From Made Fun of To Cool - CROCS
From the earliest, I can remember everyone I knew who wore crocs got made fun of. They used to be considered in my eyes as these weird blocky ugly childish-looking shoes. A shoe made of foam is not a shoe you would ever want to be seen wearing especially outside the house.GW even compared them to “the punchline to every bad joke about the way a guy dresses”(Wolf, 2022, p.1) And they were. If you wore crocs to school it used to mean right off the bat you weren't cool. And you had to accept the fact that every time you walked down the hall someone was going to say something about how weird your shoes are. But this surprising to me is no longer the story. Crocs have become a household name. I don't even think the “coolhunters” that powers talks about back in the day could have found a way to make crocs popular. Now every day I can hardly count the number of people I see wearing their multi- colored crocs with their little jibbitz in them. People wear their crocs almost as everyday shoes. But Crocs originally weren't made to be everyday shoes for people. They were originally made to be “a simple, comfortable boat shoe” (Crocs, 2022, p. 1) As well as being “accessible and affordable” (crocs,2022, p1)
Crocs are now known for anything but their use as a boat shoe. They are now known for their “wacky color palettes. This means they clash with most outfits, and that’s kind of the point of fashion” (fashion p 1) Crocs has advertised their shoes in the most genius way. They are pictured as going against the norm but not too much. Just enough to be embraced by popular culture and not seem weird and be rejected. “Crocs...carved out a niche for themselves through celebrity endorsements copper” p 1 2020) Making it where it's okay for you to be wearing green pants with yellow crocs and how that isn't weird but it's considered to be cool.
Crocs went from being a shoe that wasn't very popular to now being considered as the new “it” shoe by being able to “cross-cultural boundaries” (Crocs, 2022, p. 1). You can't tell what class someone is a part of by them just wearing crocs. Just how Fiske was talking about how you cant “define a jeans wearer by any of the major social category systems-gender, class, race, age, nation, religion, education.” (Fiske,1989,p.4) Since jeans are something everyone wears you can't just look at a person wearing jeans and say you are part of the upper class or your a part of the lower class. Just like jeans I see people of all classes wearing crocs from students to nurses to moms to even my own grandparents. They're one of the most affordable high-culture shoes. Allowing everyone to be a part of this popular culture item. Their purpose is no longer the physical truth of the item, the fact that there comfortable and durable for most activities isn't the meaning why people are buying crocs. Crocs allow people to in a sense hide what class they identify as because crocs are so culture transcending just like jeans where “The lack of social differentiation in jeans gives one the freedom to "be oneself" (and, I suppose, in abnormal cases, to hide oneself)” Meaning since everyone is wearing the exact same thing it's hard to identify who falls into what social category allowing people to be freed from the chains that can come from being identified as apart of a certain class. Connecting to what Pepi Leistyna calls class stigma. Crocs are giving people the opportunity to make themselves in a sense appear to be of a different class. From starting from something as simple as a boating shoe to entering high culture with collaborations with Balenciaga and other popular celebrities.
There is a huge question about why people of a higher class would want to wear crocs. Powers talks about how “rebellion is a big factor” when asking why white teens link strongly to music coming from the inner city where they can't relate to any of the struggles talked about in the music (p 62 powers 2019) Just as people in the upper class are buying crocs but not because they are affordable or there looking for there comfortability or they just need a really good boat shoe there wearing them because its the pop culture item of the time. Linking back again to Fiske that jeans were rejecting class norms and here again crocs are doing the same thing by blurring the lines between classes with everyone partaking in wearing their shoes. And back to earlier ideals from Adorno and Horkiemer that “Popular culture is only truly popular when it resists” (Holt n Parker, 2011, p. 154) Crocs did just that they resisted being a “normal” shoe and somehow fell into this high/popular culture item through there brand deals and their ability to attract a wide audience.
References
Crocs | About Crocs. (n.d.). CrocsTM Australia. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.crocs.com.au/company/about-crocs.html
Cupper, R. (n.d.). How Crocs Became An Unlikely Fashion Success Story. Highsnobiety. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/crocs-divisive- footwear-2018/
Fiske J. (1989). Understanding popular culture. Unwin Hyman.
Hughes, A., DeStefano, M., Takanashi, L., & Cabrera, D. (2020, December 24). How Crocs Capitalized on Streetwear and Became Relevant in 2020. Complex. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.complex.com/style/how-crocs-capitalized-on- streetwear-2020
Michie, N., & Mariotti, S. (2022, June 23). Crocs Are Cool Now. FASHION Magazine. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://fashionmagazine.com/style/trends/crocs/
Powers, Devon. On Trend : The Business of Forecasting the Future. of Illinois Press, 2019. 16, 2022. 2020)
Wolf, C. (2020, October 12). We Can't Believe It, Either: Crocs Are Cool Now. GQ. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.gq.com/story/crocs-are-grails-sorry
I loved reading your blog post, especially as I wrote about Crocs in my first paper; it is enlightening to see a different perspective! I agree that Crocs can transcend social class, yet I don’t entirely resonate with your statement, “Crocs allow people to in a sense hide what class they identify.” As I see it, when Crocs are worn by celebrities or anyone of high status, they accompany an outrageous, or at the very least, pricey, ensemble. While Crocs are “of the people,” according to Storey’s standards, when considering their presence in high fashion, I don’t think they reflect an attempt by celebrities to present themselves as a member of a lower class. Rather, when I think of the Balenciaga collaborations or extra-thick platform Crocs worn to Red Carpet events, I envision an intentional hint at Crocs as Campy. One of Sontag’s many descriptions of Camp, “love of the exaggerated,” is illustrated by the aesthetically pleasing outlandishness of the footwear when paired with more sophisticated statement pieces or modified by fashion designers. Diving deeper into Camp reveals it as “esoteric,” embodied by the if you know, you know nature of celebrity fashion (Sontag, 1964). Perhaps celebrities’ implicit messaging here connects to your idea of rebellion. In this case, they are countering what is expected of them as high-status individuals, rather than acting out in opposition to social norms. Overall, I appreciate your connections to Fiske in analogizing jeans to crocs, for they illustrate similarities in not only their accessibility but also the variability in the wearer.
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