L.A. Gear knew how to make shoes.
Think about your childhood: surely someone you know wore L.A. Gear shoes. You just did. They were awesome: stylish, athletic, and they had endorsements. Any shoe that is endorsed by Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jackson, and Paula Abdul HAD to be good. That’s a who’s-who of celebrities right there. In fact, you put them in a commercial today, and L.A. Gear would be selling out shoe stores all over the country. And I’d be out there with them.
But L.A. Gear really raised the bar for shoes everywhere when they released, dare I say it? L.A. Lights!
It was easily the most impractical, useless feature to ever grace a shoe, but man! What a great pair of shoes. Imagine, as you are walking, your shoes lighting up obnoxiously for everyone walking behind you! Man, were you a thug with L.A. Lights. They were released in 1992, just as I started realizing what I looked like (read: not very good), and I insisted my mom buy me a pair.
So worth it. Well, at least to me. I didn’t really spend any money.
Any time I took a step, they lit up! You know how I know? Because every time I wore them, I walked around twisted backward, rather uncomfortably, so I could enjoy the lights blinking. I doubt I was the only one. I imagine there’s some statistic somewhere of kids who ran into trees, traffic, and open manhole covers because they were too busy trying to look at the backs of their feet.
Seriously, try it sometime. Your neck gets sore, your back is all stiff. On top of that, you look ridiculous. But who cares? If anyone laughs at you, ask them where their L.A. Lights are. They’ll shut up and shuffle away, embarrassed of being so not as cool as you are.
Actually, this is coming back, as my 4-year-old nephew currently owns a pair of light-up shoes. He also owns a light-up dinosaur shirt.
I wonder if those come in adult sizes?
Technorati Tags: 1992, shoes, 90s, la gear
