Crikey! It is the International Croc Attack!
Manolo says, despite the best efforts of the Manolo, the plague that is the Crocs is spreading!
They have invaded New Zealand, where the righteously outraged fashionistas have begun to do battle against this odious and life-sucking scourge.
The plastic horrors have taken the country by storm, but their popularity remains an enigma. Bulky, hole-filled and jellybean-coloured, they are not the height of footwear fashion.
“Crocs are ugly, they are hideous, they are disgusting,” railed Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, founder of Kiwi fashion label World. “They should actually have teeth in them that bite off the feet of anyone who wears them as punishment for having such bad fashion sense. I wouldn’t wear them if they were the last shoes on earth.”
L’Estrange-Corbet said the only thing good about the rubber monstrosities was their bright colours. “But they should be banned. If I were prime minister, that’s what I would do - ban Crocs.”
Auckland fashion designer Caroline Church puts it just as bluntly. “They’re dog ugly. They really are, but so are Jandals - people don’t look good in them, but they wear them anyway.”
The Manolo completely agrees with these sentiments.
Wait, Denise L’Estrange-Corbet? This name is familiar to the Manolo. Ah, now he remembers. Let us just say that if she and her husband do not like the Crocs, you who wear them are doomed.
And now this awful news. Not only are the Crocs invading New Zealand, but these “rubber monstrosities” have now appeared in Paris! Here is the excerpt from this day’s Wall Street Journal written by the Manolo’s old friend the Rachel Dodes (many apologies, the Manolo does not have the link, his internet the friend Tara sent the excerpt to him).
[O]n the Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, one of the main drags, there were some items in the window of a small shop that caused people to point and stare: Crocs, the unabashedly ugly brand of rubber garden clogs that have a cult following in the U.S. The shoes, in gold and orange, were shown paired with dainty dresses and chic leather jackets.
Crocs, which feature large holes in the front, have yet to become a sensation outside the U.S. “Everyone thinks this is crazy,” acknowledged Pascal Yefet, owner of the shop in Paris, which is called Sylk Production. Mr. Yefet claims to be the first person in France to attempt to sell the unusual footwear. After a year of negotiation, he purchased 800 pairs of Crocs in a rainbow of colors from Crocs Inc., the Niwot, Colo., company. The shoes retail for €49, or about $65. In the U.S. they can be purchased for $29.99.
If Mr. Yefet succeeds in drawing interest from French consumers, it could be a good sign for Crocs, which saw its stock almost triple since going public last year before a recent slide. The company has been rapidly expanding its offerings — such as a wedge heel and a rubber ballet flat — to avoid becoming a one-hit wonder.
Since opening the boutique in January, Mr. Yefet says he has sold about 100 pairs of Crocs, but that only 50% of the buyers are French. “I hope people see Crocs as something different,” says Mr. Yefet. “They are very comfortable.”
Mr. Yefet should hope that the outraged peoples of Paris do not throw the cobblestones through his windows and drag him into the street for the much deserved thrashing.
For all that is holy, peoples, do you not notice that when you put the Crocs upon your feets you instantly lose 63 IQ points and 27% of your physical attractiveness! It is the proven fact of science!
Manolo says, do not be the unattractive dummy, do not wear the Crocs.
Update! The super fantastic Rachel Dodes has forwarded the link to the story!
March 1st, 2007 at 2:23 pm
“For all that is holy, peoples, do you not notice that when you put the Crocs upon your feets you instantly lose 63 IQ points and 27% of your physical attractiveness! It is the proven fact of science!”
What excuse do people in Alabama have? Since I’ve moved back to this low-fashion-IQ state almost 2 years ago, Crocs have taken over, especially in the large college towns (Tuscaloosa and auburn)…I think Crocs are the right-wing’s answer to the earthy-crunch Birkenstocks.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:28 pm
It’s like Kudzu!
March 1st, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Save for the holes, they are just like the clogs you have to wear when you work in theatre - a hospital theatre. Just like hospital gowns were never be made to be worn in public, so too should these horrendous, plastic monstrosities be relegated to the bowels of hospital care facilities.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:43 pm
The least fashionable person I know — a dear, sweet, charming, intelligent, and funny woman who would feel fashionable wearing a purple plastic bag because it’s purple — loves Crocs and owns several pairs.
That, to me, says enough.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:04 pm
eewwwww i’m sorry i love shoes, but these are the ugliest things in the world. they really are.
xoxo
jess
http://www.whowhatweardaily.com
(read and subscribe!)
March 1st, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I work at a department store and people ask all the time if we have these horrid things. I usually giggle and tell them that they went on clearance last summer…Why are these “shoes” such a hot item? People, comfort should not come first!
