Wear your kicks and stick your stickers

A story on clothes and sneakers

A few months ago, when I started to get into fashion and sneakers, I had a very clear directive for myself: buy things to use them. That meant not buying things that would, inevitably, end up in a closet, on a shelf, or somewhere gathering dust, forgotten and just occasionally getting a "hey, that's cool". I could look at my shelves, see the collection of, at the time, all yuri mangas released in Brazil, with most still sealed. Maybe I could look at my Sucy Manbavaran nendoroid I had to import from Japan by ship, in the middle of the pandemic, and pay a lot in taxes. None of those things evoked any joy in me, they just sit there.

Sneakers are a special case, because you can divide "sneakerheads" in two big groups: people who see them as collectibles, maybe even 'investments', and people who wear them. While the resale market is really small in Brazil, one can argue it is an important, or at least significant, part of sneaker culture worldwide. Doesn't mean I like it. We don't celebrate people who buy PC gear just to resell them at a markup, do we? We shouldn't do the same with sneakers. But alas, this is not about resale culture, I just wanted to establish that this is a pretty big point on the scene.

I feel that we, as people, in a capitalist society, have a tendency to treat our belongings as treasures. We paid money for them, sometimes a lot of money, so we want them to last, to use them only on special occasions, but this will very quickly lead to them not being used at all. I remember when, during my k-pop era, I got my hands on an official Mamamoo hoodie with a logo for SWFS, that "Four Seasons Four Colors" thing. My memory is hazy, but I remember waking up at 3 AM to buy them because of the time difference in Korea. I paid a pretty penny for it—shipping and taxes included. (I would only discover the taxes later, fun times). And then it wasn't even that high quality. Still, I used it, a lot. I liked them, and now they're pretty worn out. If I had kept them pristine, now, 6 years later, when I am not into k-pop anymore, I would just have a random hoodie on my wardrobe.

The most recent case I have is with a sneaker I bought, a Fear of God Athletics II, on the Carbon colorway (which you may see be referred to as the name of a certain basketball player, he sucks, so he doesn't deserve the mention). I bought this on the day after Christmas, a complete sleeper, it sat on the shelves, dozens still up for sale when I got mine. For a brief explanation, the Adidas x Fear of God collaboration never really took off as expected, this one was probably the most successful model/colorway. Those were not cheap, but hey, cool unique sneakers aren't cheap. When they arrived, I randomly decided to check my order on the app, only to find that the store page for the sneakers was... gone? Like, gone. Not sold out, gone, erased, a 404 "Id not found" error. The reason? The collaboration expired on December 31st 2025, not to be renewed. In the US store, all mentions of Fear of God are gone, but here in Brazil, strangely only the Carbon colorway is gone. I presume that one had some extra licensing deal, but I'm sure the rest will get discounts, or just be sent back to the mothership soon. The purple/pink one, a much lamer color if you ask me, is already 30% off, it's the oldest colorway on the store too.

So, I had in my hands essentially a ghost, at least here in Brazil (you can still find them on the Fear of God store, at the time of writing). A sneaker that you can't purchase anymore, a relic, a treasure, yes? Well, no, not exactly. Isn't the point of a shoe to be worn? These are monsters of technology, designed to be used, to play ball on them, and to look good. What good are you doing by not wearing them? Are they going to get "damaged" with time? Yes, materials do degrade, but that's the point of them, to be used, to develop a patina. It's the best part of being a sneakerhead! Wearing cool stuff, styling them, talking how cool they are with friends (or strangers on the internet). I am a proud believer on the "Wear your kicks" idea. And hey, they are super comfortable, I can attest that.

Oh god, stickers

This blog post was motivated by a post on fedi (which I lost) that said what I'm saying: wear your clothes, use your shoes, and stick your stickers. Stickers? Yes, stickers. And this reminded of a thing, I had a dozen or so, won from some events I participated, or some promotional stuff I got on a raffle. They were on a drawer, inside a box. Why? Because when I saw people in tech with stickers, it was on their laptops. I don't have a laptop, besides the one from work I definitely cannot put stickers on, so I just kept them there. "One day I'll have a cool laptop for myself" and I'll put them. But, will I? The person described how their stickers just dried out, unable to be used. I looked at a piece of furniture I recently got, simple, and I use it to leave four sneakers on display, the rest are in boxes. That? That is the perfect place for my stickers! I glued quite a bunch of them there, and now I have something even more "me" in my bedroom.

This made me think, how often do we just keep things "for later", and then never use them? Be it clothes, shoes, stickers, gadgets, whatever. We think "oh, this is special, I'll keep it safe", but in the end, we just end up not using them at all. Or we get depressed when they get worn. I had to learn very quickly that no amount of care will stop items you use from, well, being used. Stuff will discolor, wear out, break, get dirty, to which extent depends on the object and how it is used. My mouse has some discoloration and the graphics are wearing out, it's a cool Chun-Li mouse, but, it's my mouse, I like it, and I use it, so of course it will get worn out. This is not a problem, this is the point. A gadget that broke because you used it to the breaking point is far more interesting that something sitting on your shelf.

Don't let your things rot in a drawer

If you take away something from this, I hope it is that you consider using that thing you save for special occasions. The joy you get from using it, doesn't need to be reserved for "the right moment", because you will always think that there could be a better moment. There won't be. So wear your kicks, and stick your stickers. Make your stuff uniquely yours by using them, and have fun.