Waffleheads – 31 Days of Vans Wrap-Up BBQ at Vans HQ! (8.15.24)

Aug 21 24 under Events, Friends, History, OTWS, UTP, Van Doren, Waffleheads | Comments Off

Well folks. Clayton and I managed to pull it off again. Not sure how, but Steve Van Doren graciously hosted another Waffleheads event at Vans HQ, to wrap up this year’s 31 Days of Vans. I am beyond grateful, and it’s humbling to see everyone come out and support us, most being my close friends and family, who I do acknowledge are there to support me, but they understand how important this is to me, and to my community of Vans nerds. I have converted many to Waffleheads, mainly through our love of sneakers, but I think my eVANSgelism is rubbing off on them, as they see just what our community is about, and the vibes we all have. How can you not love us? Also, a big shout out to everyone that had to travel, whether by plane or roadtrip. I know it’s not easy, or cheap, so I appreciate you. Sorry to those we couldn’t invite, but if you can somehow promise that you can attend next year, I will do my best to extend the invite. Shit, if we have to sell admission or pairs of the shoes, would you still be down?! I’m open to any options to keep this thing rolling FOREVER!

We’re all unique. We find our own paths within’ this growing community. We all come from different walks of life, and our demographic is a marketers worst nightmare (Ages 0 – 100+ jk!). We had babies less than one year old at the event, and we had quite a few folks with a lot of wisdom and knowledge under their belt as well! I was absolutely in awe at the family atmosphere we had, and you definitely felt the love. I really admire that we were able to represent for our “Vans Family” which is proof to be a real thing. To quote the late Paul Van Doren, “It was always about the people, and never about the product”. I hope that’s what everyone felt when they went home afterwards.

We had the honor and privilege to be around some great folks that evening. Steve Van Doren was the center piece to it all, and I’m glad he didn’t have to grill this time, and got to mingle and take pics with any and everyone who went up to him. Christian Hosoi was back again, which was just so dope. You have no idea. He’s one of my favorite skaters of all time. His Vans shoes are by far my favorite to collect, and boy does he got stories to tell. We love you Holmes! Rian Pozzebon was in the building again, this time just chilling and chopping it up about the good old days of Vans Syndicate, Vault, and the stuff our core collectors just eat up. Thank you for hanging with us afterwards at Salty Bear too, sir! Always a great time.

Steve ordered us a huge spread of BBQ and sides, and boy did it not disappoint! They provided beverages, including some beer and wine this time, which was a surprise. Not sure if they thought it was going to be a 21+ event or not, but sorry if they thought it was! For future reference, if we ever get invited back again, we can skip the alcohol if it means we get to bring back all the families. That’s number 1 on my priorities. But we thank Vans, and everyone they had on hand to help out. Kristy, Bob, and everyone else who we just don’t know on a personal level YET! We plan to, because we owe you a debt of gratitude as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Obviously, y’all have seen the shoe that Steve had made for us this year, which was a Lowland 2.0 model, heavily inspired by the original Vans Breakers from the Serio line of the 80’s, which were made for breakdancing. I was completely caught off guard with it, to be honest, but I personally knew the significance of the shoe, and what it was inspired by, but I was at first a little worried about what some would think of it. The Breakers are a Vans collector’s grail. They’re so damn obscure, and rare, and expensive on the resell market, so most will never own a pair. That is until now. Word is, these will be releasing later on, but not sure how, as our pairs are a Zero SKU project, aka Van Doren Approved collection, similar to other private projects he has done. Zero SKUs are gold to us! We will just have to wait and see, but I will create a separate post for just the shoe pics whenever I get around to it. Be patient!

All in all, I am just humbled. Completely filled with love and joy after an amazing and long weekend, filled with lots of hanging out, and endless sneaker talk. We also did our annual meetup on the following Saturday at Blends Costa Mesa, which is where this whole idea started 3 years ago. I posted up those pics too! Thank you again to everybody who came out to support, and I hope you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves. I am just happy that you came out to support me and mine. I love y’all! -Bill (Guamstyles)

tons of pics after the jump Read More

Atiba Jefferson Named Vans “Brand Curator”

Apr 9 24 under Friends, Heritage, History, NEWS | Comments Off

When we found out that Vans had chosen Atiba Jefferson as a Brand Curator, we felt as if the skies had opened up to the heavens above. This is that big of a deal to us, as you can tell by this personal write-up. I couldn’t think of a better choice for this role of curating collaborations, connecting people, and guiding Vans’ progression in this new era of change. He’s been around the culture for longer than most of you kids. The culture, meaning all of it. Skate, streetwear, music, fashion in general, and there’s no better resume than having first-hand experience. I’m hoping he finds a way to connect us “old heads” to the newer generation, through dope story telling, and relevant collaborations. We’re looking forward to this, and we couldn’t be more stoked on the news (that’s obviously about a month old now lol, sorry!)

