About three years ago I was standing in the queue at a chemist shop when I saw, on a stand, various pairs of what looked like plastic clogs.
They were brightly coloured with holes in the toe and a strap at the back.
I remember thinking: ‘What a great idea for gardening.’ My attitude changed when I saw the price tag of $30.
Fast forward a few years and the things are everywhere.
A company called ‘crocs’ in the US has had great success manufacturing and selling this flouro fun-wear.
According to Radar online, in 2005 more than 6 million pairs were distributed in America with sales tipping $US 100 million.
The company now has a major share of the $US 1 billion market.
Like the ugg boot, celebrities are falling over each other to be photographed in them.
Celebrity chef Mario Batali apparently owns 30 pairs of orange crocs and cleans them all in the dishwasher (wouldn’t want to east at his restaurant!).
In America you can buy crocs in your university, hockey or football team colours and the range of products is astounding.
There is now a Disney brand of crocs that, instead of having round holes on the top of the shoe, there are little Mickey Mouse ears.
There is even a croc gumboot available. Check them all out on www.crocs.com
The fashion craze has, predictably, spurned a counter culture. Check out www.ihatecrocs.com
It is very funny and clever in parts.
However, in Australia the plastic shoe craze has more serious consequences than just bad fashion sense.
I recently spent a week at the beach and before leaving Bendigo I needed to buy my wife and I some shoes that we could wear to and from the beach and were easy to clean.
I succumbed to the temptation and bought a pair of crocs look-a-likes from Rivers for the both of us, for $9.95 each.
Since then our two year old daughter has also received a bright pink pair.
My son, however, has not, and the reason is disturbing.
A few weeks previous his grandparents bought him a pair of thongs – his first– so there was no need to double up by buying the plastic fantastics.
This got me thinking. Is the plastic clog a threat to the pair of Aussie thongs?
While at the beach the clogs were everywhere. People playing in the sand, walking the dog and even doing the shopping were wearing these holey heel exposers.
During the Australia Day weekend, ironically, I was wearing my cheap imitation sandals while I was gardening.
My son was kicking the soccer ball in the yard and it ended up at my feet. I stood up and kicked the ball back to him.
My first thought was if I was wearing thongs that would have hurt by foot and possibly dislocated a couple of toes.
That started another chain of thought comparing the thong to the plastic clog.
The clogs do everything a thong can. You can kick them off with ease, wash them off with a hose and wear them with most forms of clothes, including jeans and skirts.
Like thongs you can also wear them in water and while playing sport. There have also been reports of brides wearing them on their wedding day.
You can even wear them with socks, something only the older generation ever did with thongs.
In conclusion, more than ever the deathnell is being tolled for the Aussie thong.
Should we rally against it or is the plastic clog and its many variants just another fashion trend that will die off, once again propelling the thong to its rightful position as number one on the ‘shoes-by-the-backdoor’ list.
