deadstockbyskeezy

[deadstockbyskeezy]

ALL THIS ‘PREME SHIT SILLY

Dear fellow Hypebeasts with the ‘Preme stickers on the back of your iPhone Xs, PLEASE JUST STOP AND THINK before you shuffle through your Goyard wallet for your mom’s credit card.

Listen, for the most part what I say and don’t say is trash is all based on subjectivity. Style is a personal effort and if you flex it, then deadass pair it with those Kith Timbs my guy. (L0L those shits are sold out broke boi go home)

And I’m prolly biased, but I’ve never seen a piece from Supreme and thought, “Trash.” It might not be my ‘vibe’ or ‘mood,’ but I didn’t think shit was uuuuugly, fam. Kinda unlike when you look at Drake long enough and go, ‘damn my man is kinda ugly.’

Until today.

NYC’s Finest (For those of you that don’t live in NYC but goddamn act like it, this can refer to the tap water, or the greatest taxi cab service ever: the NYPD. I’m reckless and using it for Supreme) released a first look at their Nike Collab for SS18. At first I thought I was looking at a vine of a dumpster fire on 37th and 10th.

Variously sized NBA logos adorn an all black AF1 mid, and it feels like a kid who just joined his elementary basketball team slapped every NBA sticker onto his shoes for practice tomorrow. In essence, it lacks taste. Which fucking sucks.

You don’t have to like Supreme, but you’ve gotta respect ‘em. Season after season they present an ability and an eye for good design and good taste. Never overly extravagant, never too minimalist, always honoring the greats and pushing fashion forward. But this is a straight up airball and there’s no Disney Golden Lab to make up for it in the next heartfelt 90 minutes. This shit is worse than that ICONIC GIF of swaggy P missing the deep 3-pointer.

This, hypebaes and hypebeasts, is what Robert Downy Jr. was talking about in tropic thunder: this shit is full stupid as fuck.

[Pause. I don’t condone the use of the word retard, so I’m not gonna direct quote it. However Tropic Thunder is an underrated movie that everyone should go see while drinkin’ BOOTY SWEAT.]

This is a lesson in understanding the essential difference between hype and what’s actually dope in streetwear right now. Don’t fall into the trap of what’s hype. Only real [swag’s] gonna last. All that other bullshit is here today and gone tomorrow. 

If you’ve got some money in the bank (Read: mommy’s leftover Christmas money), here’s what you should cop this Spring:

Palace x Reebok Workout: February 23th

The 1 Reimagined by Nike: Already out

ALMOST anything Nike released over the All Star Weekend (DM me @skithedesigner on the gram for specific advice)

Aight, I gotta finesse this class at FIT. I’m tryna be the best word to the homie Ash Ketchum. ISNT THIS GIF SO CUTE. OH MY GAWD. ME N MY TEDDY BEAR, MR. MULCAHEY, ARE GETTIN COZY TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

[deadstockbyskeezy]

Vogue is the most cheeks site for looking at collections the photos don't load the ads are about gerber life insurance and whatever ugly ass grey they chose for a background looks like the underside of my brooklyn apartment sink

fuck vogue

[deadstockbyskeezy]

The 1 Reimagined: an article and poorly taken photos about it

SNKRS blew up my phone this morning to remind me that The 1 Reimagined will be dropping like my jaw at that HORRENDOUS Justin Timberlake half time show. Little did SNKRS know ya boi skeezy was already posted up at Nike SOHO to cop for my boo. Who the hell goes into work at 9 am anyway?

If you’re not up on this yet, go here and here. Short story: Nike asked a team of all female designers to make some “cool shit” in two weeks. 14 days later, they came back with a collection inspired by the AJ1 and AF1. If you want to know more about the process, inspiration, and women behind the project, hit those links. I’m not about to rehash some shit that’s already been said. I’m not Complex.

But what I’m about to say is for all you HypeBeasts pronouncing Vetements like “Vet-uh-mints.” Fuckouttahere with that and learn some French. Duolingo IS FREE.

 The 1 Reimagined is a better collection than Virgil Abloh’s “The Ten,” easily the most hyped collaboration of 2017.

I’M NOT SAYING “THE TEN” ISN’T DOPE AS FUCK. Virgil breathed a lot of much-needed life into Nike over the past year. Flipping ten Nikes on their heads, he presented a collection that felt more like swaggy DIY projects than just another weekly offering from the almighty Swoosh. The vast selection allows for any type of sneakerhead to buy into and appreciate the collection. And yea, they admittedly look fresh.

