same shoe can be a different price at each store. In the academy we call it Cross Reference!
2. Online vs. In-Store – I’ve gotten to the point where I now buy 90% of my shoes online. Its easier and you find shoes on line that you won’t always find in store. Think about it like this: In-store is limited to space, however, online is not!
3. Email – I think we all have a junk email account; but.. go one step further, create a gym shoe ONLY email account. Register for all of the stores and their point programs. When you spend, you get points and points eventually adds up to dollars off. My gym shoe email helps me catch all the sales, and discount codes they send!
4. Promo Codes and Google – It’s real! Literally, type in the google search bar: “Promo codes for Footlocker” “Promo Codes for Footaction” etc, etc! I can guarantee that about 50% of the time, you will find a random, funky looking code that ACTUALLY works.
   

5. 

   Clearance- The Clearance Section online is HARD WORK! Buying on Clearance, period, is HARD WORK! But it pays off. Here’s an example: I’ve been looking at a pair of Huarache Run Ultra shoes for months. They retail for $125.00. I started watching them in early June and at that time, they were already considered “older.” Today, they are on Clearance for $52.48. If I hold out for another two weeks, they may drop down to $45.00 (even though I just bought them). Remember two things: 1. When watching products for periods of time, you run the risk of them selling out in your size. But if its just a pair to add to the collection, TAKE THAT RISK. 2. They will sale you the shoe for as low as they can, before they risk not making any money off of it, so sometimes it is a waiting game.

6. “Gimmie” my Student Discount – Companies, Corporation and stores will give discounts to students. Before paying for your cart online, pull up a separate tab, and enter into google “Nike Student Discount.” If you have a school email address (.edu), you can thank me later!
7. Personal Favorite: Buy that shoe that you wouldn’t rate a 10 – You’re going to come across shoes online that if you had to choose, you would not buy. Not that they are ugly, BUT maybe they just don’t go with that outfit, or maybe

   

   its not your color. If the price is right, BUY it and put it up for a rainy day. Trust me, they’ll come into play!

8. Follow your favorite brands on Social Media – I follow Nike, Adidas, Under Amour, Jordan, Puma as well as all the stores on social media. For multiple reasons: First off, I want to know whats new, so I can stay in the loop but to also recognize whats old; because guess what happens once it gets old –it goes on sale!
9. Size in this case matters – For men, you may be out of luck. But for the ladies, if you have a smaller foot, you just saved a bunch of money. YOU CAN FIT KID SIZES and when it takes less material to make the shoe, the shoe will be cheaper. Those Air Max 270’s I just purchased were $30 cheaper than if I bought them in women’s AND I used my 10% Student Discount at Nike, which gave me a total discount of $42 dollars. As a disclaimer, Shoes for Kids and Shoes for Women sometimes vary in color. I wear a 7.5 in Women’s and a 5.5 in Kids!
10. Keep the original shoe boxes – Keep your shoes clean, when you get home for the day; PUT THEM BACK IN THE BOX!

I encourage you, next time you have a few extra funds in your pocket, join me as I continue to supply my closet with the great accessory known to man, or in this case, Woman!

 

 

 

Courtney Morris will be a 1st year Doctoral Student in Educational Leadership, her research focuses on Integrating Hip Hop Culture and Urban Education, as well as storytelling and using current events as teaching methods in the realm of Education. Courtney has a sub interest in leadership development among urban education and students of color. Courtney obtained her Associates of Arts from Schoolcraft College, Bachelors of Science in Health Administration (concentration in Social Work), Masters of Arts in Higher Education/Student Affairs and Graduate Certification in Academic Advising. Feel Free to connect with Courtney via email at Connect@BeMentallyRich.com or via instagram at @MsCourtneyBrieAnn