2009 - BEST OF THE BEST SNEAKERS

JESSE VILLANUEVA - NY
ALIFE RIVINGTON CLUB

I know, I’m almost ashamed that a dude my age is gonna come out saying an SB release was this year’s finest. I’ll even admit to taking a black marker to the SB logo on the tongue just so I could feel at ease stomping around the Lower. So for 2009, I’m feeling the return to the staple. The old guy is back in vogue, and ain’t nobody older than this dude.
The Bruin was my early ‘90s shit. It had a perfect flat sole to push around in and looked clean when you looked down. Some pretty pivotal shit – by way of the skateboard – went down during my high school tour of duty. Change was an everyday thing. 1990-1995! Yeah five years fucko – I wasn’t really into going to class all that much. We went from Airwalk (RIP SIN), Vision Street Wear and old Cons to vintage Nike, adidas and back to Vans. From Limpies to Blind/New Deal-esque jeans, to regular guy shit. No nose, to nose, to different truck patterns, to switch, to on and on... Just watch the footwear progression of Gino Ianucci, Pepe Martinez or any World dude from that era for a little gauge of that good good.
The Bruin was on that official Marshalls come up. Blk/Blk Gum being that serious candy crack. The shoe sold there for $24.99, but you would always just trade-in your old ones or give ‘em the ol’ tag switch. $4.99 Nike tees were always the easiest to go to. As long as that tag said Nike, you were good money. What’s a savings of $20? When you lived your life on dimes and $1 Whoppers, that was two bags and a little burger brunch if your mitts were extra sticky.
I recently had a near-death experience under the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn. Riding the ol’ Mercier across the Brooklyn Queens Expressway on-ramp, a bus took me for a little ride. If you follow me on Twitter (@JesseHolySmokes) you definitely saw some pics of the mess. As soon as I woke up and vomited a bit, I started flick’n away. Shoulder dislocated, all kinds of shit torn in my knee and blood all over the place. I was beat up, but still lo and behold, the Bruins looked crispy. So not only does this shoe perform well and look clean, it’s also the perfect shoe to get hit by a bus in. Tell ya friends. Zap! Now you just gotta bring back that OG canvas Nike GTS with the big swoosh and vulc sole.