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er-fightmaster · 7 years ago

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➜ BIO

God bless the woman with ambition, people say. Or maybe it’s ‘god fear the woman with ambition’. Florence can never remember. Either way, she somehow wants to prove that point before she even knows what it is, a child determined to win at sports day and get ten out of ten on every spelling test even in primary school.

It’s not something she trains in the beginning. It’s just a gift, an amazing memory and a knack for perception. It starts with something small, her pointing out every car that drives past that’s the same make as her father’s before she’s out of pushchairs. Her parents make games out of tests and tests out of games, shapes and colours and cards. Florence doesn’t mind. In fact, she likes it when she ‘wins’. All parents think their children are exceptional but there’s no denying Florence is pretty bright. Maybe it’s luck, the resulting genetics of a Columbia Law Graduate turned fantastic lawyer and an Archivist at the Museum of Natural History. Whatever it is, they’re determined not to let her waste it.

She never has the typical teenage rebellion with the drugs and the cigarettes and the staying out too late at night. She just suffers from the frustration at being boxed in, of being told who to be. Her teenage rebellion is teenage laziness, the habit of coasting because she knows she’s clever. It takes her favourite teacher to pull her aside after she bombs a practice exam at sixth form and asking her what’s going on for her to get her head on straight.

Maybe a heart to heart is just what she needed, an honest conversation with someone outside the family, someone independent. She and the teacher have a few cigarettes together and they chat about the pressures of expectation and what she wants from the future. Only Florence can decide, the teacher says, but she’s going to limit her options if she gives up now.

It works. When the real test comes around, Florence aces it. She has a goal in mind now. She could no doubt be a lawyer like her dad with the way she can spin a narrative, but she wants something else, something a little more on the front lines. She wants to become a police officer, maybe even an intelligence officer some day. She goes to college in California, choosing Berkeley for a bit of space. After all, with her parents living in New York, it’s about as far away as she can reasonably get without going all the way to Europe, and while people on the West Coast might seem as if they speak a foreign language at times, at least she can understand them.

The distance works. When she graduates, she does so with honours and she has her pick of jobs, but the only one she wants is back home at the NYPD. You can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of the girl. People know who her dad is. They respect him. Florence wants that respect too, and she does whatever she can to get it. She doesn’t want to coast any more, neither on her intelligence nor on her name. Hard work combined with natural intelligence? Now that’ll do the job. She rises through the ranks, her grit and determination blending well with her knack for politics.

She joins the Major Crimes Unit because that’s the job she wants. It’s challenging, it’s exciting, and it’s current. But if the newspapers or her dad ask, most importantly, it’s the right thing to do. After all, even if she’s doing what she believes in, she can’t be seen to be too sappy now, can she?

➜ BASICS

FULL NAME: Florence Isabella Vane AKA(S): N/A BIRTHDAY: 11 May ZODIAC: Taurus AGE: 32 years old SPECIES: Human ORIENTATION: Bisexual GENDER: Cisgender Female (She/her/hers) OCCUPATION(S): Police Detective PRIMARY VERSE: Everyday

➜ APPEARANCE

FACECLAIM: Krysten Ritter EYE COLOR(S): Brown HAIR COLOR(S): Black HEIGHT: 5'7" BODY BUILD: Athletic DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: N/A TATTOOS: Quarter sleeve tattoo of greyscale roses on right shoulder PIERCINGS: Ears, tongue (taken out for work)

➜ BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: New York, NY FINANCIAL STATUS: Middle Class EDUCATION LEVEL: College Graduate ETHNICITY: White SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English, some Spanish ACCENT: New York RELIGION: Catholic, non-practicing

➜ PERSONALITY

FEARS: Vulnerability, failure, rejection MORAL ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE: ISTP: The Virtuoso TEMPERAMENT: Choleric ENNEAGRAM: Type Five: The Investigator HOGWARTS HOUSE: Ravenclaw POSITIVE TRAITS: Intelligent, analytical, hard-working, adaptable, witty, loyal NEGATIVE TRAITS: Blunt, sarcastic, guarded, hard to read, occasionally hedonistic, risk-taker

➜ MISC.

