Breaking In Chucks

Wearing the New Leather Chucks

2010-02-14T12:32:00.001-08:00

It is Chinese New Year and I am wearing my new leather Chucks.

First impressions: The leather is really stiff. Maybe I'm used to the
softer and pliable canvas of regular Chucks, but it is kind of hard to
walk around in these high tops.

Really going to need to break these in first.

New Chucks Have Arrived!

2010-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

My black monochrome leather Chuck Taylors have arrived!

Black leather, black plastic/rubber, black laces. The only non-black of the shoes is the insert (normal white) and the grey letters that say "ALL*STAR" on the back (see pic below). The Converse symbol on the side of the shoe is made out of rubber. The soles do not have the felt-type material and is pure rubber.

I cannot wait until I get that nice worn-black leather color on the shoes that can only come from lots of wear. It may take a while since these will not be an everyday shoe.

New Chucks Ordered

2010-01-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year is February 14. Every Chinese New Year, I always get
a new pair of shoes. This year, I am getting a pair of all-black
leather Converse All-Stars.

I will still wear my normal pair, but I'm a little tired of the
smallest amount of precipitation completely soaking my feet. I know
these shoes are not waterproof, but the new pair of Chucks that I am
getting will be worn during wet weather.

Note: The picture is not of my black leather Chucks. Mine are in the
mail currently. Actual pics of mine to come later.

Virgin(a)-ity

2009-11-05T20:20:00.001-08:00

My Chucks breaking its Vigin(a)-ity. Chucks feel at home on the Metro in D.C. even though on Metro for first time.

6 Months

2009-10-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Yea, so these pics are about a week late, but here are five pictures
to show that the breaking in of my Chucks are coming along fine. Keep
in mind that I did not wear these shoes too often during the summer.

Shoes as they are today. Laces are a blackened grey color. The white plastic parts of the shoes are dirty while a random white line across both shoes. The grooves on the edge of the shoes are started to become smooth.

The back part of the shoes that says "All-Star" is starting to fade. The bottom of the shoe is starting to get some sort of slanted wearing.

A close up of the front of their shoes. The black edge line is starting to fade. You can really see the wearing of the grooved edge.

The back edge of the right shoe is starting to peel.

The bottom of my shoes. A lot of it has started to rub off. The Converse symbol is starting to fade.

I must say, the quality of these Chucks are not as good as my old ones. I definitely do not think there was this level of wear on my old Chucks.

NYC Subway

2009-07-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, my Chucks picking up grime from the New York City subway.

Chucks in the Office

2009-07-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

My Chucks, on my desk in the office, enticing me to put them on.

Only a couple of hours from now until I can put them on...

Excellent End to an Awesome Weekend

2009-06-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Big Bass Lake. 10 AM on a Sunday. Absolutely peaceful and tranquil.
Just sitting out on the dock listening to the waves and the birds.

Random Post

2009-05-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

My shoes on Alex's chair. That is all.

Shoes on Grass

2009-05-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

Today was an absolutely beautiful day so I decided to take a walk.
While walking I could help but think of how nice it was to walk on
green grass again. Then I realized that this may be the first time
that this pair of Chucks has been on luscious green grass.

I, of course, could be totally off base and incorrect. Feel free to
point out if I am wrong in the comments.

Anyways, now I have a little grass stain on the sides of my shoes. My Chucks are slowly getting there.

In Comparison

2009-05-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

So this past week, I have had occasion to wear my lo top Chucks. The
weather has been generally real nice and wearing hi tops with shorts
just looks ugly and awkward--especially if one owns both a lo top and
a hi top (although I have been guilty of wearing hi tops with shorts).

I have also worn my hi tops this week and in comparison, the
difference between my lo tops and my hi tops is night and day.

After the first week of wearing my hi tops, I started to not notice
how clean they were. Now I can't look at them without comparing them
with my lo tops (which is clean compared to my stolen Chucks).

Yes, the new hi tops are progressive getting grungier, but it is
nowhere close to what I want yet.

I included a picture of both my hi and lo tops for your own comparison.

Stains

2009-04-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Look! Blue stain on my shoes from my jeans. The laces are definitely
getting dirtier now too (with the ends of the laces started to fray already).

My Old Chucks

2009-04-21T17:04:00.001-07:00

The following is a gchat conversation I just had with a good friend:

Kieran: you gotta post a picture of the old ones

me: haha
i was thinking aobut htat

Kieran: so people know you aren't a total poser
who just got into emo yesterday

So here are three pictures of my old Chucks:

This is a picture of my shoes that I took in a plane
on my way to China. If you look closely, there is a
rip in the left heel. The black line on the front of
the right shoe has also been rubbed off.

This picture shows off the discoloration best.
Once again, the rubbed off black line is present,
but as you can also see, the rigged pattern on the
front of the shoe has also been rubbed down.

This is a side profile of the shoe. If you look
closely, the rubber heel part of the shoe is coming
unglued from the canvas part of the shoe. The
laces are also ripped and blackened.

All three of these pictures were taken during my trip to China. While in China, I got them totally soaked so I tried to dry them with a hair dryer. I actually ended up melting an indent in the rubber insert of both of the shoes (Yeah, I know...not too smart of me).

God, I really miss those shoes.

After One Weekend

2009-04-21T10:19:00.001-07:00

This is how my shoes look after a weekend.

Like most of my shoes, I went with straight laces. It doesn't have the tightest tie (i.e. my gym shoes are not tied that way), but I really like how it looks.

Notice the scuff mark on the right shoe. My right foot is actually a
1/2 shoe size smaller than my left (11 versus 10.5). I end up scuffing
my right shoe a lot due to the size difference (I usually end up
tripping or dragging the tip of the shoe at one point or another).

Actually all of my right shoes have a scuff mark because my right shoe
is too big (and you can't buy two different sized shoes).

The white parts of the shoes are mostly still white, but I definitely see more coloration that when I first put them on. Not too shabby after just one weekend.

The Beginning

2009-04-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Brand new size 10.5 Hi Black Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

Purchased on April 18, 2009 from Bob's Stores in Framingham, MA for $45.

After purchasing the shoes, I spent the next 20 minutes sitting in my car at a parking lot re-lacing the shoes (the pattern of the lacing I will show in the next update). I naturally put them on after lacing them up.

The shoe was pristine, but is borderline uncomfortable to walk in. The canvas is definitely much stiffer than my old pair (one night walking around in the rain will take care of that). I need to start forming a fold where my toes bend and need to start creating a groove inside the soles to fit my feet.

I feel so dirty wearing clean Chucks.