Well...

There's no cool way to say it so we're just going to say it. This is our final post on theblagg in its current form. A huge thank YOU to everyone who read the posts over the years and was infuriated or enthralled or enticed or in distress so much that they couldn't leave a comment. Ha! Thank you for reading right now. We're going to leave you with fratpack's What Do They Know - which gives Zaki Ibrahim's The Kids Are Talking a fratpackular twist - because we want you to download the frwednesday mixtape HERE if you haven't already and because we love you.


Peace
Dude & The Ordinary Girl

STR.CRD 2012

The third annual STR.CRD street culture showcase will be held in the Maboneng District for the second time this year. From 27-30 September, sneakerheads, skaters and likers of things will congregate for one of the most anticipated events of the year. Luckily for those of us who get cold pretty easily, the live acts stage doesn't look like it will be outdoors if the new venue (the MOAD Building) is where it will really be.

Speaking of the live acts, this year's international headliners are Jesse Boykins III and Just A Band. I'll be honest, I didn't see Jesse's name popping up when I was pondering who they might bring out. I mean, last year, the headline act was the inimitable Theophilus London so I thought the following year would be someone equally if not more amazing. But maybe there really is a market for ol' Jesse and I just wasn't aware.

No matter, there will still be local musicians to mount the stage and I'm pretty excited for that line-up to be announced. As usual, there will be international sneaker culture and fashion power players who will be in attendance and share their skills at the STR.SESSIONS. You already know how theblagg feels about Claw Money so we're friggin excited about that! We'll keep you posted on what else will be popping at the event as time goes along.

AKeys Kicks

I may be the only girl I know who likes Alicia Keys. Now, I didn't say I like her new song but I am a fan of Mrs Beatz. Speaking of Swizzy, you all know that he's been doing his thing in terms of trying to make Reebok cool again to the kids, right? So, it comes as no surprise, really, that Egypt's mommy is now also throwing around the word "designer" next to her name. And what's she designed? Well, Reebok Classics has brought the Freestyle Hi out for her to work on. She's added a piano keys image (obviously) to the sides and back and her beloved New York City landscape to the top. She's also put her name on a couple of new designs for the Princess, the Dubble Bubble and the Nylon Slim. Cool collection. I'm a huge fan of hi tops - if you've seen me then you know but I don't know if these tickle my fancy. Do you like them?

The Freestyle Hi

The Princess

The Nylon Slim

The Dubble Bubble

Here's the ad to help promote the sneakers. Why does it have to feature this song? Sigh.

Vans California Keeps Bringing That Heat

I think Dude is becoming a serious Vans fan more than ever. He's even been communicating with them on twitter looking for their Vans California drops and now they release more heat yo! The Vans California 2012 Fall Authentic CA “Native Embroidery” sneaker is what we're on about. Peep the pics below and let us know what you think.

Hello, Yellow

I've never really thought about wearing yellow on my feet. But these Puma Clyde and Undefeated joints have me reconsidering. They even made a range that included pastel colourways but something keeps drawing me back to the mellow yellow. Peep:

Have you ever worn or would you wear yellow?

Layup

You don't have to be a fashion person to be enamoured with these Onitsuka Tiger Layup 72 sneakers. For a while, all the cool kids have been up on Navajo this and that so needless to say, some people would want avoid any Native American textile-anything because of that. But you've got to love these canvas sneakers. No?
 

Yes, We're Back To This Topic

Not every girl is a sneakerhead. This is a fact. Just like not every guy knows the A-Z of kicks. However, it's no secret that here at theblagg, we frown on women who wear funny style shoes as a way of being "down." Ok, maybe frown is a mild term. Honestly, if you want to wear sneakers, then wear sneakers. If you want to wear high heels, then do that. But don't bastardise the sneaker for the sake of some elevated, pseudo-cool look. That's really how we feel. With that being said, we have to give it up to the Herstar for these Custom Crystal NBA heels. Now, The Ordinary Girl would not be caught dead in a pair but props are due. And here's why.



Some women like to feel involved in their man's passion. Like, for instance, his love for basketball. But they know that they don't have to sacrifice who they really are to fit in. They don't have to wear oversized jerseys and put away the make-up kit on Sunday because that's game night. But they do like to feel and look supportive. Some girls actually don't do this a relationship bonding excercise. They may just like the sport but can't be bothered to wear flats. They love the NBA like any other dude but don't feel they have to leave who they are in the bedroom once the players step onto the court. These Herstar heels allow them to do that. Forget wearing your heart on your sleeve. You can wear it on your shoes if you're a die-hard fan. The Ordinary Girl wouldn't do this but she gets it. What she still doesn't get is this:


 

And I love Beyonce too but hot-damn, why do these exist? Isabel Marant can miss me with all that. Can we agree that we're not ever condoning these wedge sneakers, ladies?

  Oh, you're just going to leave me standing here by myself, huh?
 
Ugh.

The Black Widow

Hands up if you saw Avengers this year? How witty is Tony Stark? theblagg likes Scarlett Johansson a lot - blame it on Vicky Cristina Barcelona - so we weren't really bummed when we discovered that she would be playing the Black Widow. However, as many will tell you, it's not really ScarJo but the sheer awesomery of the character on paper that's mesmerising enough to warrant an act of immortalisation to sneaker lovers. The iconic Marvel character is one of many to be interpreted into sneakers by the Reebok team. She gets to live on in the black and red (with gold laces and velcro straps) Reebok Freestyle. The Ordinary Girl doesn't mind the red accents since the character is a redhead and the shiny black makes sense because have you seen her catsuit? But all that gold? It's more pseudo-glam/look-at-me and not enough I-can-put-you-in-a-chokehold-in-a matter-of-seconds sleek (which is more her personality). What do you guys think?

