No longer the funky new kid on the fashion block

May 23, 2024 1:02 AM

The partnership with Christopher Kane ended up being just the start, as Crocs began to release frequent collabs with major brands and celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Post Malone, McDonald’s, and recently Pringles (yes, the brand you’re thinking of). Arguably most important of all, was when Crocs teamed up with avant-garde fashion house Balenciaga — and so began a collaboration that took the humble Crocs into the world of high-fashion, with a series of rain boots, platform clogs, stilettos, and more. Many of the collabs are easy to laugh at (do you want a pair of 7-Eleven Crocs?), but the amount of money Crocs is making is no joke, as Gen Z has learned to love the brand. from How Crocs became a clog-selling profit machine [Sherwood]

Crocs, previously

posted by chavenet (20 comments total)

Dansko 100%, imo
posted by HearHere at 3:15 AM on May 23

Danskos are not foot shaped! I’m 1000% on board the Crocs bus because they’re actually shaped like your foot and sure they’re not properly zero drop or whatever but they give you so many of the immediate benefits of barefoot shoes while being affordable and actively comfortable for feet that haven’t already built up barefoot strength. Let the toes flow free!!
posted by cabbage raccoon at 5:00 AM on May 23 [8 favorites]

I like my Crocs-on-the-clock. Not in terms of style particularly, but they're comfortable and easy to clean and didn't cost very much. Mine are finally starting to show signs of wear 4 years later, but they look like they have another year or two in them.

Danskos do look a bit nicer, but they also cost 3x as much and now I'm wondering about the comfort. I have big weird toes that hate a lot of shoes and the Crocs have been kind to them.
posted by Foosnark at 5:15 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

So yes, I RTFA and it didn't address the theory I have about what made Crocs a big deal - you know those little charms they make to decorate your Crocs? That's GOT to have had something to with it, yeah? They're relatively inexpensive and sold in a whole lot of stores marketing things to kids and teens - and you've got to have a pair of Crocs to put them on, right?

I personally have a pair, but they are my "gardening shoes" because you can put bare feet into them, and when you get mud all over them you just blast them with the hose before heading back inside and that's cleaned them off so you don't track mud inside.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:18 AM on May 23 [5 favorites]

I have a pair that I use for quick trips outside (taking out the trash, checking the grill, etc.) but if I’m trying to wear something that fits a little better, I have a pair of Merrill Hydro Mocs that stay on better. They’re not as easy to slide on but they hug my heel in ways the crocs don’t.

With respect to barefoot - that aspect makes a lot of sense, it does take a long time to build up foot strength before straight wearing barefoot shoes feels good instead of making your feet hurt. And sometimes it never works. I love my barefoot shoes, but my wife noped out after trying some longer runs in a pair of Merrill Trail Gloves - it just didn’t work for her for any kind of sustained activity, but she can wear Crocs all day.

Crocs are the go-to camp shoes for a lot of backpackers I know. Comfortable and they don’t weigh much, so I get it. I use a pair of minimalist shoes for that purpose - Trail Gloves or New Balance Minimus (the older style that was actually, you know, MINIMAL), whatever retired minimal running shoe I have on hand - not because I wouldn’t use the crocs or hydro Mocs for this purpose, but because a pair of size 13 crocs eats a LOT of room in a backpack (and I’m decidedly against stuff dangling off the outside of my pack!)

I’m also annoyed that the company stopped making it possible to fix them when the buttons that hold the heel strap break. One of my crocs has a home-made fix - I bought a flat head nylon screw cap, a short nylon screw, and a nylon washer. Assembled this all through the hole left when the snap broke. It’s slightly ugly but no more so than the crocs are to begin with, and it’s held up for 3-4 years now…
posted by caution live frogs at 5:56 AM on May 23 [3 favorites]

Do you guys remember the thinkpieces from years ago about how Crocs (the shoes) last forever and you never have to replace them, so therefore Crocs (the company) would eventually hit a growth wall because everyone on Earth who wanted a pair of Crocs would already have one?

Yeah, guess they found a way around that problem.
posted by subdee at 6:12 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

... those little charms they make to decorate your Crocs?

