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All my friends and their children are wearing Crocs to the playground, Crocs to the birthday party, Crocs to the coffee shop. All my colleagues are raving about Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) stock -- Georges Yared even says Crocs is the next Nike. But: Crocs are just ugly. I finally gave in to my husband's plea and bought colorful knockoffs for the garden (on the family plan no less), but still, I refuse to wear them around the neighborhood and the $30-$40 price tag for the real deal has me recoiling with sticker shock.

Deidre Woollard, my buddy at Styledash, agrees that she won't wear them outside the comfort of her own home, either, but admires Mario Batali for making orange Crocs look good. He's put his endorsement behind the launch of a new line of "Bistro" Crocs (selling at $39.95 apiece) and he certainly wears them, on the set, on the red carpet, on the town.

Will Mario's embracement of Crocs help me -- or you -- overcome their ugliness? I certainly am not rushing out to slap down my debit card for a pair (although I love the orange, actually), but every time I see someone like Mario actually using them I inch a little closer to a purchase. After all, my knockoffs are great for the pocketbook but they do give me blisters once I've been in the garden for a couple of hours... are they really that great?

I keep trying to decide if CROX is the "next Nike." But the thing is this: Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) has always been about design; form has always gone hand-in-hand with function and sometimes form trumps function (thus we have people running around in shoes designed for the basketball court, or hiking the stairs at high school in shoes designed for the trail). Nike is cool first and good second -- and Nike is good. I'll happily plunk down $80 for a pair I know will keep me from getting shin splints or instep cramps when I'm running a road race.

I'm not writing Crocs off yet, but it's going to take a bunch more notable indications of their comfort and utility to get me over the ugly hump. How about you?

Crocs on Mario Batali still ugly: Will chef's good word overcome their lack of style? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 May 2007 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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