July 19, 2006

Curious George and his Crocs. This Croc fad is all over the place (it exploded in Ontario back in the spring, putting us disturbingly behind Mississippi), but when did they show up in your neck of the woods? Did you cave to the comfort, or are you still calling them fugly?

Personally, I was unsure about the whole thing, Crocs being old women's gardening shoes, but I was won over by this strange cross of Birks and moonboots. Took them camping, where they proved most convenient for slipping in and out of while going in and out of the tent a bajillion times. Disturbingly, though, all the other Crocs in sight were only found on women and children, although I picked up my chocolate ones from a most manly of shoe departments. Have they showed up your way yet? Who's wearing them?

posted by Capt. Renault 18 years ago
  • Mostly just the nancy-boys.
  • Thanks. Appreciate that. But a good burn nevertheless.
  • Fugly. But I have to admit, they are popular. They're rapidly superceding cheap shitty flipflops as the crappy shoe of choice for thousands of white trash doofuses in and around the St. Louis region.
  • /checks uberhipster reference card Um... You are wearing them ironically? Otherwise, I have bad news.
  • I saw Crocs in TN two years ago and I am just now seeing them occasionally in NYC. Mainly on kids, but adults too. This must be the first time ever a fashion trend has started in the South and spread outward. I have an off brand version that I bought in an podiatrial emergency. I have mixed feelings. They are so light weight, which makes them a joy to wear. But I wore them all day without socks, doing my usual NYC walking, and I got a yuge blister on the ball of my foot. I'm leaving them for Mario Batali.
  • This must be the first time ever a fashion trend has started in the South and spread outward. What about white sheets with white pointy hats?
  • I am very near Croc's epicenter (I'm about 20 miles from their hq) and I won't wear them.
  • I LOVE my Crocs. Despite how hideous and trendy they currently are, they are soooooo comfortable. I recently did a day of power touring LA in mine, and was surprised at the end of the day when my feet didn't hurt AT ALL and I was blister free.
  • I have a pair that I wear only to work. I'm a hostess, and I hate any shoe but a sandal, so these are a good alternative. They provide absolutly no protection for my feet should I happen to wander into the kitchen, but since I don't do that much, I'm not all that worried. While they are very popular on campus, (with guys and girls) I will probably throw them out at the end of the summer.
  • They've got to make your feet sweat. Why not a pair of rubber boots, instead?
  • See -- that's just it. They don't make them sweat. The ventilating holes work a lot better than you'd think. The rubber/plastic ripping the hair from the tops of your feet the first time you wear them, that's another story.
  • /laughs cruelly, idly buffs "Evil Oppressor"-brand wingtips to their usual luminous, bloodletting gloss
  • Monkeyfilter: Ripping the hair from the tops of your feet.
  • there are plenty of comfy foot-friendly shoes out there that are aesthetically pleasing. crocs are pretty horrid. Fes' "Evil Opressor" wingtips sound pretty smashing tho...
  • Nurses, some docs, college kids, waitresses. I have a rubber pair of lime green gardening shoes that I occasionally wear out in the horse pen. Not much protection from the toes, but the shi.. manure washes off. Foot stink too, no holes, so they sweat. I've heard they're comfortable, but that price for rubber shoes?? Especially with holes? Oh, and Fes, I LIKE my cheap shitty* flip flops. *wears 'em also in horse pen
  • Why this thread isn't called "Curious George: Where Are My Crocs?" is a mystery. I've got fake ones; I fall for any shoes that're cheap and not leather and lightness is a big plus. Wish they weren't so darn ubiquitous.
  • MonkeyFilter: I've got fake ones
  • Crocs are just so... so... plastic. I have no real urge to wear something that you hose down to clean. Guess I'll stick to Birks. Can't beat 'em. I've tried.
  • Can't de-stink 'em, either, Kinnakeet.
  • Oh, no -- they don't beat Birks, nothing can beat Birks. Particularly my olive-suede slippers (which isn't helping me in this nancy-boy accusation, I know). But those ran me $160, and Crocs $34.95. And I wouldn't let Birks go into the the kind of filth I was hanging out in lately. Different uses. Worlds apart.
  • And I wouldn't let Birks go into the the kind of filth I was hanging out in lately. Sounds like SOMEBODY attended their family reunion.
  • I thought this was going to be another thread about alligators knocking on pensioners' front doors. I've got to say I'm more than a little disappointed. 'Round these parts (upstate NY) I see a lot of Crocs on nurses (seems to be a standard part of the uniform these days), but not many others.
