No Flips, No Whips* - The Vans US Open Style Guide

*Alright, one whip...

3 Aug 2015

Larry Edgar and a straight up perfectly executed invert. This is how you do it...

Clint Reynolds and the most legit un-lookback style possible. Dino Deluca would be proud

As if Corey Bohan wasn't stylish enough he threw some Joe Rich-esque tube sock action into the mix.

Dan Foley with a straight leg one foot x-up can can.

Trey Jones with some good old fashioned kicked out table top style. Glynn Lewis would proud (one for the UK Old Schoolers there).

Lovin' your work Matt Cordova. Can-can or step-thru, call it what you like. Either way this is how it's done.

More of the awesome Matt Cordova - Justin Inman style table/invert. So good...

The legend that is Garrett Byrnes definitely helped inspire this move but Matt Roe is the current king of the tyre slide as far as we're concerned.

Style for smiles. Darryl Nau and Steve Crandall.

Fuck yeah Kris Fox. Lookback of the Gods.

And then there was Tom Dugan with a good old fashioned kick out, only higher than everyone else.

Vans have had a huge influence on style in the worlds of BMX and skating over the years and this guy on the left, Steve Van Doren, has been a major part of making that happen. Those 3 bozos on the right haven't done bad either.

Dennis Enarson is so good he can even get away with a tailwhip photo in an article we called "No Flips - No Whips". He just makes everything look so good regardless...

Guitar hero Dennis Enarson - Well deserved winner of the Van Doren Invitational 2015.

Photos courtesy of Vans / Brandon Means

A lot of wise words were spoken in the classic BF-IT documentary but maybe none more so than those by the infamous Harold McGruther (AKA McGoo) who said, "unlike that flippity-whippity bullshit, style never goes out of style". He's right of course but in recent years BMX has been plagued with bad style merchants at contest masquerading amongst the good, like hangers on a party no-one really wanted to be at in the first place, all elbows up bumping into people and knocking shit over left right and centre. Wether it's been down to the supposed decline in BMX popularity over recent years, resulting in a weeding out of the hangers-on, we'll never know, but most people at this years Vans US Open of Surfing Van Doren Invitational Comp were straight up styling it right out of the park. Here's a few of our favourite and most styish images from over the weekend. Let's see more of this please!