Feeling like a bit of a hypocrite

[jschwab]

I don't mind logos for us

I don't mind logos for us adults, but it's superevil for anyone under that age of, say, 26 to be very label-conscious and "targeted" in that way. It creates alot of worry in the world. I wear all the labels with no worries for running, but I don't wear athletic gear with logos for non-athletic pursuits. That bugs me alot, somehow - just the old-fashioned in me. I must admit I have a certain passion for the "swoosh" as a design element.

 

[Abide]

I have to disagree about the

I have to disagree about the shoe companies that sell shirts aren't only shoes companies. That is kind of like saying your eating whole wheat bread when it only clontains 5% whole wheat. Or BP is a renewable energy company because they have a small offshoot that provides solar energy. That is kind of a stretch. The bulk of revenue made at Nike, New Balance, Asics or Brooks is from shoes sales. So in my mind they are shoe companies, period. Offering clothing is simply a marketing scheme to capitalize on the branding they have gained via shoe sales. Chances are you could find much higher quality and functional clothing from a company that specializes at sports clothing not shoes.

Now under armor is a bit different and is heading the opposite direction

 

[Danjo]

I like the knock-off brands

I like the knock-off brands of under armor better though. They're generally thicker, and they don't ride up nearly as bad. Plus they last longer, I wore through the elbows of my under armor pretty fast. I can't justify paying 4 times as much for an inferior product just because its names brand. I guess the thinner fabric is better if you wear it during the summer, but I can't stand the tight fabric if I'm hot. Even in the winter I run in a loose t-shirt after I warm up and take my jacket off.

 

[kjh]

I personally prefer running

I personally prefer running in something a little loose too since it's not the fabric that keeps you warm/cool but the air between the fabric and your skin.

I also wonder why you never see anyone running or working-out in any way wearing their favourite sports teams jersey. They're designed for athletic applications yet all that anyone ever seems to do in them is watch games at a bar or from their couch.

 

[Longboard]

I've always believed that

I've always believed that life is not a spectator sport.

Even if my Wings, Pistons, Lions, Tigers, Spartans, or Wolverines do good this year or next,

I'll most likely miss it while out doing something physical myself instead.

 

[Longboard]

Turns out I was swapping out

Turns out I was swapping out mountain bike tires in the garage in the rain while listening to Radio Margaritaville

as Michigan was beating Notre Dame!

Oh well, I still had fun just the same.

 

[Zephyr]

 q

q

 

[Zephyr]

Longboard wrote:I think many

I think many people choose the brand and logo for it's implied status, that's why I go out of my way to avoid it, whether the lable makes shoes or not. My kids went to an up-scale suburban high school, and the brand conscousness made me sick! Again, for me it's got nothing to do with whether or not the company makes footwear, but my own little attempt to refuse to participate in a status game.

I couldn't agree more. I had to go to a posh school for years and be talked down by wearing cheap, unbranded clothing, shoes or even by the bag to carry my books. I'm particularly conscious since then, but against such smut, filthy mentality and social pornography. It also makes me so sick just to think of it, I couldn't have described it better than you.

Apart from that, the look of all those brands showing up (I also include laptops, automobiles and any other stuff that) is furthest from discretion, sobriety or elegance (that is neither synonymous of high price nor good quality, also crap can even be elegant), some of the best attributes the art of design can attain, but rather it is obscene, of a very tacky taste, what kitsch should really mean.

On the other hand, I don't have nothing against good quality products, but I will use them and pay for them for that quality, not because they are more or less expensive or they are associated with a high social status. I always try to remove brands when they have been simply sewed, and when it exceeds the limit of what I find tolerable, I just don't buy it, even if it is otherwise of very good quality and very suitable to me. The only brands I can can occasionally wear without feeling too embarrassed are completely unknown ones or those white brands made by store chains like Decathlon, mainly sport wear.

All those companies should learn that they can't treat their customers like a whore (nothing personal against them, they shouldn't be treated like that either) using them like living advertisements.