From the Volt

I've been wearing my current pair of Nike Lunarglide 6 running shoes for over a year and a half, and they've racked up a lot of miles. I've trained for & run 10k's & half marathons in them and they're definitely reaching the end of their life.

One of the reasons I hadn't replaced them yet was that I really don't like this years Lunarglide 7 (Plus spending sneaker money on basketball shoes is tons more exciting than running shoes). While they haven't changed a whole lot from the 6's I really dislike the toebox, which is a really loose material, and I much prefer the more structured shape of the 6's.

So I did a little hunting online and found a store that still had the Lunarglide 6 in my size. Because they're an old model I got them at a great discounted price, however that did mean I was pretty limited in the colours available, but decided this pair in Volt/Flash Lime/Liquid Lime are just the right side of too loud.

As I mentioned in my post about the Nike Hyper Elite basketball socks last week I think its definitely worth investing in good ahtletics socks. So with that in mind I added a two pack of Nike running socks to the order so the new shoes are extra comfy.

The Icon Part 2

Back in the early 90's ITV showed WCW wrestling as part an awesome Saturday afternoon line-up that also included McGyver and The A-Team. As a kid who didn't get to see a lot of WWF at the time I became a big WCW fan and I used to love watching Vader (who I was terrified of), Ron Simmons, Jake the Snake, and especially Sting.


Sting is arguably better remembered for the black & white NWO era gimmick, but I loved his 90's surfer look. So even though I'd just got one Sting shirt, when WWE Shopzone emailed to say they were having a sale on legends tees, I couldn't resist picking up this classic Sting shirt at the bargain price of £12.

I love the neon 90's style graphics, and the pale yellow will be great for summer. I found a scan of a 1991 WCW merchandise catalog on the WCW Worldwide blog (a great site with a ton of cool WCW stuff), and as you can see it does a great job of capturing the look of the classic WCW tee's.

Image from WCWWorldwide.com

Hyper Elite

I know socks are generally regarded as being really boring, but I'm definitely of the opinion that sports socks are the exception to that rule. It was when I started running that I released what a difference good socks make. It doesn't matter how great your shoes are if your wearing socks that are going to rub and be uncomfortable as soon as they get a bit sweaty.

For basketball Nikes Hyper Elite socks are awesome. They have extra thick panels and cushioning in key areas and really help to keep your feet comfy when playing.

I'd seen this awesome multi-coloured pair (more than a little reminiscent of the colours in Nike's flyknit shoes) a few weeks back, but hadn't been able to find my size (for some reason I always struggle to find my size in Nike socks). So when I saw them again when I visited House of Hoops this week I didn't hesitate to grab a pair.

They're not cheap but I definitely think its worth the investment especially if your playing regularly. I was going to get a pair of Kevin Durant Elite socks as well, but when I checked the price I decided that paying an extra £5 just for the KD logo was a bit ridiculous.

The Icon

Its been about a year since I signed up for the WWE Network and it's been a lot of fun getting into wrestling again. I've always been a big WCW fan so I particularly enjoyed seeing Sting finally appear in a WWE ring, plus the network has allowed me to go back and watch a lot of classic WCW from back in the day.

Its been a longtime since I've bought a wrestling shirt, but couldn't resist this awesome Sting tee. I love the comic book style portrait on the front, it really captures the spirit of Stings character, and it has the classic scorpion logo on the back. Its still a little strange to see a Sting shirt with a WWE logo, but it's great to be able to get new merch (I've grabbed a couple of new Sting action figures) for some of the classic WCW guys.

I got the shirt from EMP clothing. Check back later in the week for part 2 of my new Sting t-shirts.

Winter Accessories

Over the last month or so I've picked a few new accessories to refresh my day to day outfits. Autumn/Winter is definitely a good time for accessorising as the cold weather means you can mix up materials and add some layering and texture.

I picked up a new Timex watch as my last one had stopped working. I think I'd had it for about six years and I really loved it. Unfortunately it had a mechanical fault, and it really wasn't worth the expense of having it repaired when it only cost £45 to start with. I tried to find an exact replacement, but Timex had stopped making it, but I was able to find one that was very similar. 

