What a CROCk

June 7 2006

So I was in Evanston Illinois last night, home of Northwestern University, grabbing dinner from LuLu's, one of my all-time-favorite restaurants, when I saw something so hideous, so offensive that I had nightmares.

The pink CROCS.
On a woman who was otherwise professionally dressed (as in like a blouse and slacks).



Image:What a CROCkImage:What a CROCk

What is up with these shoes?  I gotta be honest, the first time I saw shoes like this was in 1998.  In Japan.  And how were the Japanese so ahead of this fashion trend?  Well, they weren't trendy at the time, they were functional.  In Japan, fastidiousness is so important that there are often different shoes to change when using the toilet.  And at a temple in Kyoto, green shoes just like today's Crocs were the available "toilet shoes".

So hopefully you'll understand that when I see these supposedly-fashionable shoes now, I start thinking about Kyoto toilet shoes.  And remembering that functional experience also for the fact that the toilet was basically exposed to passers-by.  I'd like to tell you about which temple it was, but eight years later, the toilet seems to have been more memorable than the rock gardens.  I guess that Japanese toilet culture trumped zen through the lens of time.

Ed Brill Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Travel  Add/View Comments [25]

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  1. 1  Duffbert http://www.twduff.com | 6/7/2006 10:25:47 AM

    Yup... truly hideous...

  1. 2  Bruce Elgort http://www.bruceelgort.com | 6/7/2006 10:58:01 AM

    Maybe they would look good in Lotus yellow :-)

  1. 3  Susan Bulloch http://notesgoddess.net | 6/7/2006 11:00:53 AM

    Nina bought a pair this weekend at a street festival here and won't take them off. They are THAT comfortable. The insides have little bumps that massage your feet with every step. Here in the warm, sunny southern US, they relieve hot feet, can be worn while working in the garden, then hosed off to clean them. They're not hideous when worn in the proper setting. That pink is a little um - bright tho.

  1. 4  Jackie Horowitz  | 6/7/2006 11:05:34 AM

    @2 Bruce - my little sister has a pair of these in Lotus Yellow! But sorry, they're still hideous. First time I saw her with them, I was like, "What in the world are those?!?!" She was so PROUD of them! She spends a lot of time in hospitals and said all the nursing staff in the hospitals are wearing them these days.

  1. 5  Rick Ellis  | 6/7/2006 11:51:41 AM

    My (grown) kids bought us all pairs for Christmas. Very light-weight, roomy, water-proof. Appalacian Trail hikers love them at days' end or when crossing through wet areas or wading in a lake.

  1. 6  Scott Gentzen http://www.scottandmargo.net | 6/7/2006 3:48:39 PM

    Agreed with Hillary@6 Wow. I had no idea. One more reason that I'm unlikely to ever spend any time in Japan (#1 being I don't speak or read the language and can't fake it like Spanish and French)

    I don't see them often around here (Metro DC) but they pop up occasionally, just not in that color. The theme seems to be "fugly but comfy". Remember Uggs? Same thing as far as I'm concerned. I've been known to pick up carry-out in my slippers though.

  1. 7  Joseph LeMay http://www.joelemay.com | 6/7/2006 3:50:04 PM

    my wife has a pair of those. now I know what they're called and what they're good for. I thought nothing of it until now. what do I know what looks good? I'm an engineer. They look fine to me.

  1. 8  Bill Geimer  | 6/8/2006 12:11:59 AM

    1) Its optional, but you have the strap backwards in the pic.

    2) I like four other colors better (no, not on me.)

    3) Where have you been? Dick's (Sporting Goods)has been sold out three times this season and Fields four. Okay, I know, Evanston has the W.C.T.U., not the Paris fashion business. But with Northwestern and a couple other colleges, well... :<) I do see a lot of them around in the burbs.

