Turning casual fashion into cool, head-turning ensembles has been one of the greatest advancements in the industry in the last century. In recent years, streetwear fashion has gone from simple things you could wear in the streets (hence the name) to a high fashion staple with brands, status symbols, and designers all its own. No section of streetwear demonstrates this more clearly than the footwear industry.
If you want to turn everyone’s heads with your streetwear looks, you need to become a sneakerhead. What is a sneakerhead, and how exactly do you become one? What types of sneakers do you need to own? Here’s what you need to know.
A Sneakerhead Knows Their Casual Footwear History
Here’s the thing: Being a sneakerhead isn’t just about copping all the latest and greatest sneaker drops. While knowing what’s new, now, and next is important, knowing your roots plays a much greater role. After all, how can you know whether those supposedly vintage sneakers you bought off of someone are worth the money you spent if you don’t know when that shoe was released?
What’s more, most of the best sneakers for sneakerheads to own come from collaborations with a celebrity or a sports star. The shoes of an A-lister will earn you much more street cred than those of someone no one even knows.
Set Your Budget
As with any collecting hobby, you should first determine how much of your monthly budget goes towards adding to your sneaker collection. There are many would-be sneakerheads who failed to budget for their high-dollar purchases and got themselves in a lot of debt as a result. If you know how much you’re willing to spend on your kicks early on, you can avoid overextending yourself and save or scrimp to get the dream shoes that you want.
Determine Your Style
While collectability is important for some sneakerheads, shoes are, in fact, designed to be worn around. So, it’s best if you take stock and determine your style. After all, you wouldn’t want to drop hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes that you hate even looking at.
Are you a fan of basketball shoes? Or do you prefer the simpler profiles of skating shoes? If you’re more a fan of the latter, you can shop for Nike SB from our affiliates.
Whatever your preference, know what you like before you start shopping. It will save you some serious buyer’s remorse later on.
Start Building Your Sneaker Collection
Now that you’ve determined your budget and style, let’s dive into collection building. How do you start building your sneaker collection so that you become the envy of all sneakerheads around you? Some basic steps you can take include, but are not limited to:
Shop at Outlets or Online
Naturally, unless you have very generous friends, you’ll need to do some shopping for your sneakers. If you shop at outlets or online, you can save loads of money compared to the mark-ups some retailers conduct on limited releases or celebrity shoe drops. Browse around across multiple sites and stores if you can to ensure that you get the best possible price for your new pairs of sneaks.
Keep An Eye Out for Dream Kicks
Naturally, while you shop around, you should keep a weather eye out for any sets that you yearn for. No sneakerhead wants to miss out on their dream set of kicks because they didn’t have the money to spare for them when they became available. So, while you search for new additions to your sneaker collection, make sure you don’t neglect your search for that one pair of Jordans that you long for beyond all else.
Know What’s Up and Coming in Athletic Footwear
We mentioned above that being a sneakerhead is about knowing both your history and what’s popping now. Make sure you follow your favorite designers’ social media accounts and keep up to date on the latest sneaker drops from your celebrity faves. You can use the information revealed there to decide if you want to budget for the new release or if you’d rather pass on them and wait for something more your speed.
Broke, But Still Want the Best Sneakers? Don’t Sweat It!
Hey, we get it. Getting the money you need to build your collection of athletic footwear can be a struggle and a half. If you’re broke, you don’t have to suffer unfashionable shoes and wistful glances towards new releases. Some of the ways you can get the best sneakers without having the most cash include:
Looking for the Big Sales
You should honestly do this anyway, but it’s especially important if your money’s tight. Look for big sales from your favorite designer outlets, especially after holidays or right after a new yearly release drops. Stores will want all of their old inventory gone and are willing to offer major discounts to move that product.
Buying from Local Sellers
Sometimes people buy a set of kicks because they thought they looked nice. However, they either outgrow them or decide to get rid of them for some quick cash without knowing the true worth of what they have. Maybe the family of someone who recently passed on needs to hold an estate sale with all their old sneakers.
Whatever the reasoning behind the sale, you can score great bargains on top-tier sneakers from local sellers.
Checking Out Thrift and Secondhand Stores
Of course, we would be remiss in not mentioning your local thrift shop as a major player for the broke sneakerhead. People ditch premium items at the thrift store without the faintest idea of their true value. Sure, most of the stuff you find isn’t great, but you can find diamonds in the rough if you’re willing to dig.
Want More Tips to Become the Best Sneakerhead You Can Be?
We hope that these tips helped you start on the path to becoming a sneakerhead. However, if you want more fun, fashionable tips to become the best collector you can be, check out our blog for more articles like this one!
