I Wonder Who Decided Uggs & Crocs Were Cute?

When reviewing this topic, I realized that my expertise in the area was limited. In my closet you will find nary a Croc, nor an Ugg. From outside the shop window, Uggs look warm and comfy to me – I have no beef with Uggs. Crocs, on the other hand, are completely ridiculous, and I am a card-carrying member of Ihatecrocs dot com. I apologize to the one reader of this blog who I know owns a pair. Much love to you, M, but I can give no love to your Crocs. They are neon colored. They are plastic/foam. They have lots of huge holes (apparently now one can purchase trinkets to stick in the holes – sounds like the purpose of the holes was solely to get consumers to spend more money "accessorizing.") They perhaps fall into the category of So-Ridiculous-They’re-Cool. Or – they’re just Ridiculous.

However, this is not answering the question at hand. The question I am setting forth to answer is who decided these two types of unusual footwear were cute? I did some exhaustive research on the subject (ahem, Wikipedia), and discovered that Pamela Anderson, Kate Hudson, and Sienna Miller popularized the Ugg, while also apparently ushering in an(other) era of boho chic. Oh. That was easy.

When searching for info on Crocs, had less success. Word of mouth caused their explosion in popularity, says the company. What?? Nobody famous shilling for them? Nonsense. I did find out, however, that children wearing Crocs have been injured when their shoes melted . . . that Crocs have issues with getting stuck in escalators . . . and finally, that nurses in Sweden are not allowed to wear them at work because the static electricity they tend to carry interferes with electronic equipment. No word on whether the author of this article is also a member of ihatecrocs dot com, though s/he seems not to be a fan.

I will close with this scintillating statement, from my source (still Wikipedia), which is in reference to Uggs, but I believe could be applied to both:

“The popularity of Ugg boots has polarized the fashion-conscious. Some wear them almost exclusively year-round, touting their comfort and warmth. Others call them plain and ugly, and prone to causing foot-odor.”

Peace and Love to all you lovely strange-shoe-buying folk,

G