To me Cinderella was not a story about how a young girl who lost both of her parents was able to overcome her life circumstances to become a princess, Cinderella was a story about how a shoe transformed her life.
I started thinking, if Cinderella was a sneakerhead what would she wear? In the original 1950 version, she had 5 wardrobe changes. I will address 4 of the 5 outfits (I’m not counting the nightgown) As far as her footwear, she wore black flats, red heels, and the infamous glass slipper (heel).
First, let’s review Cinderella’s day-to-day activities. She does a lot of walking and cleaning. She spends a significant amount of time with animals. She also likes to dance and sing. That being said, she needs to be fashionable as well as comfortable.
Here is my take on what she would have in her closet.

Thank you for reading my thoughts, I would love to hear what you think. Please leave comments 🙂

Has Sneakers Culture turned into a culture of privilege? What happened? Recently, I went to Sneakercon in the Bay Area. Let me lay the foundation – I decided last year that I really wanted to go to Sneakercon after I had a conversation with someone at work. I purchased my ticket and I was super excited. I went on Day 2.

I didn’t know what to expect but I had no idea what I was getting ready to experience…So I got there 15 mins earlier and the line started around the corner and roughly 2 blocks down. People were trying to buy sneakers off of other people’s feet. I was shocked. Almost everyone in line had at least one shoe box in hand. Some people had carts of shoes they were selling. The off-white dunks just dropped and they were highly sought after, but very specific one colors. I saw mostly the University of Michigan with the university red lace overlay (see below). After an hour of being in line, I finally walked into the showroom – it looked like a basement version of a Foot Locker or a Champs. The first thing I noticed was the placement of the vendors – when you first walked in – it was as packed together as clowns in a car. As you started to walk toward the back of the showroom the vendor space increased and the sneaker prices went down – weird. The closer you were to the entrance the higher price you paid for shoes. I had 3 goals at SneakerCon- learn more about designers, gain insight into the custom sneaker market, and get those citrus Jordan 11 and Dunks. (At this time – I couldn’t get an authentic pair of dunks at a reasonable price to save my life – key words reasonable price) – I will unpack that tidbit in a later post.

Off white Dunks

Back to the citrus Jordan and Dunks, the first couple of sellers didn’t have my size. I was told I should have come on day 1 – (irritating because people have to work so they can afford their sneaker habits – otherwise I would have been there) the next set of sellers set their price at a point I was not willing to pay: $300+ for dunks (for my non-sneakerheads – dunk retail for roughly $110) – I saw dunks as high as $2500. If you are thinking – at least they were of the off-white ones? I’m my Charlie Murphy voice – wrong!

Black and White Dunks aka The Pandas

Another observation- a complete and total lack of female representation from the vendors down to the shoes. They had kids and they had men’s – very few vendors had female sizes or products. Only 1 vendor had the Citrus Jordan’s – 1! This particular Jordan dropped as a female shoe. So disappointed. Representation matters!

Citrus Jordan 11

I was hoping to get more information on designs and concepts, and maybe learn about custom sneakers – nope! It was one huge overpriced marketplace. I was so disappointed.

The cool part was I got to see sneakers I’ve never seen and the ones I can’t afford…. which brings me to my original question – is sneaker culture dying? I went to the Nike Clearance store about 30 minutes before it opened. There was a line for the reseller (several resellers with their fold-out chairs) the fact that I have to compete with a reseller for a pair of Jordan 1 is crazy to me. I have to get to Nike an hour before it opens to get in line so I can get a better choice selection? They are going to take those $49.99 Air Force 1 shadows and flip them for $200. It’s easier (and less stressful) to order UA or a very good replica and wait a month to get them from China, Vietnam, or any other country that sells good reps. Some shoes aren’t worth the fight and I love sneakers!

Why pay $1650 for a shoe that only costs $120 in the first place? Let’s take a look at the Cactus Plant Flea Market Spiral Sage. The retail price was $120. See below

I’m feeling like the culture has turned into something exclusive, rich, and privileged – it hurts my feelings!

Maybe one day we can get back up the love of sneakers. I should not have asked myself “Do I get these sneakers or pay my rent/mortgage ?” For sneakerheads, this can be a real dilemma.