Clogging up the footpath
HAMBURG: Plastic shoes and summer heat is not a combination that suggests itself. Nevertheless, this summer brightly colored foam plastic clogs are expected to be a trendy accessory.
Boutique windows in Berlin are glowing in the clogs' orange, blue and pink colors. Large shoe chain stores also have put the easy-to-put-on shoes also in glaring hues into their summer stocks.
The advantages of these shoes during the warm-weather months are easy to see: "These are very light, comfortable summer shoes that I can slip on and off quickly," said Silvia Stahlhut, who sells the shoes along with jewellery and clothes in a small boutique in Hamburg.
Apart from the comfort advantage, wearing the bright colors can place a cheerful accent on an otherwise ordinary day.
Contrary to most trends, the colorful foam plastic clogs are found not just in women's fashion. Among others, Hollywood stars Al Pacino and Jared Leto have been seen with the mules on their feet.
"I would wear them with long pants or with a pair of wide-leg shorts," said Benjamin Kruemel, product manager at the German shoe store chain Goertz in Hamburg.
Anyone used to flip-flops, which were hot last summer, will notice their feet feel a little strange in the clogs at first. Walking in foam plastic shoes doesn't feel drastically different, but the knobby shoe bed causes a prickly feeling on the bottom of the foot and keeps the foot from sliding around inside the shoe.
The shoes were originally designed to be non-slip boat shoes for sailors. A closed variation of the shoe made of a similar plastic has long been a favorite style worn by doctors, farmers and gardeners. Now, helping them reach the mainstream is the current trend favouring loud colors.
The German shoe store chain, Salamander, is also stocking the shoe in blue, white and red. Made by Romika, of Trier, the shoes have slits instead of holes.
Konrad Weissler, of Germany's Shoe Institute, in Offenbach, thinks the shoes are more of a flash in the pan than a growing trend worth taking seriously. He said they are more suited as an accent or accessory that draws stares.
A reason for that might be that the joy of wearing them on a hot summer day can quickly give way to an unpleasant feeling of trickling sweat. This is something the manufacturers are trying to prevent.
The patented material is neither plastic nor rubber, according to Crocs, the original US maker of the shoe, and it absorbs no bacteria. So, the shoes don't smell, even after they are worn for a long time, Crocs says in its advertisement.
Johannes Gutwald, a dermatologist in Cologne, recommends wearing the shoe only in certain situations as an accessory that fits the venue or occasion.
DPA
(China Daily 05/25/2007 page18)
