Sneaker Sunday: Aj1 “DropTop”

Air Jordan 1 Mid “Royal Splatter”

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I’ve had these Jordan Mids for a couple years.  I’ve skated in them, gone on road trips with them, even walked in public bathrooms with them for Christ’s sake!  They done me good the last couple of years.  So why (you may ask) would I do this to them?…

Air Jordan 1 Mid (DropTop)”Royal Splatter”

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Recently, there’s been a trend going around the internet with people “dropping the top” on their Air Jordan 1’s.  This means taking a high Jordan 1 (or in my case, a mid) and cutting the upper part of the sneaker lower towards your ankle. Essentially, making them a pair of lows.  Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were some of the first I’ve seen do it.  Granted, they are NBA players with a lot of money so when Shai did it to his Travis Scott AJ1’s, the internet was in an uproar.  I feel like me doing it to a pair of mids won’t make any waves.  So fuck it, let’s try it out…

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Cutting through the leather was way easier than I thought it would be.  I used a box cutter and a camp knife that I affectionately call my “Big Ass Knife” and it did the trick.  I was nervous about cutting the lines straight but the blades made it easy.  If you have ever cut a T shirt into a sleeveless shirt, you’ll know that the most difficult part is getting the lines to stay straight and not jagged.  The box cutter was able to glide across the leather like a knife into butter.  And….that’s really all there was to it.  Check out the before and after pics below:

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Overall, I really like how these turned out.  I like seeing the foam as it gives the sneaker a “deconstructed” look.  I like the style of a low top sneaker and cutting it this way gives it more dramatic lines that make the shoe stand out.  Keeping the tongue long also gives it a unique look that you don’t often see.  Since this model had the orange paint splatter, I switched the original laces out and put some “Safety Orange” SB laces in there as well to make the sneaker pop with the paint.  Check out some on foot pics below….

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