Re: Keds Champions
i remember keds costing $16 back in 1990 so i guess the price is the same with inflation. they felt alright (they sure didn't smell like my first new pair of keds...sniff...but they haven't smelled like that for 10 years or so).
the thing that bothered me the most when i bought some new pairs of keds was the size of the label. i know it's been mentioned before, but it looks like someone at keds decided to base the label size on the flats (with thinner soles) and then save money by using that label size on all their shoes. the labels are too small and they aren't positioned in the center of the height of the sole.
even when i was in middle school, i appreciated the exquisite proportioning of keds...they just looked right and balanced. the knockoffs never did...either the soles were too thin or too thick or the uppers were misshapen...i remember analyzing this many a time when i was bored and watching the girls in 6th grade gym class. the worst offenders came from payless, you had to be blind to think you were fooling anyone that your coasters were real keds.
in my opinion, the whole flats thing is going to go away at some point relatively soon. maybe it's my own class issues talking, but the flats now look like shoes that you could buy for $5 or less at payless or wal-mart or even eckerd drug when i was in elementary and middle school. if a girl could afford a pair of real keds then that meant something. in my working-class neighborhood, most girls had only one or two pairs and they typically saw a lot of use.
so since the flats will die off sometime, but the champions are still their best-sellers (or i would imagine they are), i am anticipating a return to the larger labels. until then, i too would LOVE to know how to order a pair of the "originals."
(sorry, i'm in a creative field and i get very picky about aesthetics...)
