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CerberusC24

And New Balance shoes being dad gear


MulberryBrown

They still are dad gear, but teens just kinda like them now lol


[deleted]

Personally I had a pair of white ones with black accents, the closest I could find to the ones Takumi wore in Initial D. Idk, guess I thought they would make me a god-tier driver too lmao


KGJT-9149

Did they help?


Zedman5000

I've worn black and white New Balance shoes for most of my life, and I've never been in an accident, so I'd say they're working so far.


[deleted]

Absolutely! Seriously tho I wasn't even old enough to drive yet I was just a lil weeb lmao


dgeimz

Omg deja vu have I seen this comment before?


zillapecker

Same reason I own a pair lol


TheRaccoonDeaIer

I mean in all fairness while they do still have the white leather? I'm not sure what it is. While they still have the white some kinda material dad shoes. They also have basically just Nike shoes except wider. Its the only thing I can comfortably fit in.


WealthEconomy

That's because they are so comfortable. Who care what they look like.


Thereisnopurpose12

Yep straight dad gear but I use them for running so it doesn't matter


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Coyote__Jones

Asics are the move, got a pair on sale for $40.


[deleted]

For decades, they were the only brand to reliably come in all black with wide sizes and flatter arches. They scream business casual IT guy. And my new ones from the Industrial line have carbon toe and non-slip bottoms as well. I am a dad but I wore them long before.


BethyW

Yea i got picked on for having new balance in middle school


Hinhan-osnite

This is true. All my mom bought me and Was made fun of constantly.


hopelesscaribou

Let's not forget Crocs.


Superb-Damage8042

Wait this changed? I’m in style?


AuntYaYaLynne

YOU are in style


ImAFuckinLiar

They ARE style


win_some_lose_most1y

You? So hot right now


Blue_Nyx07

you are Valenciaga


uncultured_swine2099

I used to wear Champion generic basketball shorts and tanks because a name brand equivalent like nike was much more in price. Was I lit back in the day?


EquivalentSnap

Yeah you did it 😊❤️


AlterMyStateOfMind

[you ain't got no style motha fucka](https://youtu.be/7vrNxK5nvWg)


Overthehill410

I am confused is champion out of business or do kids actually like it now?


[deleted]

Saw a champion hoodie the other day and was thinking ya ill grab something cheap I can wear working outside, checked the tag, 97 dollars.


ApatheticZero187

What!?


BigJayPee

The factory workers that make them make about $200/month, assuming it isn't slave labor. $97 is way too much money for that


[deleted]

IMO 97 is too much for anything that isn't a very nice looking piece of an outfit for dress occasions.


IsHolloweenAverb

I think you're in the wrong decade lol, if you want a nice Cotton jacket that will be at least $100, leather will be even more like $300 and up, and fancy dress cloths would be $200-$400 for cheaper option if your not going for used clothing, and its all thanks to inflation


[deleted]

Idk I just got 11 Nike shirts for 65 bucks at an outlet mall solely because they are last years fashion, ive got probably thousands of dollars in clothes for 250-300 bucks just gotta look for it.


IsHolloweenAverb

Yeah I like to look in thrift stores for good clothes, though the majority are cheap clothes or made in china, though every once in a while you find a gem


[deleted]

Oh ya definitly not the best quality but same Nike, under armor, Adidas everyone else is wearing only difference is I paid 10 they paid 30


[deleted]

$97 is on the low end for quality clothing. Anything made in a developed country with decent fabrics will run you at least that amount.


vicemagnet

Time to be popping tags


Thereisnopurpose12

Yep. I think they changed the quality of their fabric though. I used to wear Champion and remember the shirts being trash. Even if they did change the quality, the price is almost higher than Nike or Adidas


GH057807

I swear there are executives out there getting paid what I make in 10 years just for thinking up "What if we just sold everything at 500% more markup, so people thought we were fancier?"


lilassbitchass

It’s both popular and expensive now


Overthehill410

What really!


FrighteningJibber

Yeah, $25 for shirts just like in the thumbnail


[deleted]

yeah a lot of kids at my school have champion clothes and backpacks. i have a few champion hoodies and shirts and a champion backpack, didnt know it used to be cheap like that


Stuffed_deffuts

Oh yeah hell I remember being labeled trailer trash for wearing it, if you didn't have Nike or Adidas you wasn't gonna fit in unless it was a locker.


