I Don’t Think You’re Ready for this Jelly
I’m sorry guys, I am referring neither to Beyonce’s bootylicious booty, nor to the wobbly but wonderful British pudding. I am referring to these:
The Jelly Shoe. Born circa 1980 these patent, PVC sandals enjoyed a heyday in the 90’s. They fill some of us with nostalgia as we remember mummy smothering our faces in sunblock and buckling our sparkly jelly shoes on sunny pebble beaches…whilst the mere thought of them makes some of us flinch with horror as memories of itchy sand and slimy seaweed trapped between sweaty, sunburnt feet and hot jelly shoes come flooding back.
Sadly, I don’t have any of these memories because as a child I was deprived of jelly shoes.
For years I longed to have my first pair of heels, in the form of fun pink glittery jelly shoes, but because my mum was mean (or perhaps because I lived miles from any form of a beach – hindsight is a wonderful thing) my pleads were only ever met with “NO”. So, of course, I was traumatised and I carried this emotional weight with me all my life. Until a year ago when I began to notice this:
Jelly shoes have been slowly but surely creeping back on to the feet of girls all around the world. No, not on 3-10 year old girls on pebble beaches, but on 15-30 year old young women in non-coastal cities. They can be spotted at festivals, at parties paired with frilly socks, and even in creative workplaces.
Did I mention grown men are wearing them too? Because they are. The proof is in the plastic:
This delighted me! The rebellious 8 year old still thriving inside me went straight into the nearest jelly shoe stockist and purchased a pair (in your face, mum). The 25 year old that I physically am decided to err on the side of caution and get them in black instead of transparent glitter infused princess pink.
Wearing my new footwear in my hometown of London nobody reacted. Not even my mum, disappointingly. However when I moved to Paris and packed my jelly shoes into my suitcase, boy was I unprepared for the amount of reactions I was about to endure…
One day I rocked up to work wearing my jellies and sparkly socks, feeling on top of the world. I was soon (violently) brought back down to earth. Everybody in the office suddenly felt compelled to comment on what was going on from my ankles downwards.
A handful of trendy people gave me congratulating smiles and gave me the thumbs up on my fun style. A few more people made comments brandishing me as a hipster for life. Some rolled their eyes. Most people said ‘Oh look you’re wearing “Méduse” sandals! I used to wear those on the beach! When I was 3! Oh look at those socks too. Hahaha.’ which, by the look on their faces, actually meant ‘You are wearing jelly shoes that are totally for kids and not for adults. They are for the beach. Why do you have socks on? You are weird’. I felt a bit lost.
I don’t think they’re ready for this jelly, I told myself. This time next year they will all be wearing jelly shoes. With socks.
This is because these are just another 90’s inspired trend. Initially claimed by hipsters, they are eventually spotted by retailers, who start mass producing and selling them a few months later and -boom- once they hit the high street they become mainstream and totally normal.
Just think about it. We are surrounded by the kinds of items our parents bought for us which, today, are making a come back; scrunchies, Cambridge Satchels, Doc Martens, Clarks shoes, frilly socks and dungarees…to disposable cameras and Haribo.
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What do you think? Do you stride with pride in your jellies or are you totally confused by the PVC gradually infiltrating the streets?
Do you know what the next big 90’s inspired trend will be?
Are you super nostalgic for the nineties and need to talk to someone about it…
Talk to us!