ELEMENT: Earth ANIMAL: Lynx TROPES:

Great Detective

Deadpan Snarker

The Cynic

The Lad-ette

Determinator

The Stoic

#retired

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shaizstern · 8 years ago

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Article from WSJ: The Collectible-Sneaker Game: A Guide for Obsessives and Beginners

Collecting limited-edition sneakers has evolved from the pasttime of a loopy subculture to a booming mainstream passion. Here’s an insider look at how it works

CASE STUDY Sneaker collectors will go to extremes to buy singular shoes like the Nike Dunk Low Pro SB Diamond (left), $900, and the Nike Dunk Low Pro SB Pigeon (right), $6,000, both available at flightclub.com. PHOTO: F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, STYLING BY JARED LAWTON

By SCOTT CHRISTIAN

THOUGH HE COUNTS over 3,600 pairs of sneakers in his legendary collection, Bronx-born sneaker aficionado Mark “Mayor” Farese, 44, hates the word “collector.” As he put it, “People collect stamps, people collect art. I don’t collect sneakers. I wear sneakers.”

Mr. Farese, who could spend every day for the next 10 years with a different pair of sneakers on his feet, represents an extreme example of what’s known as a sneakerhead. Though Mr. Farese, founder of digital marketing agency Stadium Status group, values his collection at over $750,000—far more than that of the average enthusiast—this obsession is no longer a rarity.

Once a fringe subculture dominated by the young, the world of sneaker collectors has grown, expanding to include older, highly successful, sometimes celebrated men (See “Ace Lacers” below). Along with his collection of Porsches, Jerry Seinfeld also determinedly accumulates kicks. Director Spike Lee shares his fervor as do New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, actor Mark Wahlberg and less prominent guys like Chip Hayashi, 28, a people-operations manager for Google. “I know it sounds stupid, but for me it’s just a passion point,” said Mr. Hayashi, who owns 200 pairs and has been obsessed with sneakers since he laid eyes on the ReebokAllen Iverson Question shoe in middle school.

Sneaker culture began around the mid-1980s. Sometime between Nike’s 1985 release of the first Air Jordan and Run-D.M.C’s release of its 1986 single “My Adidas,” sneakers became, for many, an indicator of prestige.

In the simplest terms, what makes sneakers valuable is a tricky mixture of rarity and eye-catching design. Only 150 pairs of Nike’s highly coveted “Pigeon” Dunk Low Pro SB—with a pigeon embroidered on its side—were available to buy when it was released in 2005. The collaboration between Nike and streetwear designer-cum-creative director Jeff Staple incited an unprecedented frenzy among sneaker fans, nearly causing a riot outside Mr. Staple’s New York gallery/store. “It caught us blindsided,” said Mr. Staple. “The block was shut down. The NYPD were wearing riot gear.”

A connection to a pop cultural moment can also crank up desirability. The must-have Nike Hyperdunk Marty McFly recalls the Nike Air Mags worn by Michael J. Fox in “Back to the Future: Part II,” and the Air Jordan 1 Retro “Banned” pays homage to the first-ever Air Jordans, a shoe banned by theNBA for breaking uniform regulations. Buzz-worthy collaborators are also important. “Collaboration is the lifeblood of the design process at Nike,” said Nate Jobe, Nike’s senior footwear innovation design director. That means making sneakers with everyone from athletes like LeBron James to creatives like artist Tom Sachs and Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci.

JUMP START Five-year-old streetwear store Kith in downtown New York is a popular spot to find limited-edition sneakers. PHOTO: ADAM FRIEDBERG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Ronnie Fieg, founder of New York-based Kith, a streetwear brand and retail shop popular among sneakerheads, has borne witness to sneaker culture’s infiltration of the mainstream. For better or worse, said Mr. Fieg, the masses are more exposed now to the most-wanted shoes, largely thanks to social-media shots of celebrities shod in them: “Social media lets other people into a world they may not have seen before.”

It’s a world that, for the truly devout, means waiting in line for hours outside of shoe stores in the hopes of snagging a pair of holy-grail sneakers. Or, barring that, paying a premium to get them on the resale market, from consignment shops like Stadium Goods or Flight Club, both in downtown New York, or from websites like eBay or Grailed. Enterprising collectors can also simply hire an equally enterprising teenager to stand in line for them.

