Me and my Stans.

It’s finally happened, I have joined the sneaker society. Trainers have never really been my bag but since last year, they’ve replaced the stiletto as the shoe du jour. Even all the major fashion houses got in the game, opting for some more not-for-the-gym kinda kicks. But if like me you haven’t got the spare £100+ to spend on fashionable sportswear, I  have one pocket-friendly name that will solve all your trainer needs, Adidas’s own Stan Smith.

I am sort of lucky that years of working in retail trained me to not feel my feet, but the same doesn’t go for my ankles. I’ve always had weak ones since I can remember, but after a bad fall last year, I was sentenced to my Converse Chuck Taylor’s for a few weeks. Although these are the only kind of trainer I’ve worn most of my life, it was hard for me to find cute ways to wear them that still felt like my style. Turns out, it was a blessing, a sore one but a blessing none the less. I found myself completely converted, keeping one eye on new and classic styles that crossed my path.  You would think the biggest challenge would be how to stay dressing smart while wearing trainers. Wrong. Turns out, everything  goes with a pair of Stan Smiths. They inspired me to start trying more relaxed looks but still keeping with the seventies vibe I love. So much so, I marched straight into Zara to buy my first ever pair of black jeans. Black jeans AND trainers, WHO EVEN AM I?!

Trainers really have been having a fashion moment with three main styles dominating the OOTD  – the white rounded sports shoe, the slip on and the hi top. Since I already dabbled in the slip on and classic Converse, I was pretty late to the party for the crisp white trainer. Adidas first made these bad boys in the early 1960’s but they weren’t actually called Stan Smith until 1973, who was then the top tennis player at the time. Over the past year or so Addidas Stan Smiths have been on the feet of every man, woman and child, fashion loving and not. But this could be down to the fact that in 1988 they made their stamp in history by landing in the Guinness Book of World Records for the best selling sneak, and if history has told us anything, it’s that best selling products are cult products, forever. Really, these Adidas classics aren’t just for gutty lovers, they are for everyone.

Wearing: Black Jeans: Zara, Polo: Primark, Fringed Jacket: Circa Vintage, Bag: New Look,

Pom Pom: Present, Faux Fur Stole: Boohoo, Glasses: Iolla, Trainers: Adidas Stan Smith 

If you told me a few years back that I’d be rocking some trainers on the daily I’d tell you to get right out of dodge. It’s one of the style lessons that I learned in 2015, to try, try again when it comes to styles and trends that you like but don’t know how to wear. Black jeans and smart trainers are usually the unspoken uniform of the fashion pack, but somehow I couldn’t seem to get to grips with them personally until now. The flared ankle grazer style of the jeans meant I could wear them for most occasions; smart with my Dior dupes, or retro with my new pals Mr Smith. Pricing up a pair of Stan Smiths can be like asking how much budget you have for sales, with printed limited editions to minimalism at it’s finest ranging from £45+ for the kiddies sizes – holla at your size 5.5 and under girls! Judging by how much I have worn them already, cost per wear tells me they are actually free, well they were to me as I requested them from Gran for Christmas! Hell, you may even see me rocking a navy pair by winter!  Will you be joining the Stan Smith crew in 2016?