31 Days of Vans 2023 – Waffleheads BBQ Event Recap Video

Aug 16 23 under 31 Days of Vans, Events, Friends, OTWS, The Authentic Era, UTP, Videos | Comments Off

Just a dope recap video from the 31 Days of Vans 2023 Waffleheads BBQ at Vans HQ, shot, edited, and produced by Kevin Ancheta, for all of us. He was the guy walking around the event with the camera, filming everyone. See if he made you famous!

Steve Van Doren Hosts BBQ For 31 Days of Vans Fans At Vans HQ!

Aug 12 23 under 31 Days of Vans, Events, Friends, History, OTWS, UTP, Van Doren | Comments Off

A great community is made up of people who all have unique gifts and talents to share, and I can’t think of a better one than our Vans family. It’s been over 15 years that we’ve been fostering this culture, and we’ve met some really amazing folks along the way. Folks who’ve found unique ways to show their love and appreciation for Vans, proving that Vans is not just one thing. #31daysofvans was created by one of us. #meetthevansfam was created by one of us. Entire Vans sneaker rooms were created by one of us. A Facebook group of over 30k members were created by one of us. The most dedicated Vans sneaker blog, forum, and pioneering Instagram page in the world were created by one of us.

Our community constantly evolves and grows. The platform changes, and the one sailing the ship switches seats, but we’re all on board for the wild ride, wherever it takes us. From OTWS, to Under The Palms, to SV, to Strictly Waffles, to now Wearing Waffles. I’ve witnessed every single day of it, so recognizing how far we’ve come is hard to put into perspective, but damn. Looking back, we’ve sure done some cool shit.

I sit here trying to form the right words to show my gratitude and appreciation for @stevevandoren and the amazing team at Vans who put together this event of a lifetime for our peoples. You are our hero, and you set the example we all strive to live by. I want to thank our bro @wearingwaffles for charming Steve into creating this opportunity. We’re riding your coattails now brotha’! None of this was possible w/o our brother @newkon. NONE OF THIS! There’s so many more to thank, so sorry. I couldn’t feel more blessed, and my heart is beyond full. Let’s run this back again next year, what do you say?! -Bill

enjoy tons of pics after the jump Read More

Help Alyasha Owerka-Moore’s Fight With Cancer (Donate Now!)

Oct 17 22 under Friends | Comments Off

I just found out today via Alyasha’s IG, that he’s been battling Stage 3 cancer, and although I’ve never had the chance to meet him in person, he’s a friend of a friend of a friend, and I wanted to share my gratitude, support, admiration, and respect to the highest of all OG’s in our culture and to give back in my own little way, by using my platform to ask what he would never ask for, and that’s to support him during the road to recovery and treatment. Spare what you can. Skip one less shoe pickup for our friend of a friend here.

31 Days of Vans 2022 Is Almost Upon Us! #31daysofvans

Jun 28 22 under 31 Days of Vans, Events, Friends, Heritage, History, OTWS, UTP, Waffleheads, WDYWT | 72 Comments

It’s almost July, and you know what that means! Who’s ready for this year’s 31 Days of Vans celebration? We are. It’s exciting to look back at what our core Vans sneaker community has accomplished throughout the years, and the #31daysofvans social media campaign has really grown into it’s own little monster, complete with some amazing support from Vans, and specifically the Vans Family team. We have these folks to thank for last year’s Vans Family app exclusive release of the Red Half Cab, so we wanted to give them a special shout-out.

Well, we’re back at it again for Summer 2022, and we’ve been blessed with another cool Vans Family exclusive in celebration, (even though not quite specific) to “31 Days of Vans”. Now, if you’ve been paying attention to certain social media accounts, you may have seen this year’s shoe already. Vans is celebrating Tony Alva’s history with them, and have created a pretty dope, skate team inspired Authentic 44 DX. There’s also a matching long-sleeve graphic tee, so be on the lookout for these to drop sometime during the month of July!

I also can’t fail to mention this sick graphic, designed by our homie Kyle @iamrocketkyle & @poprocketcreations ! He always knocks these out of the park, and you will definitely see this being shared up on the Vans Family app again this year!!! That’s what’s up!

We can’t wait to see what everyone shows off this year, but just remember to Wear Vans, and Be Authentic!

Waffle Heads Summit 2022 (Saturday 8.6.22)

Jun 20 22 under Collaborations, Events, Friends, The Authentic Era, UTP, Waffleheads | 1 Comment

After last year’s inaugural Waffle Heads Summit, we decided to try and make it an annual thing, so here we are with an awesome announcement. We’ve decided on a date of Saturday August 6th around 2PM for this year’s get together, once again at Blends Costa Mesa. Open to anybody who wants to come and hang out and nerd out about Vans. This time, we’ll be able to support Blends owner Tak’s new venture, and enjoy some Kuro Pizza, as the location is finally open, so come hungry and buy his amazing pizzas! Don’t forget to show up in some dope Vans. We hope to see as many of you there, as possible!