And while digital technology has helped evangelize this particular religion, it’s also made popular sneakers harder to get. “Consumers are more educated than they were a couple of years back,” said John McPheters, CEO and co-founder of Stadium Goods. “A lot of people will read a blog post and go looking for that specific shoe.”

Further crowding the market are resellers, who buy with the sole intent of making a profit. “These days, I think they outnumber everybody,” said Deon Point, creative director of Concepts, a sneaker shop with outposts in New York and Boston. And though brands have tried to limit the impact of resellers (and the bots some use to buy shoes online) with technology like Nike’s SNKRS app, these buyers still swarm through the sneaker-verse. That said, the challenge of the hunt is part of the fun. Have a look at resale site StockX, which tracks the prices of sneakers like stocks. You can be entertained for hours.

Over the past few years, advances in shoe technology, often driven by athletes’ needs, has also fueled certain sneakers’ popularity. “It’s hard to make something new,” said Paul Gaudio, global creative director at Adidas. “For us, [innovation] comes from working to solve the core problems that athletes have. The side effect is it allows us to come up with some really interesting products.” Mr. Gaudio cited Adidas’s Primeknit as an example: “It’s changed the way a sneaker looks and feels,” he said. “Instead of having to layer on your pieces of leather with stitching and glue, you can integrate all of the needs and function into the materials itself.” Adidas’s 3-D-printed running shoes, Nike’s auto-lacing HyperAdapts, and Nike+, a built-in system that allows you to track nearly every possible metric of your run, are among the notable advances to emerge in recent years.

First launched in February 2015, Kanye West’s ’Yeezy Boost 750’ (made with Adidas) typically sells out within seconds of going on sale.

The Paris, named for French painter Bernard Buffet, is arguably the rarest Nike Dunk of all time.

While futuristic technology can capture a collector’s imagination, so too can the past. Retro models, like the ubiquitous Air Jordan, allow people to buy shoes they loved, but maybe couldn’t get their hands on, as children. “The emotional connection to anything from when you’re a kid growing up stays with you forever,” said Kith’s Mr. Fieg. The past “empowers our future,” said Nic Galway, vice president of global design for Adidas Originals, Style, Y-3 and Core. “Our past is obviously our legacy.” He’s referring to beloved sneakers like the white-with-green-trim Stan Smith or the shell-toed Superstar. “But it’s important never to be stuck there,” Mr. Galway added. The brand has riffed on these stalwarts with shoes like the Stan Smith Primeknit, which marries an ultralight knitted upper with the shoe’s signature rubber sole.

Whether nodding to the past or looking forward, collectible sneakers let men experiment with style in ways that can be relatively outrageous but are rarely mocked by their peers, lowering the risk. Sneakers “have definitely become the number one self-expression piece that men wear,” said Kith’s Mr. Fieg. “Shoes are my main fashion item,” said Google’s Mr. Hayashi. He pairs either Jordans or running shoes from Asics or Reebok with neutral shirts and sweaters and Japanese denim. That look—classic, low-key casual clothes with colorful, creative kicks—has become quite common as men increasingly swap suits for less formal looks. “When I was a kid we wore Stan Smiths to school, but our parents didn’t,” said Adidas’s Mr. Gaudio. “Now, professionals are wearing them.”

But first, you have to get the sneakers. For tips, see our sidebar, “To Queue or not to Queue” below. Experts overwhelmingly agree on one bit of counsel: Don’t just chase hype. “You have to stay true to your own personal tastes,” said Luke Matthews, social-media manager at Size?, a London sneaker boutique. “Anything can be collectible to the right person.”

TO QUEUE OR NOT TO QUEUE // Shopping Tips From the Sellers

“Life is still very relationship-driven. Get to know the people at your local shops where the shoes are being released.” —John McPheters, founder/CEO of Stadium Goods // “It’s getting harder to spot a fake. Try to check out a sneaker in person before buying it online or at a resale store. You can get a feel for the materials and any small details.” —Sean Wotherspoon, co-founder of Round Two // “Buying your grail is an investment: If your intent is to wear your shoes, keep them clean! Crep and Jason Markk both offer a plethora of cleaning solutions.” —Steven Luna, head of Consignment at Flight Club // “While there is no shortage of sneaker blogs, you’re always safe going to a brand’s social feeds.” —Deon Point, creative director of Concepts sneaker shop in Boston and New York

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