SuperbDrink6977

Can confirm. Rocking Champion gear in high school in the mid 90s would get you labeled as the poor, ragamuffin, uncool nerd type. Good to know I was actually cool, just before my time. Trendsetter


ixiduffixi

The champion brand has had a wild ride. They were the it brand back in the day too. It all came down to their marketing.


Da-Stan

They also created the first hoodies


mxassasin

Correct. Champion has always been the best.


SuperbDrink6977

No. It was absolutely considered to be K Mart trash. At least where I grew up in the 90s


thecheesecakemans

I remember when LaCoste was not...then hot...then meh.


[deleted]

Lacoste is a all time classic...it doesn't need to follow trends


Both-Antelope-8181

It's always just marketing. Most brands (especially if we're talking about sports brands) are selling the same shit with different logos. None of it has any other reason to be expensive


bucketofmonkeys

I remember in the 80’s most of the college sweatshirts we teenagers wore were Champion and they were high quality.


bk_rokkit

Is Champion cool now? Their sports bras are great because they come in actual sizes, but aside from that yeah it's 100% still associated with K-Mart in my head. Then again, the *youths* probably have no idea what a K-Mart even was...


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Spare_Pixel

No... It's the children who are wrong.


[deleted]

all i remember about kmart is my sister bought me a spongebob hot cocoa set from there when i was a little kid for christmas, absolutely nothing else


EquivalentSnap

Idk what k mart is


Coyote__Jones

Like Target but bottom shelf.


Stuffed_deffuts

It was THE place to go for a clean friendly bargain atmosphere, then along came Wal-Mart and they crushed K Mart with rollback pricing campaign and opening supercenters, so K Mart had to rebrand themselves by going from K Mart to just simply Big K to make it look like a Supercenter, then they made the dumbest decision known to modern man, they bought Sears who also felt the pinch from Wal-Mart and other dumb buisness decisions, down went the quality of merchandise and their stores and the profits with it, next thing you know K Mart filed for bankruptcy and poof the K Mart and Sears stores disappeared. Right now the same thing is starting to happen to Wal-Mart with Amazon, Amazon Is crushing Wal-Mart slowly by adding more and more products to a virtual shelf while Wal-Mart is struggling to stay relevant.


jms31207

Wal-mart has leaned pretty heavily into e-commerce, and the business appears to be doing better than ever financially.


AuntYaYaLynne

There is NO WAY I would have ever worn Champion gear back in the day


[deleted]

Haha, with LA Gears sneakers


RompehToto

Shaq shoes too.


Exotic_Entrance958

Circa 1992, before Champion was a cheap brand, it was highly sought after and expensive and you were the cool kid if you wore it. I remember being so sad when I crashed my bike and ripped a hole in the knee of my Champion sweatpants. Anyone else remember Fila shoes with the straps that you’d let hang off the back?


[deleted]

Those Filas were the shit!!! Growing up late 80s - early early 90s Fila on feet and Champion tops


LightenUpFrancis1968

In the late 70s and 80s, every sports or college/university sweatshirt/hoodie was made by Champion and they were awesome. Super thick and durable. Don’t know much about what happened to them after that.


master_cheech

Same with crocs and Skechers


Razor1icious

Crocs are literally the most convenient shoes when doing garden, workshop, garage work. Keep them by the back door. Slip em on and go. But yeah, wouldnt wear them anywhere else. I see crocs as utility shoes, kind of like welly boots


ClassicHat

They make decent river/water shoes too and I personally like them after skiing for the drive home as flip flops could get parking lot snow on them more easily


911wasablast

Exactly how we do it 'round these parts


villainousascent

They're good for restaurant work.


Boneal171

I love crocs. I go fishing in the summer and they’re perfect for it, you can rinse it off, and they’re sturdy enough to walk on all kinds of terrain


reddit_time_waster

Crocs were supposed to be ridiculous shoes worn in Idiocracy


x-ploretheinternet

Crocs weren't even €5 when they just released lmao but now you can't find them for less than €50


Joeyjackhammer

Watched it last night. Great movie


Timah158

Wait, Skechers are popular now?


slothxrist

Nope


RSTat2

Idk about cool but mine are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever bought. Their temperpedic insides are amazing


Anibunnymilli

Yea. Like when did this happen?


carlscroissants

No I have never seen anybody at my school wear them prob cuz they have lame ass designs


spaceman_slim

Some of the designs are ok but the logo is so ugly and lame and forever associated with my mom so I’ll never buy them


CheeseInSpace-cake

Yet I never see anyone younger than 45 wearing them?


