style #95 turns 35!

vintage van doren style #95 era
dogtown 2tone blue/red/blue canvas
made in usa circa 1976
new
US7.5

style profile; vans style #95

by 1975 skateboarders in southern california including the infamous zephyr surf/skate team all officially wore navy blue style #44 as uniform.
almost 10 years to the day following van's beginnings as the leader in canvas casuals, the van dorens took notice of local legends stacey peralta & tony alva's tendency to prefer customade pairs for skating. they wanted different colour combinations & were also known for buying one van at a time & often replaced the rear shoe only which copped more heat using them in turning pivots. as such, on march 18 1976 vans released the 1st ever skateboarding shoe in the archetypal style #95. the vulcanised effects of the style #44 pure crepe rubber waffle outsole, essential for skateboarding, were retained & combined with the padded collar of a style #45 & padded heel panel for greater reinforcement. last but not least it was the attitude that was missing which vans compensated for using the classic outer 'off the wall' heel counter & releasing them in 2-tone colour combinations. the blue/gold/blue & brown/beige/brown shortly followed the original blue/red/blue which became synonomous with dogtown crew & attained legendary status. the style #95 was later named the 'era' as it was this era of the late 70's which defined vans for generations.

THIS is the off the wall gallery; here endeth the lessen

THIS is the era; here endeth the lessen

happy anniversary OFF THE WALL!

on this day 35 years ago a pioneering collaboration spear-headed a skateboard revolution that would change the world of action sports forever.
march 18th 1976 saw vans release their 1st forray into official skateboarding history in that of their signature footwear line 'off the wall'. coined from slang utilised by santa monica skateboarder's in reference to their 'off the wall' exploits in emptied local pools, the phrase has taken on greater significance in extreme sports not to mention the significance of which it had on vans footwear history.

style #45 turns 45; a history

vintage van's style #45

ecru canvas, blue siped sole
made in usa circa 1966
new
US9.5

the life of this van's style #45 deck shoe prior to 2009 i can only imagine. i will henceforth however pay them due respect & fulfill what i feel is an obligation & update fellow admirer nicholas maggio with their life thereafter.

i 1st saw these on ebay back in early '09 & was equally taken aback by their minimalist charm & refined sensibility. it was a time i had convinced myself I could wear US9.5 vans, before realising in fact vans were best worn snug to best facilitate the vulcanised effect. as such, i watched reluctantly as they soared out of my price range & out of my grasp, into the realm of the 'one that got away'. perhaps by fate the ghosts of van doren's past conspired to facilitate an apparent high bidder fail which saw them re-listed.... & i snagged them for a cool $60. i was stoked! upon their arrival however i came to the understanding the size was not ideal & to do them full justice i did not want to thrash them just for the hell of it. & so they sat covered in plastic, in good company you should know, however not getting the full appreciation they deserved. that was until the footwear gods again conspired to crystallise my now full-time devotion to original vans in the shape of our London carnaby street archive display. once again they were an object of appreciation, albiet in a museum of sorts & sadly not being worn like they should be worn.

it was only much later while scouring the web I recognised my style #45's from nicholas' post. i thought is it the same pair? but of course like he said, these authentics cannot be reproduced! my education since then of the malevolent detail & rich history of vans originals tells me these are in fact a very early example of vans style #45 boat shoe perhaps even a sample or jim van doren side-project? they feature the siped bright blue sole & vinyl heel pads of the classic #45 however the former with an iregular zig-zag siping & the latter 'van quality' naugehyde heel. they also lack the familiar vamp tag below which the toe guard also features a straight edge articulation with the foxing side wall as opposed to the regular contoured edge. to me however it is the subtle idiosyncrasies such as the soft textured laces, the faded ecru canvas, the Van outer heel tab & the kidney shaped 'pool' on the siped blue sole which justify their label as true 'van quality'. & so their life continues on, this time instore & back on the rack after a 45 year abscence, again available for someone lucky to wear the hell out of 'em

a time to get (an update on their life); ebay: late 60's VANS

"in a world that has no time for anything,
there is always a time to give,
and every now and again...
a time to get."

during some time "in between" a couple years back i stumbled across this post on an inspiring multiplicity of a site called a time to get. the post featured an early pair of vans shoes & discusses the aesthetics of said shoe with a hint of that classic 'one that got away' ebay nostalgia. i bookmarked the article & promised myself I would fulfill this blogger's request & one day do just that & send an update on their life.

style profile; vans style #45

to many the style #45 looks remarkably like a modern style 'era' however both God & the Devil are in the details remember! such deck shoes were the popular option in the 1960's & 70s whereby appealing to sailors for the non-slip sole. the classic feature of the vans style #45 boat shoe was the bright blue siped sole. a siping pattern was cut into the sole most commonly by most manufacturers in a ripple design to provide grip on a wet deck. now the evolution of vans into more subversive cultures began with surfers & skateboarders sporting their deck shoe, but this relied heavily on the trademark gum waffle sole. as such, the style #45 faded into obscurity & quickly went out of favour, only re-surfacing at times on rare customade orders. they were produced both with & without the padded collar, the former of which incorporated a plastic heel tab at the back. vans re-released a 40th anniversary vanosaur style #45 back in 2006 however if you can get your hands on a pair of usa made original #45's they do offer a seminal nautical-inspired look with a smooth & flat feel & all the trimmings that drive the vintage vans sub(marine)culture to ever greater depths.

style profile; vans style #44

vans launched in 1966 with 7 styles of canvas casuals, the most enduring & recognisable of which is the style #44, now known for good reason as the authentic. style #44 was inspired by classic circular vamp oxford (cvo) lace-ups which became popular in the 1960s for surfers & in boating circles. vans classic cvo deck shoes however utilised better quality materials & underwent superior production techniques with a multiplicity of vulcunised effects. the hard-wearing 10 duck canvas, longer-lasting nylon thread, rugged 4-stitch backstay & pure crepe rubber compound were noticed by skateboarders of the mid 70s for their improved ability to feel the board & thus the terrain. initially released in navy blue, white, loden green & red, the infamous zephyr skate team of the late 70s dogtown era donned the navy blue & as such immortalised it forever as part of their 'uniform'. the women's 4-eyelet & men's 5-eyelet varieties were originally priced at $2.29 & $4.49 respectively. the price may not have remained unchanged however the signature high profile sole of the style #44 lives on as an icon of american youth culture.