Air Jordan IV White Cement

Continuing with our Air Jordan appreciation, here's the Air Jordan IV White Cement which is said to be dropping February 2012. Peep the heat and let us know what you think.

I Want These!

One of these days I'm going to stop throwing this disclaimer out there but for now, here it goes: I know these aren't new BUT...[insert suspense movie music here]
I love these Asics Gel Lyte III 2.0! These beauties are the second collaboration between Nice Kicks, Ronnie Fieg and Asics. Dude is such a fan of the first collab and the lady who was wearing them HERE that he wrote about it. Hm. Only 300 were made last year so I'll probably never get my hands on them. But at least I can still look at them here. And so can you. Pweeeeeety, right?







How dope is this little chain? Apparently, it was made by Gabriel Ulrist for designer, Ronnie Fieg's birthday.

Visions Of Visionaries

Dude's Twin, Fancy, saw this Visions Of Visionaries video which focused on Erykah Badu. She let theblagg know that we may like it because We and the E connect. What we then found out is that MADE (I think I'm in love with MADE) has done a series of these Visions Of Visionaries videos that are, in a word: necessary. One of the video's we really liked featured Bobbito Garcia. A man who needs no introduction. So we won't give him one. Peep:

VISIONS OF VISIONARIES WITH BOBBITO GARCIA from MADE Blog on Vimeo.

Crooks & Castles

There are a lot of brands that Dude admires and he always gets sidetracked before he has a chance to tell you all what's what. But don't fret, The Ordinary Girl is here to at least give you a taste of what's on his mind. For a few years, Dude has been raving about Crooks & Castles and I'd just be like "pass the remote" but to his credit, he was trying to get me onto something dope. Even Jay-Z wears it. Although, that may turn a few people off. Anyway, I can't quite remember where I read this but one of the corner stones of C&C is "behind every castle there's a crook" so that already gives you an idea of owner, Dennis Calvero's thinking. So if you like the shoes above then chances are you'll like the brand as a whole. Check them out:

Crooks & Castles Fall 2011 Preview from Crooks & Castles on Vimeo.

Fetish Or Feat?

A while ago, Dr ZVLV of Shelflife put The Ordinary Girl onto this thing called Shriiimping. Yes, with 3 i's. To cut a long story short, it's graffiti on women's naked/near naked bodies. Now I would consider myself a lot of things, conservative is not one of them. But put simply: I just don't get it. It's actually baffling to me that there are girls who allow men to do this to their bodies. But that may just be me. Some would just call it art while others may say it is littered with messages of misogyny. I'm interested to know what you think.



Oh, and how the designing half of Shelflife and I got to that point is because of their collaboration with Puma (a first in the country) which launched WORLDWIDE on 8/8/11. Even Colette in Paris had the limited Puma x Shelflife stock. After chatting Dr ZVLV up, I wrote a really long (and what I thought was a dope) article on these Metrorail-inspired Puma Suedes which were dubbed the Train Runner as well as the ladies version of the joints, which go under the Laces and Ladies moniker. But the J-O shelved it because it mentioned a brand name more than once. And by now, you've all seen the pictures all over the 'nets so I won't bother.

If you missed the launch party you can still check out what went down HERE.



Now as you can see, the logo of the L&L's is a silhouette of a woman - we dig that. But some of the detailing on the sneakers (which come in mids and lows) and in the ladies range is inspired by Shriiimping. It's not as in your face on the kicks, but as a movement, Shriiimping refuses to be ignored. Are you paying attention yet?

Sneakerness Amsterdam 2011

I repeat: PLEASE SEND ME TO A SNEAKERNESS EVENT ONE DAY!!! Ahem...Sneakerness Amsterdam 2011 went down this weekend. Here's how it was.



I hope STR.CRD is this dope yo.

A Vans Fiasco

The kid Lupe Fiasco, who has done collab with Reebok and Converse already, has added another sneaker collab on his resume' ( Ahem...That's a CV to South Africans ). This time its the skateboard brand Vans.
Vans added Wasalu to its roster of OTW collabs for Spring 2012 and I cannot front on these. They are super clean. I doubt that I'd kick push in these though. Peep them below and tell us what you think.

The Maestro You Should Know

Yep. Levi Maestro - try not to be like us and go bananas in the office, it scares the suits - will be at this year's STR.CRD. This time it will be held in Johannesburg's Maboneng Precinct from September 20 to 24. Also scheduled to be present is SBTG (I think Dude is so psyched about this one he wants to chest-bump the organisers for bringing Mark Ong), Patta (YES!), Frolab and Woody of Sneaker Freaker. Yes, yes, we know what the only thing you want to know from us now is: get your pre-sold tickets HERE

The Train Runner

It may be The Stoned Lui's bornday but August 8 will also be the birth of a new era. As Shelflife teased before, we finally have a smallanyana look at what 8/8/11 will be all about. The Cape Town sneaker and graffitti culture store has collaborated with Puma on a brand spanking new sneaker. So far this is what we know: the colourway is grey and yellow, grey and yellow, grey and yellow. And that's not because they were a few shades shy of mimicking a rap song. It's because those are the colours of South Africa's train system, the Metrorail.



We also know that the sneakers are called the Train Runners. And we know that you can win tickets to the launch party happening on, you guessed it, 8/8/11. So click HERE for info on those. In the meantime, Shelflife is still teasing folks by releasing a few snaps of the actual kicks just to give you a sense of what they'll look and feel like. Peep:





What do you think? You like?