For this year’s event, we decided to offer up the commemorative event tee online, since a lot of you are only able to be there in spirit. We took last year’s graphic, and had our Vans bro Todd Emerson @tmrsn add a little bit of pizza inspiration, and gave it a green and red half-tone treatment, and found an awesome off-white colored tee to complete the authentic vintage vibe we were going for. We’re also creating an event exclusive Under The Palms Sticker-Pak that will be included with each tee order. Highly collectible. Very limited. Pre-orders are now live for one week. If you’ve read this far, then congrats, here’s a promo code for 20% off of your order! Use code “UTPFRIENDS” at checkout. You can also choose to pick up at the event and save on shipping. Just mention it in your order comments and we’ll refund the shipping. WE WON’T BE SELLING THESE TEES ON SITE! Reading is key!

Vans Family – “31 Days of Vans” Skate Half Cab (UTP Review!)

Jul 15 21 under Accessories, Friends, Heritage, History, OTWS, Pro, Recent Pickups!, Reviews, Skate, UTP, Vans Family, Waffleheads | Comments Off

Here they are! One of the biggest surprise releases of the year. Something I got to be a part of, from the very beginning when it was just a conversation about how Vans could join in on the 31 Days of Vans month-long celebration, and just to be clear, I DID NOT DESIGN THESE, but I did get to have my input heard on if they were dope enough for our Vans collectors, and I also got to help with all the brainstorming on what else we should do, like add the dope enamel pin! So, as most of you know, these dropped the other day, exclusively on the Vans Family app, and sizes were pretty much sold out after a few hours. Maybe faster, since sometimes the site shows inventory, until you check out. Anyways, congrats to those who secured a pair, and this is more of a pic review, featuring my trusty ol iPhone for pics, which I must say are much nicer with an 11 Pro, than my old SE I was using for years. I really do need to do more of these UTP reviews. I’m sure some of y’all miss them.

Enjoy!

-Bill (Guamstyles)

tons more pics after the jump Read More

LBIFBACK Review: Vans Vault Originals OG Style 23 LX (Canvas/Black)

Jul 2 21 under Friends, Reviews, Vault, Videos | Comments Off

LBIFBACK gives us another one of his dope Vans sneaker reviews, this time on the Vault OG Style 23 LX. A shoe I can definitely get down with, and plan on picking up soon. Check it out, and leave a comment on his channel.

31 Days of Vans Is Back for 2021! #31daysofvans

Jul 1 21 under Events, Friends, Heritage, History, OTWS, UTP, Waffleheads, WDYWT | Comments Off

Well, today’s July 1st, and you know what that means. It’s time to kick off the annual #31daysofvans celebration. This year is a little bit different though, and that’s because we’re excited to announce that Vans, and in particular, the Vans Family team, are officially joining in, (and recognizing) our community-created celebration. This has been something that’s been brewing for just over 2 years now. Covid put a hold on all the plans we had started talking about, the first go around, but last year, I got to get together again with the Vans Family, to brainstorm and come up with some ideas on ways for Vans to get involved. I was honored to represent the community, and I have the utmost respect for the way they approached it, understanding that this was something we had all created, and they weren’t trying to take anything away from that. So with that being said, we threw a bunch of stuff at the wall, to see what stuck, and I’m not going to give away anything, but there’s some cool stuff they’re doing for it, so stay tuned for sure. We’re beyond stoked.

I also wanted to give a huge huge huge shout-out to our Vans brother, Kyle Sliney, aka @iamrocketkyle for the sick artwork he always does for 31 Days of Vans, and if you haven’t noticed by now, Vans requested his artistic stylings, for an official banner graphic for the Vans Family app, and boy did he come through! His artwork features a neon sign, complete with animation, including a Caballero model being chopped down to a Half Cab, nodding to the upcoming anniversary of the Half Cab, which we’ll be seeing more of through the year. You can read about the full inspiration over on his IG post. So awesome. So proud of him. Glad he got some official Vans shine!

For those of you who are new to our Vans community and not quite sure what this is. Well, we invite you to share your favorite pair(s) of Vans with the rest of us. Get creative. We’ve seen folks post up the same shoe all 31 days, just to find out at the end, each pair was a different one, but all the same shoe, lol. That was wild. We also get to see a lot of stuff that most have forgotten about. There’s no wrong way to do this. Just share a pic, each day, preferably on-foot, and check out the campaign hashtag each night before you go to bed, to see all the cool pairs across the globe!

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