Crocs, Air Jordans, Jellies, Docs: Shoe trends that caused chaos at school

Arguably one of the ugliest shoes one can wear, Crocs are causing chaos in the playground and schools have had enough.

Some schools around the country have moved to ban Crocs and their Jibbitz charms due to a number of issues, including “confusion and occasional disputes over ownership” – and “big kids ‘negotiating’ with little kids” for a trade.

As film director Spike Lee said to basketball legend Michael Jordan in the iconic ads that launched a global craze for wearing sneakers at school, even if you never went near a ball, “it’s gotta be the shoes”.

Crocs may be the latest shoes to cause havoc, but what kids wear on their feet to school has long caused headaches for parents and teachers.

The trends can also cause pain that hurts more than blisters for kids who don’t have the ‘cool shoes’. A 15-year-old US boy described in Humans of New York how he had panic attacks at school because he couldn’t afford Air Jordans.

Stuff has taken a dive into other shoes that were a ‘phase’ amongst New Zealand school kids over the years.

Jellies

They looked like fishermen’s footwear, rubbed like hell, and made your feet sweat and stick to the plastic, but kids couldn’t get enough of these bright-coloured PVC plastic shoes. In no end of colours with add-ons like glitter and stars. Even Princess Diana had a pair. If you miss sliding on your sweaty soles into jellies, they are making a comeback some with more foot-friendly foam and rubber, like these from Prada, a steal at $1400.

Kung Fus

The look and feel of granddad’s slippers, these elasticated shoes were originally designed for martial arts, until 80s kids took a shine to them for school. Top marks for comfort, but a soggy fail on a wet day, with many a school classroom humming with the smell of feet as kids dried out Kung Fus on the radiators. Running around the concrete playground in them could lead to skin loss. But at least you’re ready to show off your ninja moves.

Nomads

Flat, heavy crepe-soled, uncomfortable, and unsightly – but for a generation of New Zealand high school students, they were the ultimate school shoes. Your mum would try to cut the tag off them, but Nomads were all about the leather tag. Embossed with a camel like the heel – Nomad tags were a precursor to the Crocs jibbitz and also regularly sold, traded or stolen at school. Kids blinged up the tags adding beads, or painting them. From the late 70s to late 80s, Clarks footwear factory in Auckland’s Papatoetoe produced up to a million pairs of crepe-soled Nomad shoes.

Heelys

Did you wear your heelys to escape your feelys at school? Found to be very popular with students and not so much by teachers from 2005 to 2009, the single-wheel and double-wheeled shoes were perfect for getting to class quickly or joining in with the ‘real’ rollerbladers around the tennis court. Sadly they’re not so popular anymore, but hold back those tears because they’re still being sold – even now with a light-up sole option.

Dr Martens

They are chunky and utilitarian, they look like work boots you’d wear in a factory to protect your feet from getting mangled by foot-eating machinery. Or if you are on the beat as a security guard, docker or binman. Popular with skinheads and goths in the 60s Docs have been revived by Gen Z who wear them with anything and everything, from mini skirts and slips dresses to work suits. For when you want to be fancy but down to earth. Given most uniform shoes are black, you can slip into school unnoticed in your docs, acting like a good kid, but feeling like a badass. Dr. Martens have obliged with sandal versions for summer term and cute Mary Janes if you can’t get away with boots.Hideously expensive as school shoes, it’s ironic that this original working-class shoe is beyond the reach of most families. But they last for years, so easy to convince your mum that the price-per-wear cost, makes them basically free.

Patent leather shoes

When school says black shoes, 80s kids rebelled and wore patent leather. T bar strap and a little heel and white ankle socks with a frill for extra cuteness. Teachers of the day – who obviously had far too much time on their hands in the olden times – worried that the shine reflected your knickers, and some schools even banned them.

Bata Bullets

Cap, shirt, beta bullets is a phrase mums and nanas say, but no one knows what they mean. Another precursor to Converse Chucks, these canvas shoes originally made in New Zealand were big in the 70s. In white, navy and black you could wear them for both school and sports and your teachers would be none the wiser.

Air Jordans

Generations of poor parents can blame multi-billionaire basketball legend, Michael Jordan. The Nike Air Jordan 1 released in 1985 is credited as starting the world craze for sneakers worn to school and the streets even if you never go near a ball. One of the most popular sneaker brands in the world, that people will literally kill you for, or here in New Zealand, steal them. Only this year, police nabbed a thief selling seven pairs of Nike Air Jordans valued at $2500 on Facebook marketplace that he’d stolen from a student flat in Dunedin. A pair signed by Michael Jordan himself became the most expensive shoe in the world ever sold –$US2.2m ($NZ3.55m) at auction. Kids still queue overnight for the latest releases.

But remember kids, even though “it’s gotta be the shoes”, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t have them – a $10 pair from Kmart is just as good. Yeah, right.