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Submitted by Jessica H
L.A. Gear sneakers were notably for one thing: they lit up. (They had other athletic wear, but nobody cares.) Inside each Light GEAR shoe was a set of red LEDs that would light up every time pressure was put on the bottom of the sole (read: every two seconds as you’re walking). Tacky now, but totally epic back in the day when people thought that L.A. was cool.
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I was promised a pair if and only if I learned to tie my shoes. They were generic, not LA Gear. I didn’t care.
Yeah, I had a bunch of light up shoes but never LA Gear.
My favorite thing about these… there was an idiot criminal who did a snatch and grab on some lady’s purse and took off across the park… at night… wearing LA Lights… needless to say, the cop found him easy.
I remember that!!! HILLARIOUS!!! I think it was New York and Central Park! He couldn’t figure out why the cops kept finding him! LOL!!!
I think that’s why they also called these shoes “felony fliers.”
I never had a pair because they looked like cheap crap and I knew the lights would die within two months.
Mine were black…I was so happy when I got them, but it was the tail end of the fad and I ended up looking stupid(er). Here it’s something like 13 years later and I just recently threw the things away. They still lit up!
I had a pair of these a long time ago. Great stuff, the lights lasted a long time, even when I out grew them the lights still went.
I also had those gack shoes or whatever. The ones with the slime under the plastic. That was kind of eh though.
“I also had those gack shoes or whatever. The ones with the slime under the plastic.”
They were called “Flak,” and Wayne Gretzky was one of the endorsers. I actually had a pair in 6th grade. Nothing special.
I ended up owning two pair of LA Lights. One with the built-in lights on the side, and another with the removable lights in the back. I even got the replacement colors at Foot Locker. I was the coolest kid in 4th grade for about 3 days.
Best episode of C.O.P.S. ever. Cop is sitting up against the patrol car. Cameraman asks him if he’s going to chase the perp. Cops says “I know where he is?. Cameraman pans to the trees where the blinking of red lights is seen for each step the running perp takes. Then the dog was turned loose. Best show ever.*L*
Yeah, I remember a bunch of stories of teenagers trying to steal something at night and the cops could chase them by the lights on their shoes. Has anyone else heard these stories?
best thing about the advertisement is they were talking about ‘lacing up’ just as the fad of not tying your high-tops was kicking into high gear.
L.A. is still cool… ok ok I never had these… but I did have the Reebok Pumps!
Annnd now, every child under 6 has a pair of light up shoes. Bah.
It seems like 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade is/was the sweet spot time wise to have LA Gear shoes. Just my luck that they came out with the light-up variety when I was getting into High School.
I wish I could find a pair of adult light up shoes now. Yes, I know I have no fashion sense, but I do have a pair of adult footed pajamas.
I have socks with the individual toes (like gloves for your feet!)
I have three pairs of toe socks–two are rainbow-striped. They aren’t very comfortable with shoes.
I don’t think I have any fashion sense either.
I have SHOES with individual toes!
When I worked at Six Flags(many moons ago) we were forced to wear black LA Gear. Most uncomfortable shoes ever made. They needed the light up gimmick just to sell the things
I remember how environmental-types got their boners up over the lead in the shoes going to the dump
Tacky now – tacky then
LA Lights were a big deal when I was in 2nd and 3rd grade and I remember that kids were even wearing them to play basketball.
I guess since banning the shoes made too much sense, the YMCA league I was in started bringing a roll of masking tape to the games to cover the lights.
I was never so cool as to own a pair of LA Gear, instead spending most of my childhood in cream-colored Converse All-Star hi-tops (about 8 years before that became cool) that my parents bought for $10 at the grocery store.
I remember that we laughed back in school at the kids who had these shoes.
The good news is LA Gear recently updated the amazing Unstoppable line from ‘89-’90 and launched it via LA Gear Originals… and the Lights are also coming back, but updated. So you can have the nostalgia AND have cooler styles that reflect today’s fashions… check out the shoes and the news at http://www.LaGearNews.com, and you can actually get the stuff at http://www.sportiela.com/lagear
You sound like a sells rep.
LOL, well I am he editor of the official LA Gear fan blog so I’m pretty into all this – ofcourse a sales rep gets paid if the shoes sell and I don’t!
yeah i remember a friend of mine had these when we were in 3rd grade or something.. i never wanted to have em i guess, only shoes from my childhood i remember are converse chucks, which i thought were neat then
and doc martens, which i now think were very weird O.o
hehe i do remember a 3rd pair which were sort of your usual ass retro-70´s-tennis-shoes and were actually pretty cool, but in 1996 i didn’t like them much and insisted on getting some mostly white plastic sneaks instead xD
I used to have those… I think they were the black ones, and I remember my mom telling me at the shoe store “Now, Thommy, you do realize that the lights only last two or three months and when the lights die I’m not buying you new ones…”
I remember having these shoes in maybe 5th grade…back then, the school I went to was having a financial crisis and they would leave the gym lights off until a class was ready to start.
The light switch was on the other side of the gym from the entrance, and when we followed the teacher in, everyone knew where I was in line!
EL LAY is still cool.
It’s the fashionistas that effing suck.
I had a pair of those L.A. Lights, and now that I think about it, damn were they goofy looking. Don’t recall whether they were uncomfortable or not, but they sure look hilarious to me now after seeing that commercial.
LA Gear! In grade school we all had to have the exact same, latest style.
(I also remember a brand called British Knights “BK’s”) Reeboks were kind of like for older people and vans were temporarily out of style.
The light ups came when I was in high school.
By then everyone began wearing those “Chuck Taylor” Converse, and high-end Nike, Doc martens or creepers if you were goth
I had the LA Gear Michael Jackson shoes. No one remembers those, but they came in white or black and had studs and buckles all over them! I loved those shoes..still do actually…