My FB status update a couple of weeks ago:

Black skinny jeans, black layered mesh Cynthia Ashby top, black socks, NEW lime green Converse All-Stars, brown/back/cobalt/turquoise/lime/pale green linen-paper/rayon Habu Shippo scarf I made, chartreuse Gudrun shawl with turquoise/olive/fuschia dots.

As you can probably tell from the capital letters, I’m very excited about my new shoes:

They’re the latest addition to what’s in danger of becoming another collection:

Left to right: custom orange/pink, light green with cat pattern, bright green with missing laces eaten by cat.

Good for gardening.

Found a few weeks ago in the back of my car.

I know these have become a hipster wardrobe staple but I’m old enough to be a (very young) hipster’s grandmother and I still think of them as gym shoes.  Back before someone invented “athletic shoes,” kids and professional athletes alike wore these soft, flat canvas things. None of that fancy ergonomic air cushioned impact-dispersing space-age fiber nonsense for us.

I’m not sure why I’m so attached to them. I mean, I know why Converse and not, say, Keds (mom sneakers), but I don’t know why I still wear them. They have no support, I detest shoes that tie (insert long story about the trauma of having to wear tie shoes until junior high because of an erroneous theory about flat feet), and with the wrong outfit it looks like I’ve got clown feet.

I’ve also never entirely understood why they’re ultra-fashionable some years and just ordinary in others. When I was in high school there was a trend (well, three guys I knew did this) for wearing the high-tops in that “natural white” that looks like unbleached muslin.  There was some particular way they were supposed to be tied, or not tied, or not tied all the way up–I’ve forgotten the details. Anyway, I’ve always worn low-cuts, so whatever.

I’ve gone through Nike and Puma phases but with the exception of a time 25 years ago when I hurt my back putting up gutters and could barely stand, I’ve never been able to take myself seriously in athletic shoes if I’m not actually exercising (versus the utter solemnity with which I view myself when I’m wearing Chucks with cats all over them). Unless they’re beaten nearly to pieces, they just look so practical, like sports equipment or mechanics’ coveralls. Converse All-Stars, on the other hand, are only practical if you’re a pro basketball player from the ’60s.

I have friends who say they’re no good for walking very far or standing for a long time, others who say they haven’t been the same since Converse started outsourcing to China, and just yesterday another one said the problem was that the laces are too long now. For some reason, though, they fit my Platonic ideal of gym shoes. And I’m really excited that I can have them in lime green.