Crocs Mary Janes: Better Than Beach or Cayman Models?

Crocs hit the world by storm, a hybrid of Jellies and Earth Shoes that look fugly but wear so well. It all began with the Beach, a stolid, no-nonsense His n' Hers model noted for giving your feet oodles of room, providing lots of colorful choices plus an odd if-wooden-shoes-dreamed-of-Swiss-Cheese appearance.

Crocs In General: Shared Attributes Of Main Styles

For those of us in the helping professions that stand on our feet hours on end, (stylists, dentists, nurses, check out clerks, vets, surgeons and their staffs for example), the feather weight and cushy feel outweighed their Hermann Munster clunkiness.

They tended to run large, which for those of us for large, wide or expanding-in-the-heat feet, was wonderful indeed. For kids, you could buy a size that would often last a full year, where otherwise their feet on steroids would almost seem to grow overnight.

Still, some felt odd walking around in shoes with a large, rounded toe box and plenty of room on all sides, so a new more streamlined model, the Cayman arrived a year or so later. Until recently, this has been my favorite style, it is still roomy, but you order by full size, (Men's 11, Woman's 8 and so on), rather than size range, (Men's 10-11, Woman's 8-9).

The Cayman was a bit more streamlined but still offered the adjustable fit with the ribbed foot bed, instep and strap material conforming to your foot. Some people complained of 'plastic shoes' and thought their feet were sweating more, but I've only experienced that with the Aspen, and other models without the trademark 'port holes'.
Crocs are actually made of Croslite, a trademark closed resin product.

Crocs Answer To Girly Girl? The Mary Jane!

Besides the less structured summer sandals, Crocs' people put their heads together and decided on a lower profile shoe with less coverage across the top of the foot, the familiar convertible back strap and a new mid-foot strap.
Sure it's a school girl Mary Jane, but since this strap is also somewhat stretchy, I find it works with average or wide feet-including those, like mine, with the tendency to swell as the day goes on.

Mary Janes come in single full sizes, like the Caymans, but due to a bit more movement in the forefoot, half sizes may want to size up, as my 9 1/2 occasionally bumps into the big toe guard.

I started out with Mary Janes in basic colors like black, brown and navy blue, then was thrilled to add gold, (a light shade, not garish), silver, cranberry and the newer Spring icy pastels like lavender, cotton candy, seafoam and celery green.

Now I'm moved on to Cammo Pink and Dipped Blue Flowers, but still am jonesing for some swirly tie-dye styles along the lines of Airwalk, (competitor), brand. This Fall's colors include grape and a gorgeous teal shade in addition to the classic darks.

The top and back straps are thinner material than the original Beach or Caymans, and the heel cup just slightly more shallow than the former, giving the Mary Jane a more tailored look that goes well with skirts, dresses or your fancier pants-my shoe of choice for our recent Epi Day 2007 in San Francisco.

They float, pack well, are anti-slip and anti-marking and hose off well if any cleaning is needed, and unlike Jellies of yore, the anti-microbial nature of their materials, makes them very unlikely to harbor foot odor causing bacteria.

One of my big rescue mutts likes them too, and sadly Crocs of any ilk are not chew proof. The only other con? I notice when exiting the SUV I'll routinely get a little zap when closing the door when wearing my Crocs but not tennies or leather soled shoes.

Yes, I'll still keep a few pairs of my original Doc Martens, (think heavy hands but for feet!), but for everyday, lightweight foot joy and lots of fashion colors, Crocs Mary Janes rock my world. (When Other Half huffs and puffs about the um, huge amount of these shoes coming through the door, I quickly ordered him a pair of Crocs' St. Louis Rams NFL basic models: instant household harmony)!

5 stars, full recommendation and for those women and children yet to take the leap, these may seem more like conventional footware than say, the big ole Beach.