Daughters find fashion in tennis shoes

Whatever happened to those white tennis shoes?

These days, simple white shoe is hard to find. My daughters recently bought new tennis shoes. But neither Becca nor Bailey bought basic white.

Their shoes are colorful items.

Bailey's new favorite tennis shoes are black and red with fold-down sides. Becca's footwear is light blue, accented in green.

A friend of mine has a whole closet full of tennis shoes. These days, you can't just have a single pair of tennis shoes.

What began as a shoe for sports junkies has become as regular attire as wearing blue jeans.

The first rubber-soled shoes, called plimsolls, were manufactured in the 1800s.

But it wasn't until 1917 that tennis shoes were mass marketed. They were later termed sneakers because an advertising agent said they didn't make any noise when you walked.

Of course, no brand of sneakers is accident proof. Becca recently had to have seven stitches on her right knee as a result of an accident at a church camp while participating in a sack race.

For a few days, she had to get around on crutches. It wasn't the first time she had been hobbled.

I'm convinced that growing up is all about sprains, strains and stitches. Those who get through childhood with nary a scratch are rare.

But even Becca wouldn't let a few stitches keep her down, particularly when it came to back-to-school shopping. A seventh-grader needs some stylish clothes and shoes to further her education.

Even before the stitches came out, she was trying on new tennis shoes. After all, it's hard to keep a good shopper down.

There are so many different brands today that it's hard to keep track of them all. Some of them seemingly have a cushioning system that rivals the shocks on Detroit's best vehicles.

Plenty of inventors have worked overtime to improve on the once work-a-day tennis shoe.

In 1972, Bill Bowerman poured rubber into his wife's waffle iron, creating the basis for the waffle-sole design of one name-brand shoe. It's stuff like this that makes you proud to shop for shoes.

At any rate, as parents we want to be sure our children's feet are covered in crowd-pleasing footwear.

I'm convinced Becca and Bailey have enough shoes to start their own shoe museum.

Of course, they've outgrown many of their pairs of shoes and the rest apparently aren't stylish anymore.

In contrast, I have a single pair of gray tennis shoes. They're spotted with a few drops of paint, the result of some interior renovations we made to our home last year.

But I'm not about to discard them. When I get a pair of shoes broken in, I hold onto them as long as possible.

Still, I'm glad for the nation's economy that athletic shoes are selling well.

It took mankind a while to get comfortable with shoes. Early man had to make do with bag-like wrappings made of animal fur. Naturally, no lady wanted to go out on a date dressed in ferret footwear.

The good thing about athletic shoes is that no one will mistake your footwear for some poor animal skin.

Some shoes are just a good fit, at least while the style lasts.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.