Friday, September 07, 2007

Throw away your sneakers and buy yourself a set of fashionable new yellow klompen

From our special correspondent: an important news story about fashion, shoes (see also my last entry for an intriguing question), and the colours that you need to choose if you want to be "in". Maybe the British people feel relieved because they don't have to wear wooden shoes yet, but believe me: it's just a matter of time and they will all change their minds!
This is my prognosis: in the next couple of years the whole world will discover how great it is to wear Dutch wooden shoes. Just think about it: no shoe laces, no traffic lights were somebody can hang them out of your reach, and with rising sea levels (now we're back to the global warming and melting ice caps issue) it is also a good idea to have something that will keep you floating.
So be wise and take my advice: throw your sneakers in the air and get yourself a hot pair of yellow klompen. Thanks, Carol - this is the kind of information we are all looking for. And have a look at this website if you still think that this is just nonsense. If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much - as we modestly say in our humble country - a couple of metres below sea level.

It could have been worse

Alexis Petridis, Saturday September 1, 2007
I'm bewildered by the process by which designers determine what colours will be "in" each season. It's one of life's great mysteries, like the anomalous trajectories of unmanned spacecraft in the outer solar system or the ongoing career of Vernon Kay. Why did they decide, en masse, that men should wear Yves Klein blue this summer? Do they get together and vote on it? Is there a debate? How shrill and hysterical do you imagine a debate involving fashion designers would become?
So there's something pleasing about one colour predicted to be big in the next few months. It's not that I'm fussed either way about yellow. A jaunty antidote to dowdy autumn tones it may be, but if, like me, you have a pallid complexion, it's going to do you no favours, unless you actively want to look as if you're on the verge of death. It's just that I know from whence the penchant for this colour came.
The answer, as I'm sure you've guessed, is traditional Dutch clogs. Patriotic to a fault, Amsterdam designers Viktor & Rolf had every model in their autumn/winter show wearing bright yellow wooden klompen: there were men in three-piece suits wearing klompen, men in bow-ties wearing klompen, and one man in tight leopard-print trousers and klompen decorated with paintings of windmills, who you can only hope was handsomely renumerated.
The people who rework ideas from the catwalk for the UK high street were understandably unconvinced that your average British male was going to embrace klompen, but they clearly liked something, hence the colour's arrival in Debenhams and Topman. You might not care for it, but think of it this way: at least they're not suggesting you spend autumn in a pair of huge wooden shoes going clip-clipperty-clop to the pub.
Source: Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

7 comments:

Conny Vos said...

Er is inmiddels een nieuwerwetse klomp op de markt, de Crocs. In allerlei modieuze kleuren met gaatjes om leuke pinnetjes in te steken. Inmiddels ook al een goedkopere nep versie van op de markt.

jonboy said...

I can't answer the question, but the shoes are cool ... sort of.

Anonymous said...

I've always been intrigued by wooden shoes. Are they comfortable?

Katrín said...

Just wanted to tell you thank you for your comments. They are always so encouraging :) Thanx for taking the time to leave a few words on my page every now and again!

-Katrin

Carol Douglas said...

Someone stop this man before he goes out of the house in skin-tight leopard print pants and klompen… failing that, publish the pictures, please.

(BTW, sneakers on power lines are kind of ubiquitous in American cities, and there's been speculation that it's a gang signal or something. I think it means that teenagers delight in doing stupid things, and it’s a challenge to snag your sneakers on power lines—guaranteed to drive your mother nuts, too.)

Paul said...

@ Conny - ja, die heb ik gezien. Onze dominee Wigle Tamboer loopt op zulke crocs (niet op zondagochtend, hoor). Altijd al een trendsetter geweest. En hij woont natuurlijk in de boerderij van de Meerkerk. Wij thuis noemen dat de tamboerderij.

@ Jonboy - the question can't be answered, it is a rhetorical question... sort of.

@ Vicki - well what is stopping you? You can buy them and try them out. I used to have klompen when I was a young boy, just for fun and because I like to wear them in the garden. They are very practical, but you need to wear good socks. I like klompen, because of the folklore and our national pride and because they really are COOL.

@ Katrin - hey, nice to hear from you. Did you ever reply to Marc's question on your blog? (Just curiousity...). Hope you are ok, I will keep an eye on your blog and leave a comment every now and then. You are my only contact in Iceland and you are a dear sis in Christ. That's why.

@ Carol - you will be surprised. I am sure that this will be the standard outfit for cool guys in 2008. Don't leave home without your skin-tight leopard print pants and klompen or you will look ridiculous next year!

Carolanne said...

The question is, are you wearing the wooden shoes and if so, what colour are you wearing?
My friends wear theirs around home but they just don't look comfy to me. Also, I don't think they pass the OH&S inspection since we're supposed to have a closed heel. :)