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Over the years there have been many fashion ideas which when you hear them described to you sound ridiculous and wholly improbable that anyone would want to wear. Jelly shoes are a good example. A shoe made of brightly coloured rubber. Doesn’t exactly sound that promising, does it?
However, Jelly Shoes did become incredibly popular during the eighties for several reasons. Firstly, the range of bright colours available worked well with the other colourful fashions available at the time, but secondly, and probably most importantly for many, they were inexpensive. Jelly Shoes could be picked up for just a couple of pounds, meaning they were ideal for their target audience of youn, cash strapped teenage girls.
The rubber used to make the shoes was normally brightly coloured, but it was also normally transparent, so completely clear shoes were possible (but you really should have had nice looking feet in order to wear these!). The rubber was often also full of glitter, which often further increased their appeal.
Being rubber they were a very good choice for wearing to the beach, since they were easy to slip on and off, and it didn’t matter if they got wet when paddling in the sea, as they would soon dry off afterwards.
Jelly Shoes are still widely available today, and can be bought in a surprising array of styles. The more familiar flat slip on shoe has now been joined by Sandals, Flip Flops, Lace ups and even High Heeled and Platform varieties.
I can only assume though that girls feet must be different to boys, and must be less prone to sweating. Last Summer I got myself a pair of the Jelly Shoes more recent popular cousin, the Crocs, but having worn them on a hot day I’m not proud to say that my feet were both incredibly sweaty and covered in dust that got in through all the little holes in the side.
How do you girls wear these things without ending up with feet that should have a public safety notice attached to them?
Search for Jelly Shoes items on Amazon.co.uk
April 2nd, 2010 at 11:32 am
Girls were banned from wearing these in Design Tech by one particular teacher at my school, as not providing a lot of foot protection. So were sandals, but these were the only shoe to be banned. So, if you were a girl and didn’t want to do DT, you wore your sandals or jellies that day.
April 2nd, 2010 at 11:43 am
What a great way of getting out of a lesson!
Games and PE were the lesson I normally wanted to get out of, but our PE teachers had a history of making you do the lessons in clothes from the lost property cupboard if you “forgot” your games kit. This was normally enough of a threat that most didn’t forget their kit on Games day!
April 3rd, 2010 at 11:07 am
Ooh, the lost property PE kit! The horror!
April 17th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Completely forgot to mention the jelly bag. Similar to the jelly shoes, it was like a big shopper made out of the same material. Hideous, although I admit I had one
Another popular bag in my school was the plastic briefcase. It usually ended up with graffiti scratched into it or painted on with Tipex.
September 10th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
I had a pair of Jelly shoes and really want another pair, anyone know any stores that sell them???