Chatting About Crocs, Y’all

Meaghan: HI NICOLE! We had another Mike-free week and covered some fun ground, eh?

Nicole: We certainly did. I was ready to write about shoes and hair all week long.

Meaghan: And wages for housework! Ha. I, for one, was delighted to see you are a Crocs Person. I saw that movie Obvious Child and Jenny Slate has this amazing Crocs scene and really sold me on the whole idea, like a decade late. Have you been in the Crocs biz long?

Nicole: I have worn Crocs since 2009, I think. I needed to buy a really cheap pair of shoes that I wasn’t afraid to ruin. So I went into Macy’s and found the Crocs display and tried some on. I was sold. It’s funny that I can remember I went to Macy’s but can’t remember why I was buying the Crocs.

Meaghan: I have the Crocs that look like ballet shoes, and they are purple. I bought them, I told myself, for pregnancy / labor, but obviously I have worn them every day since I bought them.

Nicole: I love the idea of buying shoes just for labor. And if you mean the Malindis, I totally have those. In multiple colors.

Meaghan: Lol, yes! (Just googled) They are very CUTE! Though they make my feet sweat? Caveat emptor! Also there is a Crocs store on the Upper West Side and when I went in and started trying on the standard (classic!) Crocs, the salesman laughed at me??? He was like, Usually ladies go for these! And pointed to the ones I have. Such judgment.

Nicole: A good salesperson knows what you want before you do.

Meaghan: Whoa. I was also delighted to find that Crocs cost somewhere around $30, which I think is very correct for their value. Or oh, I wear kids’ sizes, so maybe those are cheaper, ha.

Nicole: I think Crocs are absolutely the right price point. I should also add that when I said I bought gobs of Malindis, they’re all past-tense shoes now, except for one pair. It takes me about a year to walk through the sole of a Croc. So… they’re cheap, colorful, maybe not so long-lasting.

Meaghan:An important distinction. Do you buy shoes a lot? I don’t, but its probably because I can never find shoes in my size.

Nicole: I should buy more shoes than I do. A lot of my shoes are in a pretty dismal state, except the Busy Day Ballet Flats that I bought at the beginning of the summer. I’m fairly short, so I never notice shoes (I’m always looking up at people, not down) and I assume nobody notices my shoes either. So I don’t care as much about them as I should.

Meaghan:Omg, “should”? Stop! Shoes are fun if you are into them but there is a lot going on in life/the world, I don’t think you need to feel guilty about not caring about shoes.

Nicole: I don’t feel guilty, but, you know, presentation is important sometimes. If the only pair of black pumps you have has a hole in one seam, that is something you might want to deal with at some point, if you have the money and time and energy to do so.

Meaghan:Sigh, good point. I just wore Worishofer’s to a wedding because I have no heels. 🙁 It was in a cathedral, too! Ahhhhh.

Nicole: Oh, Worishofers are totally cute, if they’re what I just googled. 🙂 But omg shoes where you can see the toes… too much pressure.

Meaghan: To have a pedicure? Ha, yeah another thing I don’t do. But hot tip if you aren’t on the Worishofer beat, they are very comfortable, but also wear out pretty quickly.

Nicole: I’m doing the “urban professional who doesn’t own a car” thing, so comfort is essential.

Meaghan: So you…walk places? Bike? What do you do. Besides save a lot of money on car insurance, gas, parking, etc. I am asking this because I want to leave New York but I don’t really want to buy a car, or have to drive everywhere.

Nicole: I suspect my method only works in cities with good public transportation, but yeah, I walk most places and augment with buses/metro. I did this in Washington, DC, in Los Angeles (which is wayyyyyy hard), and now in Seattle.

If you want to leave NYC but not have a car, the place to which you relocate will probably determine your success here!

Meaghan: Yes. How about Portland? That is the mid-sized city I am idealizing this week.

Nicole: Portland has amazing public transportation. Better than Seattle. It’s a little less walkable if you’re looking to walk straight from the “place where the youngish professionals live” to the “downtown urban center” (and Portlanders, feel free to tell me I’m wrong here!) but the public transportation system more than makes up for it.

Meaghan:Well I’m glad we had this talk then! Do people wear a lot of Crocs in the Pacific Northwest? I suspect that they do.

Nicole: I have no idea. Now that Crocs started going stealth and distancing itself from its original ridiculous design, I can’t spot other Crocs-wearers on the street. Crocs just look like normal shoes now, LOL.

Meaghan:Omg, Crocs are passing. You heard it here first!

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