Converse All Stars: More than a Basketball Shoe
Converse All Stars are one of the most popular affordable shoe brands on the market today. Even though the company has not branched out much at all from its original designs, it is still as popular as it was when it was created in 1917 by the Converse shoe company.
The History
Converse actually began a few years before its release of the Converse All Star signature shoe, also known as the Chuck Taylor basketball shoe. The shoe is actually created in the name of a basketball player known as “Chuck†Taylor. Charles H. Taylor was given a job with the company in 1921 after coming to the company complaining of sore feet. From there, the shoes took off. And two years later, Taylor’s signature was added to the All-Star patch of the shoe.
Even though they rose to near royalty from the 1920s all the way to the 1970s, this decade nearly took out the company. The rise of other shoe brands hit the company in a big way, and they actually nearly went bankrupt. The company was re-purchased and expanded in order to bring it back from the brink of extinction. Converse was eventually bought out by Nike, but the brand remained. It is now available in many major department stores as well as on the brand’s own website.
The Shoe
Generally, the shoe is a unisex shoe, although the super high boots are for females. The original Converse All Star shoe came out only in black, but has since expanded to a large number of varieties. Four different heights are available, as well as a new slide-on version in some styles. The prices of the shoes range from $40 to a maximum of $100 in price.
You can find Converse All Stars in a variety of colors and prints. Even though the black was the original color, and the white followed it, there is literally almost any color you could want available now. And prints are very common as well. Popular prints such as animal prints have recently been added to the collections. Special editions with certain themes have been released. These include names such as Dr. Seuss, Metallica and even Sailor Jerry.
And if you don’t like what you see in store or online, you can always make your own. The website for the shoes offers a unique extensive customization feature that allows you to alter anything and everything about your shoes. You can pick a style and change all the colors – interior and exterior. You can even change the laces if you like. And when you are done creating, you can put your name on your shoes. Of course, the prices of custom shoes run a little more than the regular prices, but not much more. The shoes are still very affordable.
Converse All Star as a brand has been through a lot since its creation a century ago. But, now officially owned by Nike, it is still very strong. It is one of the most popular shoe brands in the world. And the signature Chuck Taylor is one of the most recognized tennis shoes.