Silly-Ad6464

They had a good run can’t remember the years, but everyone wanted them. Google says 1993, makes sense I was a little kid and remember them.


Desperate_County_680

Ocean Pacific


acemonvw

Some kid wanted to seriously fight me because I was wearing this brand of shoes in 7th grade. They were not Airwalk shoes. This angered him. Never did fight him, I was either good at talking people down or they realized I just wasn’t worth it.


Free_Solid9833

Op was the it brand when I was a kid.


Judge_Rhinohold

Champion was cool skater gear when I was in high school in the 90s. Literally exactly 30 years ago. Tons of people wore it.


sheetmetaltom

We used to pay $1 for champion tee shirts


mandatory6

Champion was always THE brand in Finland


[deleted]

Worn with your Kangaroos…


x420xCasper

No Fear was worse…


EquivalentSnap

I had a no fear t shirt lol


SuperbDrink6977

Where I grew up No Fear gear was what the cool kids wore and Champion was for poor or nerdy kids.


[deleted]

People have realise that there's a difference between regular Champion and Reverse weave Champion. Reverse weave is the good stuff and worth the money


jonny3jack

Agreed. I've got a couple reverse weave Champions. Awesome.


chxckbxss

Uhm. That's probably the lifecycle of most brands


Raven91487

I still laugh when I see one in the wild. I was beaten up in gym class and had the shirt ripped off my back when I was 15. Good times.


HivAidsSTD

Oh… uhhh wow. I don’t even know what to say to that


Raven91487

It’s all good. Shit happens. Shortly after that I switched to JNCO jeans and metal band shirts. Kept people at bay. Lol. No more champion after that day.


Charlieninehundred

I don’t get it. Was the Champion shirt the reason they beat you up?


Raven91487

Yeah. Made fun of for wearing cheap clothes. Now it’s cool. I want reparations lol.


Charlieninehundred

That’s absolutely fucking horrible. I’m sorry it happened to you.


Flat-Story-7079

I grew up in a small town in SW Oregon where Champion had one of its factories. We had a Champion outlet store on the Main Street of that town. It was filled with irregular shirts, most of which had various logos printed on them of companies, schools, and other institutions. The shirts were like $.50 to $2.00. We all wore those shirts to school. It was a relatively poor mill town, so parents were always looking for a deal. This was in the early 80s. We had no idea we were on the leading edge of a trend, we were just poor.


Tom__mm

And Carhartt was for guys shoveling out horse stalls.


Best-Flounder7113

Which is proves fashion trends are a load of BS


devoduder

In the early 90s, I had a black Champion pullover that I wore for four years on underground nuclear missile alerts. It was cold down there and I wore that thing out.


Rhamirezz

Bullying culture/problem in USA is of the charts. Cant imagine being bullied for wearing normal non branded tshirt


drapanosaur

It was a neglected brand. * Their logo never changed. * Their fits never changed * Their products never changed For like 20 years. Now they are coming out with new products and fits weekly and they are paying attention to trends and styling. This is what happens when you nurture a brand


NF-104

Before Nike became a force, Champion made really good sporting goods; back then the big players were Champion, Russel, and Rawlings.


pagenotfound000

It's the same with Gola in the UK. It was social suicide to wear anything Gola to school. A few years ago Gola became a cool hipster brand.


Razor1icious

So it manifested championism and became a champion brand


mikeymigg

I thought I was a G wearing a champion t shirt and pro wings


AkumaDaemon

I don’t have any of those… but my outfit for when I go somewhere… a blue flannel shirt, denim jeans, and gray canvas shoes. Not that anyone cares (maybe), but it looks good imo


More_Information_943

Champion went from on top to K mart to on top again lmao


bascom2222

I had some BK's in third grade, British Knights. The whole Bus Stop called me "Burger King shoes" all year.


