There is a burning question deep inside of all of us: why were jelly shoes so cool back in the early nineties? It is certainly a valid question. Looking back at pictures of yourself, wearing them as a kid (if you were a kid in that era), you know that you looked silly. At the time, you loved them.

Jelly shoes weren’t even that practical. Once as a kid, my family went on a week long camping trip. I remember sitting on a dock and one just fell off of my foot. Several people tried to find my shoe in the water but it was deep in the mud. Even with its bright color, the shoe was not found. I had to go barefoot for the rest of the trip, thanks to my mom’s thorough packing. Shoes that just slide off of a little girl’s foot are a disaster.

Jelly shoes were comfortable, though. They were soft and squishy and felt cool on your feet. They were made of the material that now is used to make gel insoles. I imagine that many people love those gel insoles because they loved their jelly shoes. It is a form of reminiscing.

They looked cool, too, at least, to a little kid. Who else had see-through shoes, besides every other kid? They came in every color of the rainbow and would match everything a kid had to wear. Even though kids rarely worried about matching, it’s nice to know it’s an option.

Now, almost two decades after the original fad, jelly shoes are back in. Kids love them all over again and parents are again left wondering, why are jelly shoes so cool? To understand why, you have to think like a kid, and remember how you felt about it as a kid. Sure, as a kid you didn’t have a well reasoned argument as to why they were cool, but maybe there just isn’t one.

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