I remember my fifth grade graduation well. Graduating from elementary school meant graduating from three word spelling lists, recess, one class school days, and, of course, my elementary fashion sense. Yes, it was time to say goodbye to my red Crocs…or was it?

The new school year always brings new fashion trends, and four months in, several new looks have established themselves. The girls have their leggings and combat boots, and the boys have their backwards hats and “flow” hair, but perhaps the most shocking trend of all is the resurgence of the fabulously ugly rubber shoes better known as Crocs.

Many students have dusted off their Crocs from the early 2000s, and it is hard not to notice their unique, eye-catching design as they squeak down the hallway.

“I actually love Crocs,” said Bailey Berberich, a junior and owner of a hot pink pair of the shoes. “They are super comfortable, and they are just easy to throw on for any weather.”

Suraj Marwaha, junior and owner of neon yellow and forest green Crocs, agreed.

“They’re so versatile,” Marwaha said. “On all the runways in New York, you see a pop of color in every model, and Crocs come in so many colors, so it’s a nice statement piece. It stands out amongst the Sperrys and Fryes you see mainstream Hinsdaleans wearing.”

Senior Kate Christian bought her pair of blue crocs with the varsity lacrosse team and has been wearing them at school ever since.

“We got Crocs and Jibbitz at the Croc store, and we wore them on game days together,” Christian said.

While I don’t plan on participating in the Croc comeback, I find the rekindled love for the brand amusing. After all, my stance on fashion is if it makes you happy, wear it. However, not all students feel the same way.

“Crocs were never a good look,” said Lauren Excell, sophomore. “I don’t see how they could be making a comeback when they were never really in. They’re actually pretty ugly.”

Some students even refuse to accept that Crocs are back in style.

“Crocs are disgusting,” said Shiv Bajaj, sophomore. “They were always ugly and will never become popular.”

While crocs hit their prime around 2006 to 2008, Croc wearers nowadays insist the new trend is not completely the same.

“This time around, I think that the person wearing the Crocs won’t just wear any outfit with them,” Berberich said. “It has to be a [dressed down] outfit, so the crocs go [with it], unlike back in the day when kids wore crocs with whatever they already had on.”

Though crocs seem to be on the rise now, students are not confident the comeback will last.

“Like all trends, I think people will get over it eventually,” Marwaha said. “The first people who rekindled it were the funny ones because people hadn’t seen Crocs in so long but because more people are catching on, it seems normal instead of novel.”

Regardless of whether it will last or not, Christian claims it won’t affect her love for the rubber shoes.

“It’s hard to know for sure [if the trend will last], but I will definitely keep [wearing the crocs] along with the lax gals.”