Christmas Wish List: Part 3 (Last Minute Ideas!)

            OMG Christmas is literally days away and I couldn’t be more excited! I guess for me at this point, the number one thing on my Christmas wish list is for a white Christmas because here in the Midwest, it feels as if it is still fall with the 40⁰F weather and little to no snow. But for those of you who are looking to do some last minute shopping for your special athlete, here are some quick ideas on easy gifts to surprise them with on Christmas Day!
           In one of my previous posts, Fall Apparel Part 1: Nike Jackets, I mentioned the Nike Half-Zip jacket. Even though it’s a little bit colder in the winter and these jackets probably won’t keep you warm enough in below freezing temperatures, I still think it is a great gift because it is something that you can wear year round, whether under a heavy winter coat or over a tank top on a breezy summer night. Also if you want to make this half-zip jacket extra special for your athlete, it would be cool to get their team logo or name embroidered on the chest area of the jacket. I know my high school basketball did this with our half-zips and it was really popular amongst the players. I was jealous I didn’t get one, so this was one of the big things I asked for on my own Christmas wish list.
          Another really simple and easy Christmas idea for your special athlete would be a baseball hat. Lids offers numerous different styles of caps in any sports team imaginable, from the classic fitted hat all the way to bucket hats which seem to be all the rage with this year’s generation of teenage boys. Lids also offers the option to customize your own hat, but at this point in time with Christmas days away, it could be a time crunch, but it is still a great option! You honestly can’t go wrong with getting your special athlete a hat. Just make sure you get their favorite team, not their rival’s hat otherwise it could end up being the worst gift they receive, and we wouldn’t want that!
          For any other last minute Christmas ideas for your athlete I would recommend checking out Finish Line's 2014 Gift Guide. What I really like about it is that they have what seems to be a never ending list of awesome sportswear from all different sorts of sports brands. I hope my Christmas Wish List posts over the past few weeks have given you some great ideas, and stay tuned as I will be releasing a Christmas Wish List Stocking Stuffers Edition before the holidays end!

Christmas Wish List: Part 2

           Christmas is almost here and I’m still looking for more ideas to add to my wish list for the big man up North. This past week, I’ve been scouring sites like Wanelo and Pinterest, to find some new items that spark my interest. This first item is one for those of you who are runners, and it seems to be a big hit, as I’ve seen these new running tights all over my Twitter feed.  

Nike Flash Women's Running Tights

           Nike’s Flash Women's Running Tights seem to be the new big thing this Christmas season. What I find to be so cool about these leggings is how Nike incorporated the reflective aspect of the pants into their overall design, instead of just adding a few random reflective patches here and there. These tights come in five different colors as well. Their design allows them to not only be used for the running aspect, but you can make a fashion statement in them as printed and patterned leggings are all the rage this winter season. 
           Another item that caught my eye were the basketball socks on Wanelo. Now these aren’t just any old black and white basketball socks. No, these are out of this world, crazy, creative, unique socks that you can’t find anywhere else. A company known as Customize Elite Socks has taken over the basketball sock world with their crazy new designs that can be found in gyms across the country. They have any design of Nike Elite socks you can imagine with designs that range from the Disney movie Frozen and The Ninja Turtles to a classic tie-dye design. There is even the option to customize your own Nike Elite Socks to make your own classic design. If you want to step up your style both on and off the court and stand out from the crowd I would definitely recommend adding this to your wish list this Christmas season.

Nike Roshe Run

           Finally for those of you looking for a new pair of kicks to strut in once the New Year kicks off, put Nike Roshes on your list as well. Over the past month Roshes have become the new “it” shoe by Nike. They offer a simple and sleek design and come in numerous different patterns and color combinations to please any type of customer. Also a big plus is that they are SUPER comfortable because they have an oversized sole that offers extra cushion. I feel like they go really well with any type of athletic wear from your baggiest sweat pants to skin tight leggings. I already own a pair of Roshes and I’ve added them to my own Christmas wish list because I love them so much I want another pair just in a different color.
           I really hope that these options have interested you and you take some time to check out these awesome ideas for your Christmas wish list as I know they are all for sure on mine!

