The shoes of my dreams arrived on October 18, 2018. They traveled all the way from Skövde, Sweden to Eastern Pennsylvania in the USofA. Sweden. Clogs from actual Sweden. I feel like my whole life has led up to this moment. Like when you meet your true love, you don’t mind that it took so long and they play “At Last” at your wedding and you’re like, you’re not kidding, at last. That’s how I feel about these shoes.

You may think clogs are not feminine or sexy or cool or whatever and you’re probably right but that’s actually part of the attraction.

Now, I’ve owned clogs before. A funky patchwork pair that was Mia or Steve Madden or something, a pair of black Dansko that had a back. Another pair of Dansko mules in oxblood. And, I wore them a lot, but really just for comfort. I didn’t feel stylish in them and as I became more fashion-y, I would only wear them at home and eventually got rid of them. Over the last few years I dreamed of finding a pair that were comfy/convenient — I love a shoe that’s a little bit of a platform that I can slip on and off — as well as good-looking. Of course my opinion about what looked “good” changed.

I followed a few pro-clog fashion blogs: seasons-and-salt.com  |  stylethislife.com  |  un-fancy.com to name a few, as well as the Instagram account thecloglife which fueled my secret longing for the perfect go-with-everything pair of clogs.

Then one day I came across an article that affirmed that clogs were now cool. I read this article: http://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-clogs-status.html and this article: https://fashionmagazine.com/fashion/clog-life/ both which referenced this article: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-and-off-the-avenue/the-life-changing-magic-of-clogs

Apparently clogs were now being worn by celebrities and models and even a part of some high-end designer shoe collections. Now that I was convinced clogs were uber-hip, and my desire was co-signed by the fashion world, the challenge of finding the quintessential pair, that didn’t break the bank, began.

Reference my mom in clogs in Venice Beach in the ’70s:

 

I looked at No.6Dansko, Swedish Hasbeens, Bryr, Sandgrens, Lotta from StockholmTroentorp. Some of these popular brands are more for the sandal-type clog and that’s probably in my future but for now I wanted something more old school and pure.

After literally years of pinning, pining, and excessive deliberating, I finally decided on the Troentorps. They were $99, free shipping, and arrived from Sweden in 6 days (one day after my birthday.) I am wearing them right now and I will probably never take them off.