By Kelly Casottana, Staff Writer
Walking down the halls, one can spot the various types of footwear that students are wearing. But senior Katilyn Wu’s camo colored Crocs stand out among her classmates’ shoes. Kaitlyn, a Croc enthusiast, owns five different pairs of Crocs and wears them at least once a week to school; “I love Crocs. They are so versatile. You can wear them all year round. In the winter, you can wear fuzzy socks underneath them and in the summer, the waterproof material is great.” Kaitlyn said, “I love seeing other people wear Crocs because it’s like a little Croc family.”
This Croc family seems to be growing in popularity. Senior Matthew Cabrera, who frequently wears the shoe in school, claims that Crocs are “the best thing to happen to humanity.” He said, “Crocs are practical because they are durable and comfortable. They are easy to put on and take off, they remove the hassle of shoelaces, and they can basically be slippers for the outside.”
Senior Safiyah Khan shared her opinion; “I wear them all the time. They’re super comfortable and help me get through the long day.” Junior Adrianna Romanowski agreed, saying she wears her Crocs everyday as they are “convenient and easy to wear.”
Safiyah believes Crocs allow for individual expression. She said, “There’s so many ways to be expressive with Crocs, from the color of the actual Croc to all the charms you can put on them. Additionally, you can be expressive with your socks because they’re visible.”
Although Crocs seem to be popular, many students are still hesitant to wear them in public.
Junior James Hopkins commented, “I personally wouldn’t wear crocs to school. I just don’t think they look that good, and from what I remember they were really rubber-like and pretty uncomfortable. I think they’re practical but not fashionable.” Similarly, junior Efaz Ahmed said he wouldn’t wear Crocs to school because they don’t suit his fashion sense.
Crocs’ lack of fashion appeal seems to be its biggest deterrent and the shoe brand still faces some hate from the student body.
Senior Deborah Kong spoke passionately about her decision to ditch Crocs. She said, “I used to wear Crocs to swim practice when I first begin swimming but I have since upgraded to flip flops. I was too young to understand the importance of aesthetics back then, but if given the choice now I would not wear Crocs.”
She continued, “I would not wear crocs to school just because I feel that they would instantly ruin any outfit of mine and I have other choices of footwear that are more comfortable and easier on the eyes.”
“[Crocs] are so bad; I don’t think I could be that bold ever. Crocs are definitely not fashionable,” junior Sean Sharma added, “They’re for little kids or old people that are beyond caring about what they look like. They may be practical if you want to take out the trash but only for that.”
However, when asked about their thoughts about their classmates wearing Crocs, those against Crocs seemed to lessen their judgement.
Sean stated, “Honestly, I wouldn’t care if someone was wearing Crocs unless it was a friend, then I’d probably call them out for that.”
“I usually assume that people are wearing Crocs to be ironic, because crocs really do not pair well with any outfit,” Deborah said. “I see them only as a humorous choice and not a stylistic one, but I wouldn’t be against anyone wanting to wear it because they are in charge of their own feet and their own decisions.”
James concluded that although he wouldn’t wear the shoe to school himself, he doesn’t have a problem with other people wearing Crocs to school because they can do what they want. He feels that as a school we shouldn’t dictate people’s style choices for them; “We should just let people wear what they want to wear and not put such an emphasis on what people choose to put on their body.”
Photo Courtesy of Jason Bacalla.