Images Courtesy of www.nike.com and www.kicksonfire.com

Sweatshirts are Life

            If you were to tell me that for the rest of my life I could only wear a certain article of clothing, my first and only choice would be a sweatshirt. I’m not kidding when I say that I wear a sweatshirt to school for about 75% of the school year. The entire top rack of my closet is packed with a sweatshirt from every college imaginable.  I think they are the most comfortable thing to wear on this earth especially when they are oversized and baggy, and you can pair them with yoga pants and it still looks cute. With sales at an all-time high right now due to the Christmas Season, you are in luck at getting the best deals on some awesome sweatshirts.    
           If you are looking for a great hoodie to rep your favorite school in, I would check out Finish Line. Every time I go in there, they have all the top schools sweatshirts in numerous different colors and designs. You can get a sweatshirt design that has the team logo, school mascot, or even just the classic block lettering of the school name, which is my favorite design. Also a big reason to go to Finish Line right now is because they are having a deal on sweatshirts at 2 for $35, which I consider to be a steal! Normally a great sweatshirt, like the ones sold at Finish Line, cost about $35-$40 apiece, so 2 for $35 is like getting one for free. I know I will be definitely be cashing in on that deal!
          Other types of sweatshirts that you should check out would be those from Nike and Under Armour. Under Armour’s Big Logo sweatshirts are my favorite because they have several different color options and patterns. Also on the outside they have a smooth texture that is water resistant and then the inside it nice and fuzzy, which is what sweatshirts are all about. Nike also offers some different designs in sweatshirts that range from a classic hoodie like the Swoosh Out All Time sweatshirt to their Nike Tech Hoodie which has more of a futuristic, modern look to it.
          I don’t think you can ever go wrong when it comes to sweatshirts, unless they don’t have that soft, fuzzy inside I was talking about earlier. Add some more sweatshirts to your closet as you can wear them at any time of the year- yes, even my sister has worn one in Florida during the summer. Maybe one day you will share my great passion of sweatshirts too!

  

Less Styles, but more Design Opitons for Nike

            As you can probably tell from my other posts including my Nike Shoe Collection post, you know that I am a Nike fanatic. Periodically, you can find me scrolling through Nike’s numerous shoe collections and searching for that new pair of kicks that spike my interest. I didn’t really know what I was looking for as I prowled Nike’s website yesterday, I just wanted some new shoes that were different from the normal styles and colors of light blue and gray that I usually get.
           As I looked through their different shoe collections I realized that over the past 6 months Nike hasn’t come out with really any new styles of shoes. They still have the Roshes, Flyknit Lunars, and Lunar Glides. But, what was different about these different styles was that there were numerous different designs and color combos available than there were before. Personally, I was looking into the Roshes and when I looked at all my options for them while designing them on Nike ID, I was overwhelmed at all the patterns and colors I could choose from. There was the option to have a faded color, camo, marbled, or a sparkled pattern added to your shoes.  Nike has stepped up in providing the customer with more choice on their favorite shoe styles which is a big plus in my book.

Nike "Outer Space" Mercurials

          With more design options available for the customer to decide from, it allows them to take the style they love and spice it up a little. Not only is Nike adding more design options to their original tennis shoes styles, but they are incorporating it into other type of sport specific shoes. Soccer wise, Nike’s original shoe designs included the Mercurial and Hypervenom and both types of cleats have numerous design options available as well. One of my teammates has a pair of Mercurials that have a really cool outer space pattern on them which shows how creative one can get when deciding what they want their shoes to look like.

         I hope Nike continues to add more design options, because I already love the original styles of shoes they offer, but I like to be able to get them in different colors and designs. These new options really open up the power of the customer as they get to choose from numerous different options rather than get the standard one-tone color that used to only be offered. This is a great step in the right direction for Nike!

Images Courtesy of www.dailymail.co.uk



What Uniforms with Adidas "bless" the NBA with on Christmas Day?

              I understand it is a special day. I understand that on special days people like to wear special things. But, were the short sleeved uniforms worn by the NBA teams who played Christmas day last year even special? No. I would describe them as outright ugly. When I think basketball, I think cut-off jerseys with big block letters of the team name and the player’s number donning the front of the jersey. But, what we saw last year was what looked like a skin tight warm up jersey with an oversized logo on the front.
             I don’t know exactly what Adidas was trying to achieve with this new style of basketball jersey, but it was definitely one I don’t want to see again in the NBA. For a special holiday of Christmas, I do like the idea of changing things up for the day, but there are numerous different ways of attacking that idea without going completely downhill by creating a skin tight short sleeved basketball jersey. Using those words to describe a basketball uniform just sounds wrong.


2013 Adidas NBA Christmas Day jerseys modeled by players.

             I think that for the special Christmas jerseys, it would be fun to see the athletes wear throw back uniforms. Or another idea would be for Adidas to design uniforms in like a secondary color, for example Oklahoma City could wear orange jerseys. Also a big trend that seems to sweeping the sports nation is for teams to have a tribute for the armed forces, so it would be cool to see the jerseys have some type of camo or patriotic theme integrated into their uniforms.
            I will be interested to see what style of uniforms the NBA debuts on Christmas day this year. I feel like anything will be a step up from last years. If Adidas wants to continue to have exponential growth in their basketball department, they definitely need to have a slam dunk with their 2014 design!