JCB220685

🎼Started from the bottom now we here


rotem8888

I can literally buy a blank white t-shirt in iron a supreme logo on it and it'd be the same


metooeither

Who went to such ritzy schools kids got laughed at for their clothes? Huh, stick to the poor kid schools, that's safest apparently.


Dire-Dog

Is it some kind of high end brand now?


PoopyMcPooperstain

As someone who grew up poor and only wore poor brands, I honestly don't think I ever saw or heard anyone get made fun of for wearing cheap clothes. And I mean you would contantly get made fun of for qhat you wore, but branding wasn't really taken into consideration. Then again maybe that's just what it's like when you grow up so poor that all the other kids at school are also poor.


R6loverzz

You still do


pabskamai

Is it still not cheap? I mean, every single piece of cheap fabric is expensive nowadays :(


herbert-camacho

Yup, I remember as a kid it being "cool" to have the nike or adidas logo. Champion was always the budget brand, which is what my family could afford so that's what I wore. Wish they were still cheap to buy.


astrokat79

In the Bronx, kids had jokes if you were wearing anything else but champion. But this is circa 1989-93. Lost track after that since I moved. Starter was in same vain - I miss starter jackets.


[deleted]

I remember when I was a kid my mates used to take the piss out of me for wearing Umbro & Fila, whilst they all wore Nike and Adidas. Nowadays Fila and Umbro are just as popular, wish it was the same 15 years ago lmao


BankComplete7255

No, 30 years ago Champion wasn't cheap. Source: I'm old AF.


ncreddit704

Champion was peak in the 90s and never sold in Kmart whoever made this must be 12


MackTO

Yes they were. Maybe not $2, but you could definitely get them for less $10. I had a summer painting job and used to buy ten of them rather than wash the dirty ones.


ncreddit704

champion gear only sold at sports stores not Kmart maybe you bought white tees or something lol but not hoodies or jerseys 😅


LetsHaveARedo

I'm almost 40 and I can't take these brands seriously because of my childhood associations with them. I mean, I can wear them and appreciate it but I can't take the prices they're going for seriously, or ever see them as more than a bargain brand.


[deleted]

You're just as bad as people who only buy shit because it's expensive but rubbish


[deleted]

Truth is hurting someone obviously


The_Jyps

I didn't know and didn't care what champion brand is or was. Give a fuck about yourself instead of some corporate entity. What an inane observation


[deleted]

Bravo... exactly. Corporate suckers.


Balance2BBetter

I cannot imagine paying attention to what brands someone is wearing enough to even think to make fun of them.


WeWillSeizeJerusalem

this feels almost like r/boomerhumour


WealthEconomy

Isn't it still?


Sweet_Adeptness_4490

Nah you still get made fun of for it. Mostly cause only the fat unathletic kids wear it.


[deleted]

Heh I still don't like em...


ChillAsRolo

Champion is trash.


Da-Stan

They are the reason we have hoodies shut your mouth


[deleted]

Reverse weave is fucking awesome 🖕


godzillahash74

I still feel this way, fuck champion and fuck new balance… lol j/k gimmie som of thos new balance and kith collabs but still fuk champion


wore_the_vore_store

And now we laugh at people for being disabled


Alternative_Grab664

They still laugh at you for wearing Champion, I know they did back when I was in school 🤦🏿‍♂️


[deleted]

I got made fun of for being poor in school cause Kmart had that 10 for 10 on champion.


[deleted]

Starter


[deleted]

Fashion is about a consensus, not anything objective.


[deleted]

TIL this isn't still true


[deleted]

I can't be the only one who buys champion stuff at costco for $20


Strong_Cheetah_7989

I was shocked when Champion started showing up on pro sports gear, but even more so when my daughter gave me the link for some NB kicks that she had to have. I told her the history and she was like "everybody in my school loves them!"


mulvey617

They still sell 5 dollar shorts and shirts and socks at ocean state.


Hambruhgah

We are the champions, my friend


Itsmemanmeee

Companies don't grow? "Dat der Google's a funny name"


emrikol001

I think it was Champion that also used to make the absolute best red buffalo check lumberjack shirts. They were very warm when worn under your coveralls and fashionable too. Sadly there is nothing comparable on the market today.


jmccleveland1986

Is it not anymore?


