What you put on your feet is as important as what you put under them. One of the oldest names in skateboard accessories, Vans has been putting style to the toe with world-class footwear for skaters since the very beginning of the sport.

 Van Doren Rubber Company founded by Paul Van Doren in 1966 has evolved into Vans Skateboard Shoes. Based in southern California, Vans began by filling custom-made sport shoe orders and make them right there in the local store. Originally, you actually could watch your shoe being made for you, as business picked up, the gap between order and delivery widened to a few days.

 Vans created the waffle shoe, with vertical, zig-zag lines on the sole of the shoe for grip when they noticed that skateboarders would crack the diamond patterned sole very quickly.

 The brand is embraced by die-hards not only in skateboarding, but among related extreme spots like surfing and snowboarding. Having sponsored events relating to punk and ska music has helped earn the loyalty of those who mix their music and locomotion. The company has sponsored several punk and ska tours, as well as being the subject of love serenades such as “The Vans Song,” by the Suicide Machines and “Vans” from the rap group, “The Pack”.

 The simple four-letter logo is an urban icon of the sports-rock lifestyle that infuses the West Coast, and the brand sponsors an impressive team of pros in not only skateboarding, but BMX biking and surfing as well. The “Warped Tour” has been a must-attend on the agenda for extreme sports enthusiasts and music fans since it was launched in 1995.

 Vans skateboard shoes are synonymous with Southern California, where every other young foot is clad in them. Hollywood star and surfing aficionado Sean Penn added to the brand’s fame, sporting the shoes prominently in his classic role as “Jeff Spicoli” in the comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

 Vans was also prominently featured in the ground-breaking documentary “Dog town and the Z-boys,” which received about $800,000 in financial aid from Vans. The line-up of both pro and amateur skaters has featured a relationship with some of the biggest names in skating, like Stacey Peralta, while today’s team lists such move-masters as Bucky Lasek, Geoff Rowley and Tony Trujillo.

 Vans Skateboard shoes now come in the widest variety of styles, from slip-on and low-cut to boot. The company has been through many changes, alienating many loyalists when they ventured into the arenas of football and baseball shoes. Facing bankruptcy in the eighties brought Van Doren to the edge of solvency, and the company was purchased by McConval-Deluit, a corporate investor who took the Vans public in 1991.  The company is now owned by VF Corporations, a multi-national specializing in lines which appeal to youth culture.

 With a high-top design and skate-optimized sole, Vans are the shoe of choice for serious skaters, who naturally enough wear them all day long. After all, you never know when you might have a minute to hit that stairwell or find a phatty downhill.

Skating is your life. You wake up, grab your deck, and grind a few rails on the way to school. You dash off between classes to try out a few tricks and don’t always make it back before the bell rings. And it’s off to your favorite drained pool or ramp park to ride away the hours until dusk.

 Still, something’s missing. Somehow, you manage to waste eight hours a day in bed not skating. Of course, you can dream about skating and probably do. Ollies and Fakie go off much better in your dreams, except those really bad recurring nightmares, where you smash up your face belly-slamming in front of the girl you like. What’s worse, she’s a better skater than you are and she won’t stop laughing, a harsh laugh that stays in your head all day, getting mixed up with your Mom yelling at you that it’s time for school all over again.

Just guessing here.

 Maybe the problem is your home décor. Sure, you have posters of your favorite skaters carving air plastered all over your room. The first deck you ever busted hangs proudly over your desk. No one who visits your bedroom can forget for one moment that you are a hardcore.

 By the time you start entertaining guests up in there, you’ll want to have impressive sheets. Nothing can set the mood for that special moment where you and that laughing girl finally get down to studying like some (freshly washed) skateboard bedding.

 Thanks to the miracle of subsidiary merchandising, you can outfit your bedroom like a true skating fanatic. You’ll want to save your pennies for this project; full themed skating sheet sets go for upwards of three hundred bucks.

 Imagine having Tony Hawk looking up at you from the comforter while you get educated. What’s a few hundred bucks compared with having Tony’s blessing? You’ll probably start to skate better, too-at least in your dreams.

 If you shot your budget on new bearings for your board, you may need to start small with a few pillowcases from a manufacturer like Vision Bedding, which will only set you back fifty bucks or so. For a single pillow. Double up on those if you are planning on entertaining company.

 At some point, however, you need to think beyond the bed itself. After all, you won’t always be looking at your sheets; sometimes you’ll be snug as a bug underneath your cozy skateboard bedding, and surely you’ll want to look at something related to skating. Sure, you can clip articles from your favorite thrasher zine and splatter them around, and with really liberal parents you can tag your walls with your spray-paint rendition of the Element logo.

 How about a nice skateboard throw rug featuring a kickflip in action? Or a giant wall mural of your favorite pro executing the ollie impossible they’ll be talking about for years? Don’t forget your framed “Grind” in classic Old English script, or your funny knock-off traffic signs. And make sure every visitor to your room knows that “Skateboarding is Not a Crime.”

 At least not on your turf.

 Personalizing your room with skateboard bedding and accessories is a great way to represent for your community…making a statement even while you sleep.