Images Courtesy of www.elitedaily.com

 

The Beauty of Customization

           In past posts I have talked about the allure of the idea of customization to buyers. Many sportswear companies offer this aspect, so that prospective buyers have the opportunity to make a product the like into one that they love. This past month, I used the customization process offered by Nike called Nike ID to design my basketball shoes,  and I want to share my experiences with you, so you know the options available to you through online shopping.
          Shoes on Nike’s website have the most options when it comes to customization through the use of Nike ID. When you log onto the Nike website and begin to look through their numerous shoe collections, under the picture of each shoe there is a little colorful tab that reads, “Customize It” to allow you to reach the Nike ID app for that specific style of shoe. Once you open up the Nike ID customization tab, the original shoe design that you had clicked on will pop up with a side bar that lists the different components of the shoe and the numerous color options for each component of the shoe.
          Over the past few years, Nike has expanded their customization capabilities by allowing the customer to not only change the color of the shoe, but for certain shoes, there is the option to add graphics such as a camo, crackle, or fade aspect to the color of the shoe. You can even make them glow in the dark! Also, after you finalize the exact color combos you want and love the look of your shoes, there is the option to add your name and number to the shoes, to make them even more personalized.
         When I customized my new Nike Hyperdunk basketball shoes through Nike ID in early November, I was able to send the link to my teammates for them to view my creation and ask for their opinion on the shoes. One thing that was really nice was that there was no restriction on opening my design through the link, which allowed my teammates to add their own personal touches to the shoes without having to do it through my computer, they could do it in the luxury of their own home. Once we finally ordered the new shoes, it took about 3 weeks for them to be delivered to my house which I think it relatively quick considering they were customized and not in stock. Due to the fact that these shoes are not in stock there are some extra costs added into the original shoes, and shoes that customized through Nike ID usually cost about $50 more than the original shoe that is in stock.
         If you have searched numerous websites and still haven’t been able to find that perfect color combination on the shoes you want, I would definitely recommend checking out the Nike ID option. Though I do suggest that you might want to use this option on certain shoes that you really, really like to make them special because using this customization option on all your shoes may prove to be a little costly. In my experiences with using the Nike ID options it was a positive outcome and I was very pleased with the quality of the product I designed and I hope that you have the same results when you choose to use the great option for your new shoes!  

Christmas Wish List: Part 1

           With Christmas rapidly approaching, happiness and joy begin to fill the wintry air. Apart of the millions of people ranging from toddlers to the elderly, I am hoping that I get what I ask for this holiday season. But, I have hit a road bump, like thousands of others, who have no idea on what they want. So this is the guide for those of you who are looking to amp up their closet for the New Year ahead.

Black Nike Women's Vintage Gym Pants

          The first, (and only), item on my Christmas Wish List so far are the Nike Women's Vintage Gym Pants, which have the color options of Sail Blue, Action Red, Dark Gray, and Black and their price comes in around the average cost of a pair of Nike sweats. These type of “vintage” sweat pants are starting to become a big trend, as the so-called hipster style takes over the teenage generation of America. I really like how these sweats combine a comfortable relaxed style, but still fit along the lines of the fashion trends of today. I would call them dressy sweat pants because you can still “bum it” in these pants and still look put together, rather than when you throw on your oversized baggy sweats and a random t-shirt.
           For those of you who are health and result driven maniacs then the new technological wrist bands developed by leading sports brand companies such and Nike and Adidas may be the perfect gift for you. Nike has their Fuelband SE while Adidas competes with the Micoach Smart Fit wrist band. These athletic wrist bands are like the step counter you were forced to wear during gym class, except these step counters are highly advanced. Aside from all the different components that go into these athletic wrist bands from their numerous calculations to their smartphone connections, these bands also have aesthetic appeal as well. When comparing the two, I feel like Nike’s Fuelband has a sleeker more simple design, whereas I see Adidas’ Micoach Smart Fit to be little bit more bulky in its size and design. If all this sounds great to you the next stop would be cost, where the Nike Fuelband retails from about $100-$150 and the Adidas Micoach Smart Fit comes in at around $200. In the end, I think it comes down to preference, and which athletic wrist band has the qualities you are looking for and fits your style as an athlete.   
         It’s around this time of year that I begin scavenging sportswear websites in search of the perfect Christmas gift. Stay tuned to my blog, as throughout the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, I will be sharing my latest and greatest finds for you to enjoy this holiday season!

 

Images Courtesy of www.nike.com