  • I love mine. So comfy! So easy! So light and bouncy! *sigh*
  • Flat, problematic feet battered to hell by hockey skates--I bought crocs in Minnesota (following a chorus of recommendations in the blue) and recommend them to anyone who asks and some who don't. They feel great. They *never* smell. They do, admittedly, look stupid. Mickey-mouse-like. It's a small price to pay. I never saw a pair worn before I got mine. A month or two later, in downtown Manhattan, I see them everywhere, not just on hipsters and old people. Bartenders, nurses, the cashiers at the supermarket, college kids. So I can't wear them in London. Big deal. 48 times earnings (Symbol: CROX) means we're a bit late to the party, I suppose. Damned hippie capitalists.
  • I was working across the street from the company that created them, so they've been in my world for years... I still have yet to take a single step wearing a Croc though, mostly because I have never found a pair that fit quite right. I blame my oddly shaped feet, though, since I have similar problems finding sandals I'm comfortable wearing.
  • A coworker has a knockoff pair that are red and white striped with blue and white field-of-stars toes. Like a flag warped into a croc. Just say no.
  • But if you borrowed them, Lara, you'd be Lara Crocs, action hero! and would look just like Angelina Jolie. Oh, wait, maybe you already do. I dunno.
  • They look dumb and ugly and I want a pair SO BADLY. They've been around in these parts for... mmmm... around 18 months? Give or take six. I have bad feet and have never been able to wear Birks (which I think are also hideous) because the "anatomically correct" footbed is not correct for my deformed-from-birth anatomy.
  • I won't wear leather, so in principle I'd be behind these. But man, everybody looks like they've escaped from Klown Kollege in them. Maybe it's because everyone seems to think "Hey, Crocs equals teh great, but if I bought LIME GREEN and LIFE-JACKET ORANGE Crocs and wore them with every outfit I own, no matter the color, style or occasion, that'd be teh super-great!" I have a nice pair of Birk-like sandals that look sort of like leather, but are more like the material Crocs are made of. So comfy.
  • A good deal of students/chefs at school wear them [with white socks, no less] as a cheap alternative to Birk culinary clogs. *shrug* I'll stick with my RedWings, thanks.
  • But, but, but...WHY wouldn't ANYONE not want to have a pair of Crocs and accessorize them? to enhance irritability, turn up sound, run mouse over logo
  • WTF? They had these when I was a little kid, but they were made of cheap clear plastic with bubbles in em. They're popular again? Does this mean I can wear roach clips?
  • mad at ya cause your feets' too crass those things make ya look like an ass why staring at them makes me fractious yas yas your pedal extremities are altogether and irrevocably obnoxious
  • this site has good prices for birks. i've found delivery can take quite a long time, however.
  • What the fuck are these ugly pieces of shit?
  • mutated sauna/pool shoes.
  • CROX WITH SOX AND KITCHEN SMOX
  • Interesting stink comment, BlueHorse. I've got about a bajillion pairs o'Birks, and none of 'em have an aroma. *rubs chin thoughtfully, rolls eyes skyward* Also, Lara, the leather part is a downer and I'm starting to look at synthetic pseudo-Birks that are actually quite nice.
  • Ugh no way. 20 hole white docs FOREVER!
  • Every time you refer to your footwear by its brand name (crocs, docs, birks...) a marketing weasel gets his wings.
  • This must be the first time ever a fashion trend has started in the South and spread outward. Did the mullet start in the south, or in Canada? I knew a nurse who swore by the hand-made clogs she bought in Solvang. *clop clop clop*
  • Every time you refer to your footwear by its brand name (crocs, docs, birks...) a marketing weasel gets his wings Precisely why I enjoy wearing Bogenstocks™.
  • We bought my mother a pair a few years ago to wear when she gardens since they are easy to hose off. They are hideously fugly shoes, but if that's what the people want, let them wear their plastic waffles.
  • I proud of the fact that my footware wardrobe consists of nothing but expensive all leather boots: Vasque hiking boots Redwing heavy duty outdoor construction boots HH Brand tanker boots Tony Lama cowboy boots and my dress boots (they look like wingtips under a suit) I wouldn't be caught dead in sandals or crocs.
  • Let's give Berek the boot! ... or better yet, make boots from his epidermis.
  • 'the time has come,' the captain said, 'to talk of many things: of crocs - and docs - and birkenstocks - and clogs and other things and why berek will wear naught but boots and marketing weasels' wings.'
