Chuck Taylors by Converse

The 80s can’t claim the Chucks fashion fad as all its own. The Converse All Star High Tops have been around for quite a while. The Converse shoe company has been making them since 1917. It wasn't, however, until world-famous basketball player Chuck Taylor began wearing (and selling) the shoes in the 1920s that they really caught on. By the 1980s the shoes had become a fashion statement and were available in dozens of colors. Black, white, pink, blue, yellow, red – you name it, you could get it.

They could be worn plain as shown to the left, of course, but then this was the 80s after all so we took this classic shoe and made it our own. The 80s interpretation of Chucks included wearing two different colors – red and, say, turquoise (a natural combination) or writing all over them. My own pair of off-white Chucks (still have them in the closet) had “Right” and “Left” written on the toes (you know, just in case I fried my brain with so much Aquanet that I forgot which was which). Other popular scribbling included peace symbols and anarchy symbols. My personal favorite was to find these two symbols co-existing. Awesome!

Though the shoes had started out as basketball footwear, many of those who wore them in the 80s never even picked up a basketball outside of gym class. Of course, if you were really cool you owned a pair in each color. If you were a total dork you bought one of the knock-off imitations that didn't sport the coveted All Star logo on the sides. Let the taunting begin!

If you didn't get to sport a pair in the 80s, you're not totally out of luck. You can still redeem yourself. Yes, that's right – the Chuck Taylor All Stars are still being made and sold in stores. In fact, you can buy the classic Chucks right off the Converse website or in stores like The Gap, but forget about paying $20 a pair like we did in the 80s. Nowadays you're going to be shelling out $40 or more. But it's all in the name of nostalgia, right?