"Marnie" Crocs (Espresso/Mushroom)

Before our trip to New York City in March, my husband and I went shopping for weather-appropriate clothes. We'd never been to New York before so we weren't sure what to expect, but we knew it wouldn't be similar to the weather we were leaving behind. You see, we live in Southern California so we don't usually need much more than a hoodie and jeans to keep us comfortable.

We decided to check out Bass Pro Shops to see if we could find anything good on sale... no such luck. I was ready to leave after scouring the sale racks and finding nothing, but we brought my mom with us and she is a wanderer, so I decided to go upstairs and check out the shoes while she looked at everything downstairs. I am so glad I did because I found an amazing pair of flats! I'd gone upstairs on a whim thinking, "I will probably be doing a lot of walking in New York... I wonder if there will be any good walking shoes here?" but I wasn't expecting to find anything beyond hiking boots and boat shoes. The ladies' shoe area is kind of small, so I found the most "fashionable" shoes rather quickly: Sanuks and Crocs. I know, I know - Crocs?! I was surprised too. I thought they only made  silly-shaped plastic shoes that you find on babies and old ladies in the garden. And let's be fair, that's how everyone knows of the brand, because that is what the first Crocs were. But it seems as though the brand has branched out. They even make heels now! But I digress. This post is about my new favorite pair of shoes - "Marnie" Crocs in the Espresso/Mushroom color (aka kind of a neutral olivey brown).

This pic is truest to color

I found them nestled in a back corner behind some not-so-cute Crocs. They are just a basic pair of flats, which fits my lifestyle perfectly, and they are brown, which goes with everything. And they are so comfortable! Sometimes I even wear them around the house instead of my slippers (which have a tendency to disappear under the couch). They are also very easy to clean - just run them under warm/hot water with an old soapy toothbrush and let them dry (although if you're in a hurry, you can blow-dry them to speed up the drying process).

They are definitely the trademark (plasticky) Croc material, but that's a good thing because they're super durable. Like I said, they can get wet! And the best thing is, they don't even look like plastic - they're slightly textured, and look like a faux suede. I've gotten a bunch of compliments on them and people are so surprised when I say, "they're Crocs!" There are a few downsides though: because there's no air in there, they can make your feet smell a bit after you've worn them all day. Luckily, since they're plastic, they don't retain the smell so they aren't stinky in and of themselves. Also, again because of the lack of air, sometimes my feet squeak in them on hot days. It's actually kind of funny walking around Target and hearing squeaky sounds coming from my feet, but it doesn't really bother me.

I went onto the Crocs website and saw that they even come in purple! They also come in black, but I tried on the black ones in the store and they were more of a dark grey and not a true black so I wouldn't recommend them.

Overall: These are great. I've had them for about 3 months and haven't had any real problems. The brown is a perfect neutral, great for most outfits, and I love that I don't have to worry about getting them wet or dirty. Granted there are a few quirky things like squeaky feet and a little stink after a long day, but you'll find that with almost any shoe. You should know that they run large - meaning, if you're normally a size 8, buy a size 7. They don't come in half sizes but going a full size down worked for me (they actually fit perfectly in a 7, and I am usually an 8 or 8.5, although once or twice I've worn 7.5).

Re-buy?: If anything happens to them, I will definitely buy them again. I might even get an additional pair in the plum color as soon as I can afford to!