  • Is that Roryk up there on the fence singing? *opens window, starts tossing shoes and flowers
  • *puts saucer of Fancy Feast out on back stoop*
  • *swallows last oyster. sniffs fancy feast.*
  • TUM! Dammit, if you feed him, we'll never get rid of him. Next thing you know he'll be wanting to come in and sleep on the beds, then he'll be clawing at the sofa and marking in the corners.
  • Boot. Don't shoe. Reboot. Don't sock anyone. No jackbooting. Don't skin monkeys. Put no one in Boot Hill. Don't put boots in your ears. Above all, don't use boot force.
  • Darnit now the thread is all clogged up with poetry! Ha ha! Oh my! *snif*
  • Clogging. Not usually done with drains.
  • Not Such A Croc (Washington Post). All about the health benefits of Crocs.
  • Croslite is monkeys. *slips crocs over uggs* perfect fit. *puts on shorts with college name emblazoned across the ass* oooohhhh! *grabs iPod, bottle of super oxygenated water* Ready to hit the town!
  • Well, I for one am pleased to see that many consumers are going for function and economy rather than following orders dictated by the multi-billion fashion industry. Have Crocs gallumphed on Milan runways yet?
  • Are you trying to imply that my $300 cowboy boots are not functional and practical?!
  • *enters gallumphed into lexicon*
  • the health benefits of Crocs. Wearing a texas catheter bag on my hip might have some health benefits too, but I'm not about to do that shit, either. Aesthetics, people!
  • Dunno what yer . . . ahhhh . . missin' there, Fes!
  • My life has been greatly improved since I started duct-taping Ziploc bags to my ass.
  • My mother commented to me today as we were eating lunch--"Have you noticed that little kids are wearing those garden shoes now?"
  • When I was in Brighton the other week, I saw these on sale in some of the shops. How I laughed.
  • about the health benefits of Crocs... Tell me about health benefits when gravel gets into the little holes and cuts your feet up. *tosses Crocs in garbage
  • They're healthy when a righty tighty girlie sees you in them and gets all up ons like a bitch funky sex machine! Yeahh babyy! WhOOO!! Whooo! *cough*
  • *feels pete's forehead, frowns*
  • So, you're saying the Capt should be looking for a granola girl?
  • Shouldn't we all?
  • I love that Neil Young song.
  • I know hunnerds, mebbe thouserds of granola gals. Of course, you would need to move here to Cali to experience them. You guys are okay with armpit hair, yes?
  • Is there a calendar? 'Cause that'd be handy. Send 'em here, Louis and I will work on those bodybuilder poses that granola gals love. rrRRRRrrrrrgh! ack! I think I pulled something useful!
  • Now we're getting to the crocs crux of the matter.
  • *flips through index of Jack LaLanne manual, trying to figure out pete's Mystery Muscle*
  • Pete's Mystery Muscle is made of Mystery Meat. I suggest you turn back now, before it's too late.
  • Ack! It's too late. Cover your eyes! Turn off the bar-b-que!
  • Oh it is not. pffthhhh!
  • Such a sad thread. Begins and ends with lost souls.
  • Sister Renault, now of stylish and swingin' London, has requested a pair of Mary Jane Crocs from Santa. Make whatever inference you will from that statement. For the record, though, last week, in some big revelation, she bought her first pair of Chucks, a mere twenty years after her much hipper younger brother.
  • From England's rainy shores, I'll go to see my brother - One foot in a Chuck, A Croc upon the other.
  • "I'm in love with Mary Jane. She's my main thing. She makes me feel alright. She makes my heart sing. (Rick's chorus:) And when I'm feeling low, She comes as no surprise. Turns me on with her love. Takes me to paradise. Do you love me Mary Jane? Yeah. Whoa-oh-oh. Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? Now do you think you love me Mary Jane. Don't you play no games."
  • Wow . . I didn't expect that . .
  • "suspicions were raised by her girth" why do I find that so funny???
  • Baby's got Croc!
  • *spit take*
  • *applauds fish tick*
  • *golf clap*
  • Little in the middle / but she got much croc. Okay, maybe not so little.
  • Crocs banned in Sweeden for causing a cloud of lightning It's not just your innate animal magnetism, Louie.
  • *registers patent for "static-free crocrings"*
  • People! For God's sake, ground your crocks!
  • Insanely comfortable. Also cured my mother's heel spur.
