Long Live The Chucks

One shoe that you can always count on anyone to own, are definitely a pair of Converse.  Alike me, I believe that everyone in this world has at some point in their lives has seen the all-star Converse as being an incredibly longstanding shoe brand, which has gone through decades shaping a culture of its own. Although they never seem to die,  the shoes were not particularly popular until basketball player Chuck Taylor adopted them as his preferred shoe. He was impressed with the design, and so he became the shoe’s leading salesman. After proposing a few changes to the shoe, the shoe got its current name and Chuck Taylor’s signature on its ankle All Stars patch. One change was the switch to non-slip soles. Although classic black is the most popular, Chuck Taylor was himself known to prefer unbleached white high-tops (known in his day as simply “white”). Consumers demanded more variety from the shoe – particularly with respect to colors in order to match basketball teams – so colored and patterned shoelaces became popular to complement the two colors, blacks and whites, available before 1966. Afterwards, more colors and styles became available. Low-top or “Oxford”, high-top, and later knee-high, versions were produced. More materials were offered for the construction, including leather,suede, vinyl, denim, and hemp. Some versions of the shoe were offered without laces, held up instead by elastic. These new versions of the shoe were also co-designed by Chuck Taylor, just before his death in 1969.

In modern times, Chuck Taylors are worn as a casual fashion shoe, and are less often used for sports because of the development of better sports shoes by other brands. But this certainly does not stop the revolution of the famous shoes, which to this day remains on the must-have list for many celebrities and people alike.