  1. 9  Claude  | 6/8/2006 5:56:53 AM

    Hi Ed,

    You might not like the look or the colour, but these shoes as supposedly the most comfortable in the world... And also, there are a VERY big business success story here in Quebec - Man and wife come back from working abroad, he invents a new plastic composite and a new molding technique, revives a whole manufacturing district in Qu■bec City, saves the shoe industry - that was moving to China... anyway, you guys get it...

    Now getting back to what you don't like, makes me think about... maybe they'll come out with a good looking pair in the future that maintains all the qualities that make people fight over to buy them... and call them Hannover Crocs... Just a thought.

  1. 10  David Vasta david.davidandkelly.com | 6/8/2006 7:26:52 AM

    Ed, I loved in Japan for a number of years and I know live in Coloraod, the home of the CROCs, and I have had flashbacks of those shoes in Japan, They were there in 1993 when I started living there, and now they are everywhere. I think you for making the connection and yes they are just wrong. I do not like them, I will not buy any, and they are really bad for you feet as they offer no support to your arches. I know that sounds like old man talk but it's true. They should be banned from the workplace and anyplace other than squating over a public toilet doing number 2.

    -David

  1. 11  R. J. Lesch http://www.rhs.com/thenewblack | 6/8/2006 10:23:40 AM

    My wife bought me a pair of black crocs without the holes. I thought I'd never wear them, but 1) in black, they're not so hideous, and 2) they are surprisingly comfortable. My knees and ankles don't bother me at all when I wear them.

    However, I'd never wear them to work -- even in these "casual dress" times when torn jeans and flip-flops are considered business attire.

  1. 12  Bill Dorge  | 6/8/2006 11:39:23 AM

    I love my Croc's, I wore them everyday at Lotusphere this year and my feet loved me for that. I have a black pair without the holes in front that are nice for fall and winter and one with for spring and summer. They have a real nice looking flip-flop I wouldn't mind having also, it's called the Athens. You won't catch me in that pink color though!!

  1. 13  Turtle http://www.weightlessdog.com/shell.nsf | 6/8/2006 12:45:58 PM

    This is a sore point with me... not Crocs, specifically, but just way-casual shoes in places where it's not just odd, it's garish-bordering-on-gross. Remember the college women's sports team that showed up at the White House in flip-flops a couple of years ago? That seems to be what's going on, a sort of whole flip-flop culture... "fark you, my comfort is more important than anything else, including dress codes, decorum, respect for others, or context."

    My own feeling: flip-flops and other such uber-casual stuff belongs at the beach, or maybe the shower. Not at work. I keep trying to figure out how such ugly "fashion" gets so popular. It's just awful.

  1. 14  Esther http://esthermstrom.blogspot.com | 6/8/2006 12:50:40 PM

    Hey, Ed - I was at LuLu's last night, too! Small world. I have a pair of orange Crocs, which I bought after telling myself for months that I wasn't going to. But as other people have said, they're great for gardening (or going to the dog park) because you can just hose them down when they get dirty. They're also very light and comfy, even for my extra-wide, totally flat feet.

    (I don't, however, wear them with business clothes...)

  1. 15  Bill Geimer  | 6/8/2006 2:40:31 PM

    @14 - No crocks, but I have a podiatrist that insists if I don't wear New Balance shoes to work that I am going to have to find a new job a mile or so closer to the train. I am not sure the whole "comfort thing" is quite that black and white, or pink and lavender if you wish. There may also be a tendon involved.

    As for the Northwestern Women's Lacross Team and the Flip-Flop Flap, I find it hard to believe that anybody really cared. Teddy Roosevelt wore cowboy boots there all the time, as does the current principle occupant. Bill Clinton wore Birkenstocks. They didn't own the property at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.; they're just visitors. Well, NU won the Lacrosse National Championship again this year. It would be a shame if they didn't show up in flip-flops again, or pink Crocks! It might help remind everybody that this is the U.S.of A. (Sorry to all the readers of this blog across the globe; its just one of us bumpkins here.)

