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Comfort beats out beauty
More people slipping into these colorful, cheap and 'ugly' shoes

By Wendy Donahue
Chicago Tribune
Tucson, Arizona Published: 06.23.2006

They're the new flip-flop/Ugg/Birkenstock/jelly sandal — all molded into one cultishly popular clog with a heel strap.

Originally intended as a boating shoe because of the slip-resistant, non-marking sole, Crocs launched with the bulbous Beach style in late 2002 at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.

In no time, these wide-bed, featherweight (about 6 ounces), snow-cone-colored curiosities had clopped into . . .
● Kitchens: Iron Chef Mario Batali famously works in orange ones.
● Locker rooms: The Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins slip into them when the hockey skates are off.
● Hospitals: Staff at Northwestern Memorial in Chicago and on television's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scrubs" do rounds in them.
● Hollywood: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Faith Hill have pumped star power into them.

Now, Crocs have united hippies, preppies, yuppies and kiddies with their comfort. The company credits a proprietary bacteria-resistant material called Croslite, a closed-cell resin that softens with body heat to conform to the feet while locking out the stink.

"We've sold over 1,000 pairs in two months," said Craig Cohen, manager of Alamo Shoes in Chicago. "It's like a late '80s thing with the Jordans."

Arch support, orthotic heel cups, "circulation nubs" and ventilation portholes soothe weary soles.
"Typically, if you were going to wear a piece of rubber all summer, your feet would reek and so would the shoes," Cohen said. "I've taken my golf shoes and Crocs when I go on vacation and left my Birkenstocks and Tevas behind."

In unisex and kids' sizes, Crocs can be wiped clean and hover around $30 a pair.

But, although Crocs claim "Italian styling," "chic" is not one of their chief selling points.

"They're so ugly they're hip," said Carter Kennedy, 44, who owns a firm that trades options at the Chicago Board of Trade, as well as two pairs of Crocs clogs, which he wears mainly around his house. "You can't beat the weight or the comfort for 25 bucks."

Crocs won a Brand of the Year award from Footwear News magazine and have spawned imitators.

And detractors.

Manolo the Shoe Blogger's "Gallery of the Horrors" (shoeblogs.com/horrors.html — an amusing site written in a mock Euro-Latin patois) defames them as the shoes "of a hypothetical dystopian future, one in which the inmates must be dressed in the footwear least likely to be useful in the popular uprising against the re- gime. . . . Manolo asks you, why must the 'comfort' always be the war cry of those who would lead us into the bad shoes?"

Bad or good, lead they have.

Annual revenue for Crocs shot to $108.6 million in 2005 from $13.5 million a year earlier. The company, founded by three entrepreneurs in Boulder, Colo., went public in February.

Look for Crocs of all kinds at every weekend destination this summer.

At the pool, look for children to take Crocs' quirky appeal a step further, by plugging the ventilation portholes of their clogs with Jibbitz, which are rubber charms of letters, flowers and animals (jibbitz.com).

Jana Kooi usually wears narrow shoes that have a heel and pointed toe. In neutral colors.
So she was the obvious choice when we went looking for a Tucsonan to test out a pair of Croc clogs. In bright purple.

Kooi, who is president of Pima Community College's Community Campus, recently agreed to test them out at work.

"There were a lot of surprised faces," she said, adding that the clogs also drew a lot of laughs — and questions.

Admittedly, the clogs were pretty dramatic because we had asked her to dress as usual for work, so the photos would show the contrast in her personal style. We also asked her to bring in some casual clothes that would go with Crocs. "They actually looked cute with the jeans," she said.

Here are some of her observations:
Homework: After agreeing to try out a pair, Kooi checked out the Crocs at www.crocs.com online. "I had heard about them, but had not really looked at them," she said, impressed by the variety of styles, colors and relative low price. (The pair she wore cost $32.27 at Dillard's, including tax.)

Comfort: "They're very comfortable — especially on tile floors or any hard surfaces for standing. They give you a lot of cushion," she said. "I've got tile floors in part of my house. . . . They were wonderful, especially when I was cooking."

Comments she received: "Many of my staff have them, and they love them." Others, male and female, asked to try them on.

Drawbacks: The clogs were a little wide for her feet, which are very narrow. At times, when walking, she felt she was stepping out of them. "Standing still, it was great."

They came in handy: "I had a leak in my front garden that went over the sidewalk, and I could just plow right through without worrying about them getting wet," she said. "I was actually quite thrilled I had them." And, she later added, "They seemed quite durable."

Would she buy a pair? Kooi said she and several co-workers plan to check out the more streamlined flip-flops. "I could see where those would be very comfortable and you could wear them with a lot more things." Kooi, who once lived in Michigan, is also interested in the boots. "I thought those could be fun for tromping around in the rain and the snow."

What color? "I actually kind of liked the purple, but they have a great green . . . I also liked the red and yellow," she said. "I think the colors are fun."

What is "Community Campus"? More than 50,000 students each year attend this campus, which provides all of the college's distance education, workforce training, adult basic education and the noncredit courses.

● Inger Sandal, Arizona Daily Star

posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 1:23 PM