Chinese jelly sandals, from those which are used for laundry usages to those which are used at the beach, craze have received some criticism.
The ’90s classic is one of the “ugly” shoes making a resurgence, alongside Crocs and Tevas, and is making its way out of celebrity closets and onto the street users.
Jellies were part of Alexa Chung’s second collaboration with Juju in 2022, while Gucci released a pair of rubber slide sandals earlier this spring. Manufacturers such as Hush Puppies and Zara have recently released their own versions of this shoe.
Jelly sandals have entered the public consciousness of today’s society in tandem with the comeback of styles from the 1990s and 2000s. I could not help but try them.
I never wore jelly sandals when I was a youngster. In contrast to the majority of my classmates, I despised them because, even at the age of five, I could see that the plastic-like feel of jelly sandals was no match for Puerto Rico’s heat and humidity.
Jelly sandals have the appearance of being made of cheap vinyl. When the swimming session was over, I could see them all lined up by the pool at the summer camp, sweat from the previous day’s activities left to dry on their bodies, only to be sprayed in chlorine-laced water. I did not understand what the big deal was.
They would commonly create blisters due to the constant rubbing of the flesh against the rubber, as well as produce a gel-like (and foul-smelling) dirt paste that would become lodged in the feet of my fellow classmates. Thank you so much; the Barbie-themed sneakers are ideal for my personality.
2015 was the year I came the closest to actually wearing a pair. After a semester in Spain, my roommate’s obsession with jelly sandals gradually rubbed off on me.
While she chose a traditional strappy type in an all-jelly material, I chose a pair of Zara Kids shoes with a leather sole. (My feet are naturally of a size that allows them to fit into children’s shoes.) They were not actually very bad.
However, after about three months of keeping this appearance, I decided that I no longer wanted to appear ten years old.
On the other hand, I decided it was time to venture outside of my comfort zone. As a result, I opted to wear three different types of sandals:
thong sandals, slide sandals with straps, and platform sandals. The mature part of me wanted to show that a shoe made for toddlers could be worn in my closet when I was in my twenties. I should have paid more attention to my intuition.
On the first day of my experiment, I put the “Caribbean Blue” Hush Puppies jelly strappy slides to the test. The straps on the slip-on sandal appeared to be composed.
of rubber on the surface, but they were actually malleable on the inside, allowing the wearer to feel a measure of safety while wearing the shoe.
The second characteristic was the one that persuaded me to consider adding a pair of jelly sandals to my footwear collection. After all, the thing that annoyed me the most about them as a kid was how they felt like plastic.
I used my Hush Puppies sandals with a white button-down blouse from Target and chartreuse shorts from Uniqlo for a casual look that was excellent for running errands.
I was afraid that wearing a long-sleeve button-down shirt and jelly sandals in the middle of July in Tucson would be a nightmare situation that would result in sweating and blistering.
If I had one criticism, it would be that my core temperature was too high. When I went home, my feet did not hurt. The jellies had the upper hand up to this time.
On the third day of my experiment, I opted to wear a pair of Coach Jelly thong sandals, which resulted in the desired change. Thong-style clothing has never appealed to me; after all, who wants a floss-like
string rubbing against their butt crack or toes with every step? These had no effect on my decision in any manner.
At first glance, they appeared to be a pair of innocent sandals that I could wear during any summer when I wore them with a black top from Zara that was too big for me and white shorts from Target.
However, after three hours, I felt compelled to rush back to my house in order to escape the agony I had just through. (It is important to note that I was a ballet dancer for 12 years, so my tolerance for blisters is substantially higher than typical.)
The perspiration on the bottom of the shoe brought back a traumatic memory from summer camp when I saw other campers running around with their feet covered in petroleum-jelly sweat.
Meanwhile, the thong-like strap lacerated my flesh, causing a bubble to form between my toes that was ready to burst at any moment. It was a familiar ailment, one I had previously only experienced when wearing professional pointe shoes. That is how I got rid of them, and I have not looked back since.
By the third pair, I was ready to give up because comfort is not something I am willing to sacrifice for the sake of having nice shoes. My first step into a pair of platform sandals with clear jelly straps from Forever21 was taken with trepidation.
To go with the shoes, I wore a bright orange tank dress from Christopher John Rogers for a Target collaboration. Above all, these jellies appeared to have the most pleasing visual presentation to me.
However, just as I was ready to put them on, my partner commented, “Those look like a guaranteed method to collect sweat.” He was, in fact, correct.
I was previously wearing bandages after suffering from blisters for a few days, but this specific pair was not particularly helpful.
The sharp-edged straps came so close to cutting my perspiring flesh, and the straps themselves were so stiff that I could not move without wincing in pain. The only thing that saved my outfit from absolute disaster was a CJR ruffled hem.
Jelly sandals, despite their reputation as summer shoes, are one of the most reliable ways to ruin your summer. Although one pair of sandals was clearly the apparent winner.
(I think we can all agree that it was the Hush Puppies sandals!), the other two solidly established my jelly sandal sensitivity as a permanent ailment.