March 1st, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I have to say my 5 year old daughter looks adorable in her pink size 8/9 crocs. And that is the only size person that should ever wear them.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:46 pm
People who dress as they do should not determine what is fashionable or ugly.
March 1st, 2007 at 8:06 pm
I’m afraid it’s too late Manolo, Europe…has already fallen. Last summer when I was living in London, Crocs were everywhere. When I moved home to Oslo in September I thought I’d be rid them…but nooo, suddenly everyone here were wearing them as well. Although I hate winter, I’m sort of glad that the cold climate here has put a stop to this evil, evil trend as it’s too cold to wear Crocs now. Urgh!
March 1st, 2007 at 9:43 pm
crocs are the 21st century birkies!! worse than that, I cannot say.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Sorry I didn’t provide a URL. The online subscription service of the Wall Street Journal limits access to non-subscribers of the newspaper. Thus I sent just an excerpt of the article (the portion on the horrible Crocs). (The rest of the article is about other goings on during Fashion Week in Paris.)
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:36 am
Hmmm.
They do rather look like they were made for putting on little dolls and not actual human people.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:50 am
One of the most hideous things ever invented! I do no understand why they ever thrive in the market. I swear I will cut ties with any friend or family member who shows up in them!
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:10 am
There’s a show here in Cda called “This Hour has 22 Minutes”, ‘a satirical look at the days’ events’……back in October they did a clip on “Dorcs”. The link to their video archives is shown, you’ll have to scroll down the page to October 18 to see their take on the monstrosities. I think it pretty much sums up everyone’s feelings on this topic.
http://www.cbc.ca/22minutes/video.html
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:26 pm
This will probably get me quite the flogging, but for those who are focused on comfort, they really are extremely comfortable. Believe me when I say that the clogs are certainly not easy on the eyes. I must admit that the crocs company is at least attempting to make a shoe that doesn’t cause immediate loss of sight:
http://shop.crocs.com/pc-109-4-capri.aspx?reqid=109&reqProdTypeId=41p&subsectionname=footwear§ion=products
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Living as I do at the nexus of the Crocs phenomenon (5 miles from Niwot, CO), I can’t help but be both horrified and amused by the spread of the Crocs over the world, like some sort of newly discovered, deadly bacillus. I believe I may have been one of the first to see the Crocs worn by a member of the general population (”what is the world does that grad student have on her feet?”). Perhaps I am partially to blame. Perhaps I should have done more to try to stop it early, but I was afraid to speak up. Now I feel the shame.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Tis true, they are HIDEOUS!!
I had thought that given I live in Aberdeen I would be safe from their nefarious schemes - when its this cold no-one wants shoes with holes in, right?
Needless to say I was wrong.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:23 pm
[…] Okay people, I totally do not understand the obsession with Crocs! These shoes have to be the ugliest things in the entire universe. They remind me of a mix between a plastic Barbie shoe and one of those ugly no slip shoes they wear at the local oil change place. I am usually pretty opened minded in fashion and can find some good in about anything, or at LEAST someone who can pull it off. But Crocs? I have not seen one person who looks good in these; actually I believe they make you less attractive! Manolo from Manolo’s Shoe Blog believes “that when you put the Crocs upon your feet you instantly lose 63 IQ points and 27% of your physical attractiveness.” Kinda of harsh but I think I agree. What do you guys think? Yay or Nay on the Crocs? […]
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Alas, the crocs arrived in France before Monsieur du Rue Francs-Bourgeois–I saw them at a Centre Commerciale (mall) in the heart of Paris way back in 2005. And yes, they were more expensive. (They are so ugly, someone should pay people to put them on.)
And yes, there are french people who wore them.
I gave them very sad and disappointed looks whenever I saw them. This may not work with Americans’ poor fashion sense, but the french do. not. like. it. at. all. I hope they never wore them in public again.
Of course, they were not wearing them with the sloppy, stretched out sweat pants, stained camisoles with visible bra straps, messy hair in ponytails, and the ubiquitous large piece of gum in the mouth while yelling into their cell phones and sucking down a gigantic soda.
That is still the domaine of les américaines.
Sigh. (shaking head)
March 6th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
I am French and I don’t speak english very well. This horrible shoes are in my town!!!
Bon, en français: elles sont très moches et sont en ventes dans ma région. Pour l’instant, je ne les ai vu au pieds de personne! Heureusement!
Congratulation for your blog, it’s famous!!!!
March 27th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
I work at DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) and we had those awful shoes for a period of time and every time I walked down that aisle, I recoiled in horror. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop people from buying them or asking if we were going to get anymore. Finally, the last pair was sold to an out-of-town couple. To this day, I still have nightmares…