What do you get when you mix Greco-Roman culture with an all too familiar American pastime? A skateboard complete with gladiator sandals! Warranted the gladiator sandal is being paraded up and down by men and women alike, but to affix a sandal to a skateboard is without doubt a head-scratching move.
Is it an appeal to a different market, perhaps? If so, I didn’t know skate culture was one to embrace the coveted gladiator sandal. Or maybe Pharrell has put them up to it!
But as I stare at this contraption, I’m flushed with a bit of unease and affinity. For starters, how is a skateboarder buckled into this mélange of board and sandal to execute an aerial skateboard trick like a heelflip? Hang on…before we even speak on executing a jump, how does one kick-push into motion if you’re already saddled up in the gladiator sandal?
Functionality is definitely a downer here, but aesthetics-wise, this Greece is for Lovers (GIFL) skateboard slash sandal does offer some strides. Once you overcome the idiosyncrasy of seeing a gladiator sandal on a skateboard, the board’s ochre leather finish will move you to appreciate the craftsmanship that’s gone into making this contraption.
However, let’s backtrack to reality and truth be told, what GIFL has designed here is for a league of facetious skaters who want to dabble in the sport for flippant, showboating purposes. No professional skateboarder—let alone a fashionista/o type—in their right mind would pick this up and I think GIFL knows this. Using wisecrack lines like “Strap on this leather beauty and pose your cred away” as a marketing ploy is a dead give away that this is all in fun!
With the negatives outweighing the positives, it’s a good thing that GIFL has tagged this mishmash of skateboard and gladiator sandal as a made to order purchase because I don’t see any takers.
[Images]
Tags: mens shoes, sandals, skateboarding
August 13th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Okay I’m glad they know it’s all in fun. Or rather, all in jokes…