1. Chunky skate shoes were an absolute necessity, even if they made your feet look like they’d doubled in size.
Image: globeskateshoes.blogspot.com
DCs and Etnies were the best, but everyone had their favourite brand.
2. You spent all of your money on new parts for your board that seemed unexciting to everyone else – things like wheels and bearings.
Image: Twitter: @KROOKZKL
It always had to be Spitfire wheels.
3. And there was nothing more thrilling to you than forking out for a brand new deck.
Image: Twitter: @shakejunt211
So new. So shiny.
4. At first you’d want to keep it in pristine condition, but before long the scratches and scrapes became sources of pride.
Image: Twitter: @exxstrides
You when you first buy your deck: “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life and I’m going to keep it perfect forever.”
You one hour later: *grinds four metres along a rough curb*
5. There was only one place you could be found at weekends – the local skatepark.
Image: londonskateparks.co.uk
Even if it was a bit crap and had one ramp and a crappy grind rail.
6. You’d spend hours watching skating videos on the internet, and then go out with your sibling or mates to try and make some of your own.
Image: YouTube
They normally looked fucking awful, because we didn’t have smartphones back then.
7. Back in those days, long cargo shorts were the only kind of shorts.
Image: terapeak.com
That way you could keep your Discman in the massive pockets and listen to music while you skated.
8. And your jeans were always super baggy, and ripped up at the back from where you trod on them.
Image: YouTube
Basically the opposite of today’s style.
9. The best kind of belts were these canvas ones, so that you could hang the end down from your belt line.
Image: Twitter: @Supersaff
Or ones with massive metal buckles or studs.
10. But if you didn’t have one to hand, then for some reason using a shoelace was the cool thing to do.
Image: jenkemmag.com
Hey, it did the job.
11. The “long-sleeved t-shirt under short-sleeved t-shirt” look was always a winner.
Image: Flickr
You probably had a few tops which looked like they were one of these, but were actually just one top – sneaky.
12. And obviously you had to have a number of baggy brand hoodies too.
Image: Twitter: @Feelin_osaka
A hoodie and cargo shorts – a look you could only ever really get away with as a teenager.
13. Where most people saw a curb, you saw a grind rail – all you needed was a bit of skate wax.
Image: parkingblockdiaries.blogspot.co.uk / skatehut.co.uk
The neighbours ABSOLUTELY LOVED you rubbing wax all over the curbs outside their house. They LOVED it.
14. And an ordinary set of stairs? There were endless possibilities.
Image: Pinterest
Often quite painful possibilites.
15. Skating was all about perseverance – you’d practice ollie after ollie after ollie, and then once you had that down, it was time to nail a kickflip.
Image: YouTube
It took hours and hours of work, but the reward was worth it.
16. You can still remember how stoked you felt after pulling off a new trick you’d been trying for ages for the very first time.
Image: reddit
Now, time to keep practising until you had it perfect.
17. When you weren’t out skating, you were playing the Tony Hawk’s games religiously, leaving no S-K-A-T or E untouched.
Image: YouTube
Some of the best games ever made – and the best soundtracks too.
18. And if you didn’t have a console to hand, then hey, there were always Tech Decks.
Image: Pinterest
Skating with your fingers still counts as skating.
19. You had one particular skater who you idolised, and you kept practising and practising their signature moves so you could be just like them.
Image: surfdome.com
For a lot of us it was definitely Eric Koston.
20. Forget the Olympics, for you, the X Games was the biggest sporting event around.
Image: caproductions.com
Tony Hawk’s first 900 at the ’99 X Games was one of the most iconic moments in sporting history.
21. Your knees and elbows were constantly grazed, because for every trick you nailed there were about five you didn’t.
Image: Twitter: @ssholeMel
You probably carry the scars to this day – and they’re 100% worth it.