But they feel branded and a little repetitive.

Over the course of the sneakers from The Ten, certain design cues tie the shoes together. The screen-printed text, the orange tag under the swoosh, the unfinished edges, and the zig-zag stitch become expected by the third or fourth pair. Rather than a development of an aesthetic story, we’re told the same joke ten times from a different voice. And it works for the most part, allowing the consumer to choose which version of the joke they like the best. But the deconstructed aesthetic is informed more by a preconceived list of design applications than a consideration for how each individual shoe could be manipulated within the context of a larger vision.

Is this a little reductionist? Maybe. But I’m here for decisive taste on fashion, not half-assed opinions driven by sales numbers and influencers.

Which brings me to The 1 Reimagined, a collection demanding that streetwear step it up when it comes to designing for women. (for the sake of brevity, The 1 Reimagined will be referred to as T1R)

Let’s be real, no matter how many “effeminate” colorways Nike proposes for the Air Force 1 and Air Jordan 1, the original demographic was a male audience, and a colorway doesn’t do much to change that. Nor does adding a ridiculous pump on the back. Who the fuck thinks a Nike Dunk heel is cute? Exactly. It’s poor showing from Nike to think that simply switching up the colors and determining that a heeled sneaker are acceptable routes in inviting, including, and listening to women in sneaker culture and streetwear - two genres of fashion grossly overpopulated with you weirdos reading this.

With T1R, the women of Nike took the AF1 and AJ1 to develop a ten-shoe collection designed by, inspired by, and made for women. And while all ten iterations are derived from two sneakers, it’s inarguable that each iteration has it’s own aesthetic, style, and personality told through varying methods of functionality and design. From corset lacing ON THE FUCKING BACK to mismatched swooshing, from reducing the upper to building it high over the ankle, T1R pulls from the best trends, timeless aesthetics, and contemporary designers to create a collection for every woman, mood, and occasion.

The AJ1 EXPLORER XX employs the transparent vinyl found on Commes Des Garçons’ Nike Dunk in combination with the exaggeratedly high boot cut, made popular through Acronym’s latest Nike collab and Nike’s subsequent AF-SF1 iterations. The mismatched and misplaced swooshes of the AF1 JESTER XX bring to mind Travis Scott’s AF1. Sacai’s 2015 Nike Dunk Lux, another for-women Nike, easily informs the AJ1 SAGE XX.

T1R introduces corset lacing on the AF1 REBEL XX and sideways lacing on the AJ1 REBEL XX. Futuristic and weird, the AF1 EXPLORER XX and AJ1 JESTER XX experiment with exaggerated soles and statement making hardware. Oh yea, and every slip-on from T1R puts every Vans slip-on to absolute shame (obviously including those god-forsaken FOG vans).

The point is T1R is an informed venture in collective footwear design, pulling inspiration from contemporary greats as well as introducing design choices rarely found on mainstream shoes today. Every attitude - from bossy hardware and exaggerated proportions, to quaint slip-ons and elegant lacing– is found in this collection. It’s all tied together through color and its roots in two of Nike’s most iconic shoes.

The all white presentation invites the consumer into the conversation, allowing them to customize, paint, draw, distress, or keep real-fuckin-clean their kicks. It asks the woman in the shoes to make a decision herself about how she’s going to wear them, rather than Virgil’s The Ten, which offers a DIY feel without actually granting the opportunity to the customer.

T1R doesn’t look to define or pigeonhole its female demographic. Its goal is to support and add #coolshit to their daily lives while bringing them into the conversation of style and design in streetwear.

Again, I think The Ten is an amazing collaboration and hats off to Nike and Virgil for opening the door to expansive sneaker projects as well as re-inspiring DIY culture. Without The Ten, T1R may still be on the drafting table. But, by listening to and offering a collection to women as well as simply designing dope shit; The 1 Reimagined is a better collection.

 To reiterate, if you got a girl and you’re not in line tryna cop these for her, then you’re whack and this can be the last article you read on my shit. And don’t hit me with that “she’s got her own money she’s good fam.” I am WELL AWARE she’s got her own cake (more than me, my girl makes so much more than me) and she can handle her damn self but YOU SHOULD LOVE AND SUPPORT HER BY COPPING JAWNZ.