  • My doctor recommended this morning that I get a pair of Crocs for around the house.
  • So - what color? And what'll the static do to poor Mr. Whiskers?
  • Fuchsia!
  • Gesundheit!
  • So it's official - respected medical practitioners do not recommend that Crocs be worn outdoors.
  • I will wear crocs if and when they are made out of actual crocodile.
  • They aren't? I remember giggling a little when a month ago my sister visited and she showed me a pair of radioactive-looking, small-size crocs. 'They're incredibly comfortable in warm climate'. That they were way too light for their perceived mass was what impressed me.
  • I used to work with a guy who wore socks and sandals to work every day at the direction of his doctor, right below his expensive business suits. He would only slip into dress shoes if he had to make a sales call. We all thought he was just making it up.
  • Of course a doctor wouldn't recommend you wear them outside. He wouldn't want you to die of embarassment!
  • btw, I'm still giggling at "crocrings".
  • So what would make them better than Burkies? Other than the price, of course.
  • No animal content.
  • Oh, and much, much lighter.
  • Has this trend gone too far, or are these really cute shoes? Skechers Cali Girl Skechers Cali Girl Kids Marc by Marc Jacobs
  • Also rubber
  • WANT.
  • Croc Charms
  • Am I the only one disturbed by the name "Call Girl Kids?"
  • Another source for cheap birks, ship internationally: http://www.footshopping.com/
  • Smart-arses. Ok, so we got no leather, lightweight, HOW DO THEY FIT??? I need to start walking, and the only things that aren't hurting my feet are my Berks or going barefoot. I can't do serious walking either way, so what do I wear? I'm afraid Crocs would be fine for around the house, but not to actually walk in. Hope me Monkeys, my tootsies hurt!
  • What about lightweight hiking boots? I got a pair in the winter sales and I'm very happy with them. Decent support without being too heavy or restrictive on your foot; good grip in the rain; waterproof thanks to GoreTex lining.
  • TUM, you can rest easy. I'm an idiot and it should be Cali GEAR Kids.
  • a guy who wore socks and sandals to work every day at the direction of his doctor He was making it up. Also, in the so-unlikely-as-to-be-ludicrous event that one's "condition" precludes proper attire (as if), one should stay the fuck home and crochet like the colossal wad of ass-shaped candy one is. Jesus please us, are the terms stoicism and propriety COMPLETELY excised from our culture?? Sandals. With socks. AND A SUIT. Play with pain, people! Life is hard. Suck it up and put on your big boy shoes.
  • > in the so-unlikely-as-to-be-ludicrous event that one's "condition" precludes proper attire (as if), one should stay the fuck home and crochet like the colossal wad of ass-shaped candy one is Yeah, that's what I said to those multiple amputees before I fired their asses! Or thigh, in the case of one.
  • Oh, you can get a doctor to give you a note for just about anything. The trick is finding the right doctor.
  • Fes, if you lived in my city, your head would explode. The black beret to man ratio is extremely high, and it's hard to find 3 out of 10 random people not wearing socks and sandals. IN THE WINTER. In the summer, it's just sandals.
  • Also, can someone find me a doctor that says I have to be able to hit my coworkers?
  • I have two brothers who wear socks'n'Birkies to work year round. Why not be comfortable feetwise whilst still forced to wear a silken noose, hmmm?
  • Please forgive my outburst. Appearance is something I have strong opinions about, but I sometimes forget that I am of a very minority opinion on this subject, as most care only for comfort, and dismiss considerations of personal style or social decorum.
  • I can assure you that they would never consider chewing with their mouths open or combing hair in public, nor would they be seen shirtless or in tank tops. Furthermore they do not spit, nor do they wear cologne. I must attribute the sandals to their being engineers, for which I'm sure you'll make an exception, Fes.
  • As an engineer I must protest this insulting example of occupational stereotyping. Socks and sandals are always wrong. Wrong for work. Wrong for play. Wrong for sitting alone at home.
  • You would.
  • For the most part, I agree with you, Fes. There are a lot of options in between the most comfortable and least comfortable shoe styles, and a lot of people don't bother even looking for shoes that are both comfortable AND appropriate. I'm not talking about cooks and nurses, and people who have to be on their feet all day. But when office workers show up in flip-flops and Reeboks, it seems a bit much.
  • I agree with Fes. You're not supposed to be comfortable at work. I have to wear stockings and dress shoes.
