I recently saw a video of a woman talking about how she is in “new sneakerhead era”, with the gist of the video being that she doesn’t have FOMO on releases anymore, she trimmed down her collection, and she wears what she likes now because she realizes she wears the same handful of sneakers in her collection anyway.
As I watched the video, I had realized I had been entering into my own new sneakerhead era myself, only I couldn’t connect the dots like this person had*.
As many of you all know, I have been on a journey of cutting down my collection for the better part of…who even knows how long now. But when I first started this process, I had entered into it with a reseller mentality, in that I wanted to sell whatever deadstock (read: unworn, for the readers just joining us) sneakers I had in my collection that I knew could fetch me some good cash. So naturally, all the heavy hitters in my closet that I didn’t have an attachment to were the first to go. After some time, I had sold all the more sought after pairs in my collection I was willing to let go of, and things started to slow down in terms of selling sneakers.
Fast forward some time later, and I’m moving out of the apartment complex that I called home for the last 4 years. Before packing things up and starting the actual moving process, I give away about a dozen pairs to neighbors, some new, many gently used, and the rest were my beaters/dailies I had gotten my use out of. While this seems trivial and par the course, this was actually a bit of a bigger deal for me; I was forcing myself to eventually step outside my comfort zone (or sneakers), and wear some of the other sneakers collecting dust in my collection. When it’s finally time to move, I am having even more of a hassle transporting my other sneakers across town, as I still have many sneakers left in my collection. I can’t tell you how many trips I took back and forth transporting the sneakers. After finally moving everything (sneakers and otherwise) into the new place and settling in a bit, I took inventory of my collection once again.
But this time, my mentality shifted: I had entered into this round of inventory with an attachment mentality rather than my previous reseller mentality and suddenly I found myself willing to let go of dozens more deadstock pairs, some of which I still need to get out of my closet and into StockX/Goat’s verification center. After I sell these pairs, then the only sneakers that will be left in my collection are the ones that I wear and the deadstock pairs that I just haven’t stepped in yet.
Another funny thing happened: slowly but surely, throughout the whole aforementioned process, I started wearing more of my deadstock sneakers. I stopped waiting on “the perfect moment” or deciding to hold off on them just in case I wanted to sell them. Months would go by without bringing in a new pair of sneakers home. In sneakerhead time, going several months without purchasing shoes is like an eternity nowadays with how often sneakers are released. When I moved into my new place, I stepped into unworn/gently worn sneakers that have now become my dailies/beaters. I’m breaking out my grails more than once every 3 years. My partner had recently remarked on some sneakers that she had never seen me wear before despite having owned for over 7 years.
If bring a pair of sneakers home, it’s a pair that I really want and feel strongly about. I also started to buy more gently used pairs, because I have less of a tendency to hold off on wearing a pair of sneakers that have already been worn. I don’t have a need or a desire to buy sneakers just because they look cool or because of FOMO. A lot of pairs that I bought in those situations ended up on the sale sections of all my favorite retailers, and when it came time to selling some of those pairs, I ate a lot of loss. For anyone that knows me, I love my money, so having to eat hundreds of dollars in loss also makes you think nice and long about your next sneaker purchases.
I have also been getting more into the obscure/little known models and colorways that still fit my style since the pandemic, which has also reduced my desire to keep up with the latest releases because the sneakers I want have already been released. I don’t have to compete with bots and resellers and every other sneakerhead around the world for a sneaker so much, and it’s great. I don’t open SNKRS and Confirmed anywhere near as much as I used to just a few years ago. I’m too busy paying attention to the sneakers that have sat in boxes for years.
In closing, I’m in a new sneakerhead era, and it’s amazing. I’m actually enjoying my sneakers. My collection better reflects who I am as a person and my style. I’m not worried about the resell value of my sneakers as much. I spend less because I want less. I get to spend more time exploring and learning more about this sneaker culture we all know and love instead of exploring raffles and draws for this week’s sneaker, and that’s one of the reasons I started this brand in the first place. The objective coming full circle in my own sneaker journey is just an added bonus.
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