Shouts one time to my man Johnny at Nike SOHO for being the best goddamn salesman. Shouts one time to my girl for ditching work this morning to let me buy her shoes. And shouts to Nike for taking major steps forward.

[deadstockbyskeezy]

Justin Timberlake currently holds the crown for most swagless homie of 2018 and it’s barely even February

[deadstockbyskeezy]

In Defense of the Word “Jawnz”

In Defense of the Word “Jawnz”

 You’re in the middle of Bushwick, a Norse Projects beanie fails to cover your ears but you wear it because ~~aesthetics~~ and overpriced kombucha rests beside your MacBook Air. And yes, I see that Supreme Sticker gingerly placed on the top left corner of your laptop.

Scrolling through, you notice that once again, the Vogue reviews of PFW are a monotonous drone of fabric choice and, I don’t know, some bullshit. Highsnobiety’s “Key Pieces” for an editorial of an upcoming brand is literally every fucking piece for sale. And HypeBeast stays posting the corniest shit on Instagram like they got the same ghostwriter as Drake.

Desperate for something, anything, to renew your interest in #menswear #streetwear #swag, you open twitter and swipe down repeatedly. Twitter refreshes to a new tweet, a new link, a new review that will never come. A horrified face of realization overcomes you as the placenta in your ‘Buch swirls around in its glass bottle.

Four Pins is still dead.

Two years have gone by and it feels like Palace Skateboards barely makes up for it. A brand that has employed the same supply and demand economics that Supreme mastered, Palace feels more like the work of a vengeful econ loser - who hated your pristine white AF1 Lows - than a skateboarder. Little did that econ major know that, well, you fucked just as much as he did (nada if you ‘forgot’). 

Gripping your ‘Buch, old A$AP Yams (pause to pour one out) tweets grant you the nervous laughter that assure you, yes, everything’s fine. Those Supreme stickers are still in your nightstand. Your I’m-pretty-sure-it’s-real Bape Face Mask still hangs on your door. Your bank account most definitely reads $26.32 with pending charges. 

Four Pins still tweets, and disparate twitter accounts still avail that “Four Pins is the fucking worst.” But you and I both know it’s not the same.

Who’s going to call out the influencers for looking like trash? Who’s going to teach you how to Goth once you finesse those Rick Owens x Adidas Runners? Where is the article that demands we stop putting “everything” “in” “quotes” “as” “if” “that” “makes” “it” “art.” Lookin’ at you Virgil.

 WHO WILL GRANT YOU CLOUT THROUGH RETWEETS?????????

 I’m not a hero, and I’m sure as hell not qualified to hand out clout. I don’t even own any Raf (yikes). But I am another dude wearing clothes on the Internet, like you. And I am trying to fill the gap that Four Pins left behind; one where we call trash fashion like it is…TRASH with a hundred trash emojis. One where we justify opening up a new credit card for the sake of the almighty flex and throw up the finger to financial responsibility.

I can’t promise this blog to be the Four Pins you’ve missed. In fact I hope it blossoms into something else, something better, but something still rooted in the self-aware fact that fashion, for the most part, is a capitalistic enterprise of aesthetic stupidity…so…lets make fun of it.

Either that or we can’t afford any of it so might as well shit post and sling some memes off amirite? 

Reviews, hot takes, and bunk headlines coming soon.

- Skeezy

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If you’re one of my non-fashion friends that’s giving me the goodwill of reading this because of my Instagram post, here’s an index of references that most definitely went over your couldn’t-give-a-fuck-less head:

 Bapesta – Bape’s iconic shoe was a rip-off of the AF1 low. Instead of a swoosh, it was a shooting star

A$AP Yams – founder of A$AP, discoverer of A$AP Rocky, extremely successful at tumblr and tweeting some ridiculous shit. Worth looking up. RIP YAMS. 

Bape Face Mask – another iconic look from Bape. Ripped off by other brands a lot. Insipiration for dude that made the Yeezy Face Masks

RO x Adidas – rick owens for the past 4 years has easily created some of the most fashion forward, well-designed, all around amazing sneakers with the three stripes. However their contract ended and I cry every day because of it

“ “ – Virgil Abloh’s Off-White often employs this aesthetic with their branding. On the low, it’s a fun poke at fashion. But at this point it feels like branding more than a critique.