Okay, “selling my soul” might be overstating it a bit, but when you go on and on somewhat disapprovingly about something, it’s only natural that you feel sort of weird when you do an about-face.

And I’m sure my recent decision to buy a pair of Crocs is even more confusing for all of you, considering that you’re the ones who applauded me or argued with me when I listed them as one of my worst shoe trends of all time.

So what did bring about this change of heart?Well, it’s fairly simple really. As your Guide to Shoes, I feel an obligation to try out as many shoe brands, stores and styles as I can, but I always stopped short of buying a pair of Crocs, because there’s just no room in my wardrobe for rubber clogs — especially when there are so many shoes I actually want to wear in public.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I was making the rounds when I came across a cute pair of pink and white flip-flops. I’d been looking for a pair of casual sandals anyway, and these looked different — and they were pink — so I clicked to get the details.

Cute!

But then I saw “Crocs” printed on the white strap, and I just sort of froze. All my warning signals went off, and I wasn’t sure how to proceed. Then I remembered: I was totally justified in making the purchase, because it was research — and besides, these weren’t the standard-issue Croc clogs. If it wasn’t for the brand name being printing on the strap, nobody would ever even know.

The day they arrived, I pulled them out of their box, and threw them right onto the floor to slip my feet into them. I was pretty certain that I’d wear them around the house for a few minutes, pat myself on the back for being such a good Guide to Shoes, and go back to looking for another pair of flip-flops.

But literally, the second I slipped them on, something strange happened; I could feel the difference between these and other shoes. The soles were … well, for lack of a better word, squishy. For a minute or two I wasn’t even sure I liked the feeling. And what was with those little rubber bumps that made it feel like I was getting a foot massage? A girl could get used to that sort of attention.

In fact, this girl has. I’ve worn them for at least part of every day since I got them.

Now I have to say, these sandals aren’t perfect. For one thing, they’re extremely casual in style, and I usually prefer a pair of thongs that can pass for dressy when they need to. Another weird thing is that even though the part of the strap that hits your foot is made out of some indredibly soft micro-fiber, the top of the strap is made out of some bizarre paper-like material that actually makes a crinkling sound if it’s touched. I guess depending on your feelings about crinkly-sounding shoes, this could be considered a bad or a good thing.

And then of course, there’s the fact that they have “Crocs” printed on the strap. I’m not usually into having the brand name printed across the tops of my shoes. But, at least it’s in pink.

Aside from those minor issues, I’d definitely put these shoes in the win column. So, you live, you learn. But for now and the foreseeable future, I still refuse to give in on the clogs.