I love wearing my old-school sneakers (aka trainers) around the city streets — not only are they comfy but they make me feel young again and even somewhat hip. It’s pretty hard, however, to “keep it real” when you are pushing around a shopping cart filled with Annie’s Organic Cheddar Bunnies at Whole Foods. As much as I do see moms (myself included) in the neighborhood sporting a pair of retro-kicks – I know full well that it just doesn’t really work. It’s kind of like seeing a grandmother in a pair of low-rise jeans or an infant in a tuxedo. As I see it, Adidas, as adult footwear, “jumps the shark” once you hit age 25 and is no longer cool.
But on a child…forget it….game over. I love it when I see a little boy wearing a pair of Sambas or a newborn in an ironic pair of velcro Shells. Cracks me up every time. Zappos has a huge selection of Adidas and Puma’s kid’s shoes for boys and girls that are perfect for the summer. I just got these unisex sneakers (pictured) for each of my girls. They have no idea why I like them so much but they dig the orange stripes and like that I get such intense joy out of them. There is a time and a place for everything and the old school sneaker ship sailed away from me long ago. Time to pass the torch.
-Dina
Comments (10)
Love these but not sure I agree on passing the torch, I think with a plain t and a favorite pair of jeans you can rock your old school jeans till 65! I say being a mommy and having to push a buggie gives me a licence to sport the sneaker in style 🙂
My 18 month old wears adidas and I can’t believe how many compliments he receives on them! I also think they have great support, which is not usually the case w/ most ‘cute’ trainers.
Really? I cannot say that I agree at all about an age past which one should not wear retro-cool trainers. I’d say perhaps if you were talking about micro-mini skirts, but I actually just saw a fifty-something woman pull off a very short skirt at Cafe Marly next to the Louvre. She looked better than I ever did in my teens and in an elegant, not trashy way. I see loads of hipster trainers on parents and think that they look great. Much better, in fact, than I think baby trainers look on infants who cannot put any weight in their feet. Wear them with pride!
I wear trainers and I don’t feel as if I am wayyy too old for them…I am rocking my trainers as long as I can…As for my son (just turned 5), I just got him a pair of black and white adidas 2 days ago and I just think he looks so hip! I really do prefer sneakers on children starting from 3 though…
Seems I touched a nerve here! Look ladies – I wear my old-school kicks proudly and I love them. I wonder though if people look at me like “oh please lady….time to move on…”. The thought for this post came to me last week when I saw a woman who was literally 100 years old wearing a pair of “jeggings” with gladiator sandals. She actually looked great from behind but then when she turned around I thought whoa…not ok. It’s ok to rock the look but at some point it just doesn’t look right. maybe it’s just me.
well, if I did see you in your retro kicks, I’ll definitely say: Now that’s one cool mama!
What about Converse All-Stars?! I pretty much live in mine!!!
Me too, are All-Stars ok? With skinny jeans? (I’m 36!)
This must be the first post that I feel i disagree with on this blog. And from the other comments, I am glad to see that I am not the only mom (37 years old too), who likes her cool sneakers. Nothing like a cool pair of sneakers with boring jeans and a t-shirt to make you feel young and funky again. Or with a skirt (as long as it needs to be) and funky coloured tights. yes, i want to be that cool woman (who cares that i have a kid when they see my sneaks), who doesn’t change her clothing to fit the older traditional boring conservative look (on weekends at least). 🙂
Vive les baskets !!
Converse are deffo ok… if not I am doomed!