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It’s Only Fitting to Go Toe To Toe With Fashion
USA Today, Jul 18, 2006
As with most men my age, my closet is filled with comfortable, if somewhat predictable, clothing. Khaki pants, oxford cloth shirts, blue blazers and rep ties.
I was quite happy with my stuck-in-a-rut “uniform” until I went to see The Devil Wears Prada. Little did I realize I was that much of a loser in the world of Lauren and Lagerfeld.
The movie is filled with people who slave away in an industry in which it’s not only important, but imperative, that you wear whatever is hippest at that very moment. And that means that very moment. Last year’s offerings, let alone last generation’s, won’t do.
Be hip or be invisible.
I realized this the other night when a young friend came over to our garden to sip some lemonade and feign boredom while her parents jabbered away. Actually, I suspect that the boredom was real, not feigned.
Cammie was wearing a turquoise sundress that played perfectly off her blue eyes and blond hair. But what really completed the 11-year-old’s outfit were a pair of turquoise Crocs.
Crocs, for those of you who still think Sperry Top-Siders are the summer shoe of choice, are the funky footwear favored these days not only by young fashionistas such as Cammie, but also by surgeons, nurses, gardeners, sailors and chefs. They’re made of resin and mold to the wearer’s feet, and they repel odor and moisture.
They’re perhaps the ugliest shoes you’ll ever see, and that, of course, is their charm. My friend Liz, one of the dog people down at the park, doesn’t know how she lived before Crocs came into her life.
And perhaps best of all, they come in more than a dozen colors. Think Easter: yellow, pink and, yes, Cammie’s turquoise.
New York celebrity chef and restaurateur Mario Batali told Departures magazine this month that he owns 30 pairs. All in orange. He confessed that he washes them in his dishwasher, then puts them on while they’re still warm, which brings new meaning to both “wash and wear” and “hot foot.”
You won’t be surprised to learn I don’t own any Crocs. I’m not sure they’re me. A tad too trendy, I suspect.
Not that I don’t try to keep a toe in the fashion world.
In a madcap moment this summer, I bought a pair of red Jack Purcell Converse sneakers, mainly because they spoke to me in the store.
Sneakers rarely speak to me, so I listened.
I think they’re what designers might call retro, a piece of clothing that reminds you of the good old days. I know perfectly well that it was my childhood calling to me. So be it. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase.
But what amuses me most about them is the reaction they elicit. My editor looked down at my feet the other day and never said another word. She didn’t have to.
Other comments have ranged from “Love ‘em, love ‘em, love ‘em” to “Hmm …”
And Cammie of the turquoise Crocs? She declared them “cool.”
Maybe there’s hope for me yet.
-Craig Wilson
E-mail Craig Wilson at cwilson@usatoday.com
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