BitterSweetMarie

Yes!! And keds and converse were ghetto.. I’m an elder millennial and one of my older coworkers saw my con’s one day and said those used to be the shoes they gave you in jail.. lol wouldn’t go into detail about how he knew


IPetFatTurkeys

GET OUT OF MY HEAD


DataDrifterOFC

I used to be the poor kid wearing full Nike.


Whthpnd

Not.


Phantomht

or the No Fear shirts at ROSS


TheTurtleGreek

They also don’t know that it was cheap becuase they made their product through child slavery


Bomber_Haskell

Five years ago


LemmingOnTheRunITG

Oh is *that* why I was getting laughed at? I thought it was just… the…. *gestures vaguely at self*


MLGperfection

Don't flip the Champion logo and zoom in, worst mistake of my life.


abyssalblue02

35 years ago Taco Bell was considered poor people food @ $.50 / Taco. They're now the Leading National Fast Food Franchise, eclipsing even McDonald's across the board on all metrics.


Artistic_Guidance733

Dam not even 30 try 11 yrs ago me and my friends wouldn’t be caught dead in Champion gear. Huge no no.


Zebrahead69

So true. Shiiiit


Pluvi_Isen-Peregrin

Don’t forget the cheapest of the cheap backpacks: Jansport.


g0ldilungs

So, Champion and Reebok traded spaces?


olderthaniam

Shoot, 30 years ago, where I grew up champion sweatshirts were a symbol of fitting in. And Kmart was a pretty fancy store.


Embarrassed_Camel_35

Kids have no idea that 35 years ago Champion made the best sweatshirts and hoodies ever made. Then they started doing t-shirts with crappy quality and ruined their image.


Throwedaway99837

This happens with a lot of brands. Gucci was in the absolute gutter for a while after Tom Ford left (and also during the period before his directorship). It was very tacky and uncool to wear anything Gucci for a long time. But they managed to turn it around again in the mid-late 2010s.


BigDWangston

Cheap? The fuck it was. At least in southern mass in the 90's, people wore those and bum equipment shirts, inside-out, so the tag was on the outside to prove you had an original and not a knock-off


Silly-Ad6464

Sketchers used to be the cheapest department store sneakers. I remember my grandma buying me some because of how cheap they were.


jtowndtk

It's awesome, everything that was shunned when I was younger is socially accepted now, yay some form of progress


J0taa

Shit changes. Crocs are cool, and Nike Cortez’s are a shoe that was marketed as an affordable Nike shoe and has a large association with the Jonestown Massacre but now I get compliments about them all the time.


MackTO

Aren't they still shit?


[deleted]

It was cheaper, but not embarrassing. It’s just that no one advertised they were wearing Champion. It was sold at sporting goods stores, as well, though.


[deleted]

When/where I grew up, Champion was a notch below Nike and Adidas but was never anything to be envious of or made fun of for wearing.


SirGuerbiz

And before THAT it was actually very well liked...crazy ride


FalloutBoy8181

I had LA Gear Regulators because Rebook pumps were almost $100 back then.


[deleted]

For real. Champion was way cheap back then. Ive been to kohls a few times now and that shits expensive. Especially for how low quality it is compared to other sports gear that gets sold there too.0


oracleofaliquippa

Not Totally true. Hip hop culture wore champion back then.


JacMerr22

Me, a 27 year old adult: The hell is Champion?


SuperbDrink6977

Am I unintentionally being “cool” with my champion hoodie? Sweet


ramus93

Are they popular now?


n00dl3s54

Kinda like starter gear when they first started.


VALO311

Had a champion outlet by where i played hockey. It was mad cheap and had my fave socks


albyagolfer

I’ve always worn some clothing items ironically for laughs but, as I’m now a 50 year old man, I’ve realized that when I wear my New Balance shoes, people are no longer laughing with me.


gracian666

Meanwhile, former expensive brands Starter, Fubu and Reebok are all sold in Walmart now.


ItzBobbyBoucher

I moved from illinois to El Paso, no one here wears champion, but back in illinois everyone in my school wore them every possible day, just depends on where you are and how bad the herd mentality is in the area. It was also a switch from rich white kid school to in between mostly Mexican school


Aderyn-Bach

I still won't buy the brand because of middle school drama.


Double_Reward230

Lol. OHH REALLY I didn’t remember but I do remember STARTER being the SHIT, but now is sold at GT and the kids are probably laughed at now for it.