Like Croc Nuts?
posted by TedW at 7:15 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

those little charms they make to decorate your Crocs

Yo dawg, I heard you like crocs so I put crocs on your crocs so you can croc while you croc
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:14 AM on May 23 [3 favorites]

I bought a $135 pair of Glerups when I was looking for winter slippers for around the house, after reading about them a bunch here on AskMe. They were... fine. Then on a whim I got a $40 pair of fuzzy lined Crocs sandals and I like them so. much. more. They breathe but are warm and are so comfy and somehow stay on my feet better which doesn't even make any sense. And they are just ugly enough that I personally would never wear them in public, so they stay as my clean house-only slippers with no temptation to wear them out and about. Plus the little bit of platform helps me reach things in my kitchen cabinets that I can't reach when I'm barefoot. I never thought I'd be a Croc convert but they do have legitimate uses. I almost like some of the Balenciaga designs, heh.
posted by misskaz at 8:22 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

My son, a kitchen manager at a restaurant, swears by them. I personally refuse to try them because I just can't abide the idea of wearing plastic on my feet.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:37 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

Are Crocs clogs? I daresay not.
Are hot dogs sandwiches?
posted by the sobsister at 9:46 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

(Team Sanita, btw)
posted by the sobsister at 9:51 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

This is a timely article to me because I just bought a pair of crocs. Like other people in this thread, I find them comfortable for my weird feet. They're also easy to get in and out of without reaching, which is sometimes hard for me, and easy to clean.

I was looking for a light color with something cheerful on them—like white with flowers. I ended up with white with Pokemon, not because I love Pokemon but because the colors were right for my summer plans.

I was struck by how many designs are now tie-ins.

I also love the lined crocks as house slippers and mild cold weather shoes. They're a very reliable shoe.
posted by Well I never at 10:20 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

I bought Crocs as sturdy slippers/slip=ons I could wear to the streetside mailbox, walk the dog, maybe use in the house because the floor is cold in winter. If you have not worn them, they're a heavier density foam than a yoga mat, incredibly comfortable, pretty flexible, and reasonably sturdy. In winter, I wore them outside briefly with socks. They have been quite good value. They do not have half sizes, which is very annoying, but are comfortably wide. Ugly, but utilitarian.

They probably cost very little to make; I didn't find knockoffs in anything but loud ugly colors. Foam soles are showing up on lots of shoes. I will not wear shoes in which I can't run and dance, a few manufacturers are recognizing the market.
posted by theora55 at 11:46 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

I remember seeing my brother wear Crocs when they came out (almost two decades ago!). I looked at them and said "I have to be honest, those things are really ugly." I was a bit of a dick, giving him shit for his ugly shoes, but whatever, he's my brother. I'm supposed to do that.

Eventually he said "You have to try them." I scoffed, but indeed tried his Crocs and the scales fell from my eyes. It was the most comfortable piece of footwear I had ever worn. I bought a pair the next day.

I still maintain Crocs are the ugliest shoe, because they are, and also the most comfy. Because they are.
posted by zardoz at 12:29 PM on May 23 [2 favorites]

Do you guys remember the thinkpieces from years ago about how Crocs (the shoes) last forever and you never have to replace them, so therefore Crocs (the company) would eventually hit a growth wall because everyone on Earth who wanted a pair of Crocs would already have one?

This is , unfortunately, what actually killed Instant Pot.
posted by hippybear at 3:04 PM on May 23

Not according to this previous thread. (TL;DR - leveraged buyout)
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:26 PM on May 23

I bought Crocs as sturdy slippers/slip=ons I could wear to the streetside mailbox, walk the dog, maybe use in the house because the floor is cold in winter.

Yeah, I just wanted something I could wear to mow the lawn and such that I could just hose (almost all) the dogshit off and throw into the washing machine as needed and just not give a fuck. Upon experimentation it turns out that actual crocs are noticeably better than the $10 croculoids I'd been buying.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 3:38 PM on May 23 [1 favorite]

Ugly shoes that are (possibly) comfortable and yet no mention of Birkenstocks? And for the old folks Earth Shoes?

I love my Birkenstocks that I wear at work so much I have worn through the soles on two pair in the last 20 years. Just can’t see myself in Crocs.
posted by TedW at 12:56 PM on May 24

My husband finds them repulsive but I don’t care - I have really wide feet and they work really well for me. I wear Birks, too. Basically I have to find my shoes in places that either do WW, or buy men’s (excuse me, unisex, except they’re always black or white and never pink or cute.)
posted by PussKillian at 2:57 PM on May 24