I love the simplicity of Timex's watches. The military field watch styling is both casual and smart depending on how your dressed and its firmly established my new go-to everyday watch. Like my previous Timex this model was also under £50, so it's awesome value.

I always find a new tie is an easy way to refresh my work outfits, and when I found this blue & green striped tie I decided it was worth splashing out on. I think it was 50p well spent, and continues my run of finding great tie bargains in charity shops. It doesn't have a label to say where its from, but it definitely has a classic polo style to it.

Lastly I picked up some heavy duty winter socks from Gap. I have 3 or 4 pairs of these now and they're great for cold winter mornings. I love the combination of heathered blue and brown shades, combined with the bright red.

XX9 Vol.3 (RW)

I added another pair of the Air Jordan XX9 to my collection this week. I've covered how much I love the XX9 on multiple occasions, so when the Russell Westbrook edition ghost dropped this week I had to grab a pair. Luckily they released at House of Hoops in London, as the last couple of shoes I've wanted haven't released in the UK.

They're the player edition colourway that Russ wore for the All Star game this year. The only difference is that they have the RW logo on the tongue instead of the 23 that were on his original version, & instead of the orange pods on the sole they have the 30th anniversary Jordan logo.

I've already worn then once, and like the other XX9's the performance is awesome so it's great to have another pair to add to my basketball rotation.

Most wanted sneakers Fall 2015

Sometimes I'll go for quite a while without there being any sneakers that I'm particularly  interested in, and the more pairs I have, the more discerning I become about what I buy. But sometimes a whole bunch of stuff appears that I'm super excited about, and Fall 2015 is shaping up to be a pretty good season...

1. If you've been following my blog you'll know how much I love the Jordan XX9. So I was very excited when this pair were announced this week as part of the 'Feng Shui' pack. The turquoise midsole and purple jumpman really pop against the super clean white upper. Theres talk of these being a China only release, but hopefully I'll get a chance to pick these up.

2. I've never been that into the Jordan VIII, but there's something about this '3 Peat' colourway that I really like. I think its the contrasting white and black colour-blocks and then the bright details (that represent the three teams that Jordan beat to win his first three championships) that give it a great '90s throwback style. You could definitely see the Fresh Prince rocking these with a brightly coloured shell-suit.

3. I have a couple of pairs of Jordan 1's in red/black/white, and a pair in black/royal would be a welcome addition to my sneaker rotation. The low top version is a little different and it makes for a versatile shoe for autumn.

4. I really like what Converse have done with the Chuck II and I was very tempted to pick up a pair in royal blue from the release pack. But I'm a sucker for maroon, and I love this colour that was just announced as one of the Fall colours.

5. The Air Max Sensation is another '90's era basketball shoe that brings back great memories for me. I vividly remember a kid from school called Alex had a pair of these and I always loved the oversized chunky feel and big max air units. They also have the swoosh on the toe-box that is one of my favourite details from that era of Nike basketball shoes.

6. This is where things get really interesting. Apparently the Hornets colours of the Jordan XIII which were originally player exclusives for Chris Paul when he played for New Orleans, are actually being released. There's nothing confirmed at the moment, and no word on when this is happening, but as the XIII is my favourite Jordan shoe, and I'm a big Chris Paul fan so I'm pretty excited about this. Hopefully its actually happening, they won't be too limited and that I'll be able to get a hold of a pair.

...to make a Champion

Way back in July I was in Leicester for the wedding of one of my university house mates. We stayed over for a night and the next day we took the opportunity to have a mooch around Leicester city center. Its changed a lot since I was at university, but it still has some excellent shopping.

I've been looking for a varsity style jacket for over a year now, so I was super excited when I found this satin Champion jacket in Well Gosh that ticked all the boxes. I had been after a traditional leather sleeved letter-man style jacket, but I love the bright red satin which perfectly captures the feel of vintage Starter jackets and old school basketball teams.

Being a '90s basketball kid I have a real nostalgia for when Champion made NBA replica jerseys so the embroidered 'C' logo on the chest, and the arch logo on the back are a real throw back to some of the best years of the NBA, plus the red/blue combo goes great with a Clippers jersey.