  • I think there are certain areas in a large to larger company where professionals wearing socks and sandals or other idiosyncratic clothing is fine, mostly IT and engineering-type positions whose holders would be under the radar of customers and executives. It may even give them some chache (add accent in your mind) among their peers. But, only irreplaceable, eccentric geniuses could get by in most companies, where respect is shown by dressing better than that, if the occasion merits it. Even in lower level jobs, some level of "business casual" is a requirement in most cases. As a manager I always thought of 'professional" dress as my "uniform," especially the makeup and hair-doing that's expected of women. It was part of my job. It wasn't all that hard,and I could revert to my natural hippy tendencies in my off hours. Whining about the inability to dress just any old way seems pretty childish to me.
  • flip-flops and Reeboks Bear in mind, I'm talking well-cared-for Birkies and dark hand-knit socks here. Hmph.
  • P.S. Above NSFW if you can't look at pictures of a guy in his boxers, or a naked man pictured from the back (well, naked except socks and sandals, of course).
  • OK, I had to chime in and say that I really, really like my around-the-house Crocs. It took a few days to get used to the feeling of having a shoe on, but without the added weight of a shoe. But once I did, they feel great!
  • I got me some purple ones now.
  • Bear in mind, I'm talking well-cared-for Birkies and dark hand-knit socks here Berkies are not just about the sandals. They've got some pretty nice shoe lookin' stuff that could go in an office easily.
  • Once again, "The Man" has to rain on the parade in the name of professionalism. Not that hospitals are grim and depressing enough, but let's make sure we gloom out everybody. When I worked in the hospital, I used to love to see some doc with purple crocks and orange giraffe scrubs. Made my day to see all the different patterns of scrubs and how many different colored Crocs I could find. (and who has horrible fashion sense) I suppose those sparkly stethoscopes and the little stethoscope animal covers aren't very professional, either. Whatever. Crocs come in basic black, too. OK, I'll buy the idea that the holes in the top could be a problem, but if the blood is deeper than the sole and soaking into the holes in the sides of that model I linked to above, than you've REALLY got more problems than a change of shoes could handle. Static buildup in the operating room might be a problem, but my understanding was that it's a requirement that all personnel wear shoe covers that are anti-static as well as providing a sanitary covering for the footwear, both in the sense that nothing's tracked in, and nothing's tracked out. Bjorn Lofqvist, the spokesman for Blekinge Hospital, said that staff wearing Crocs could produce "a cloud of lightning". I think Bjorn's been hitting the hootch lately, or maybe exaggerating just a teeny tiny bit. I'm thinkin' the only way you're going to get "a cloud of lightning" is if you wear those battery operated blinking electrified Crocs--the ones with the 12 volt car batteries attached.
  • What about tap dancing on escalators? Not that I'd actually DO that, or anything. *cough*
  • Wasn't that a Lionel Richie album?
  • Going up, anyone?
  • pet
    more cat pictures
  • The lady who waited on me at the coffee shop last weekend was wearing one pink Croc and one yellow one. It was pretty cute.
  • NO NO NO NO KILL IT WITH FIRE
  • They just really wanted to use that name.
  • OK, I guess I've entered a new phase in my Croconversion. I like my around-the-house ones so much I just ordered a pair of these for the office. We've entered the rainy season here, and the appeal of a quick-drying shoe is getting stronger to me.
  • They look quite nice. And they don't look much like Crocs. These two statements are related.
  • I have to admit my own assimilation. I had a pair of $5 knockoffs which are OK, but I have English feet, and I find most shoes (including basic crocs) either loose and/or uncomfortable. But I found that these are great.
  • Saw little tiny keychain Crocs at the airport yesterday, with kids' names on them. Again, they didn't have 'Louis'. Childhood heartbreak revisited...
  • How you people look yourselves in the mirror is beyond me.
  • My dress Crocs arrived about an hour ago. I lubs them. I don't know if I'd wear 'em on a job interview, but for everyday around the office I think they'll be fine.
  • My dress Crocs This inspires the same reaction in me when I hear my dad ask where his "good overalls" are.
  • Good news for all of you: I'm giving out free Follow Me to Wal-Mart! bumper stickers.
  • OK, time for another crocfession - I got myself a big fugly pair of pink crogs for walking to to the grocery store.
  • I have a pair that I use for gardening. They're pretty great! Just rinse clean with the hose. If I try to wear them anywhere else, my feet get all sweaty. Apparently I am the only one who has this problem. My feet are just not dress-Croc-compatible, I guess.