  1. 16  Mike M http://www.marusin.com | 6/8/2006 7:23:44 PM

    I have to admit that I'm a huge Crocs fan. No, I'm not ashamed to admit that. I have three pairs actually (no Lotus yellow) and they are without a doubt the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn/owned.

    I think if you tried a pair on, Ed, you'd be pleasantly surprised. :)

  1. 17  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 6/8/2006 7:47:47 PM

    I didn't say I wouldn't try the shoes -- I just think they are butt ugly in the flourescent colours.

  1. 18  Gregg Eldred http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf | 6/9/2006 8:55:41 AM

    Not that I don't like the Notes/Domino posts, but entries like this (and the resulting comments) keep the reading interesting and fun. Keep mixing it up, Ed!

  1. 19  Jennifer  | 6/16/2006 12:01:23 PM

    I wear mine to work (@IBM) almost every day. They're the first piece of clothing I've had comments on. Not all positive. But, they are blue!

  1. 20  Sallie http://Ed Brill | 12/26/2006 9:46:06 PM

    I HAVE JUST NOW PURCHASED TWO PAIR OF CROCS, AND I MUST SAY THEY HAVE IMPROVED MY WHOLE LIFESTYLE. YOU SEE, I HAVE A MENINIGIOMA BENIGN BRAIN TUMOR, WHICH THE TUMOR AFFECTS MY BACK, AND BALANCE, AND I HAVE NEVER WORE A MORE COMFORTABLE SHOE IN ALL OF MY LIFE. YES, I AM HOOKED ON CROCS. THEY HAVE MADE MY LIFE, MORE BEARABLE, THEN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE. NEVER WILL I WEAR ANY OTHER TYPE OF SHOE, BECAUSE I CAN NOT DUE TO HEALTH FACTORS.

  1. 21  Bonoiti http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=irony | 1/8/2007 7:40:18 AM

    It's good(?) to see that the Croc waves has its foundation steeped in history - I too wondered if there was anyone else in the world who thought it a crock! Now I know I'm not alone. In Oz (aka down-under aka Aus-traaaa-li-a) these shoes are popping up in retirement homes, new housing estates and among the rich and trendy(??).

    I forsee a show on Oprah where a fashion expert goes around helping people get rid of gaudy colored fluro fashion to save their lives.

    I also forsee a repeat episode of Oprah telling people to STOP WEARING STUPIDY LARGE sun glasses!!

    p.s. Note to Claude on the irony of a local company saving Quebec's manufacturing (and presumably footwear) industry from being offshored to China BUT THEN goes and manufactures its CROC shoes in China anyway :-)

    p.p.s. Was CROC the original shape and design of all these knock-off (copy) shoes around for $5?

  1. 22  Kimmy  | 10/2/2007 7:44:42 PM

    Crocks are crocks. My podiatrist suggested I buy them (from his office no less) citing them as a special line designed for podiatry patients. The first day I wore them, my ankle rolled and I am recovering from a Serious Grade 2 sprain with possible ligament tear. The message -- only healthy feet and strong ankles should wear a shoe that has no heel/ankle support.

  1. 23  Craig http://www.podiatry-arena.com | 10/3/2007 3:15:02 AM

    Crocs have been banned for being dangerous in some hospitals:

    { Link }

  1. 24  Amy Hetzman http://www.styleblab.com | 1/3/2008 8:14:57 AM

    I so agree with the Crock thing. In fact, I added them to my "Fashion Don'ts" on my website. This was my entry:

    "Crocks!!! These rubber shoes are starting to really freak me out!!! Today I actually saw a woman in a professional black suit with black crock shoes with no socks–with crock charms on them! Please people, if you are over the age of 8 do not wear these things in public. They are for gardening. I don’t CARE if they are “comfortable”!"

    I wish the world just say NO to these hideous things!!!!!