Jelly shoes

Jelly shoes or jellies are shoes made of PVC plastic. Jelly shoes come in a large variety of brands and colors and the material is frequently infused with glitter. Its name refers to the semi-transparent materials with a jelly-like sheen. The shoes became a fad in the early 1980s, when a pair could frequently be purchased for less than one US dollar. Like many other fashion trends from the 1980s, jellies have been revived a number of times since the late 1990s. Although considered a populist shoe in the 1980s, the jelly shoe has been reinterpreted by a number of high-end fashion designers in the early twenty-first century.

The exact origins of the jelly shoes are unclear. A frequently offered explanation is that they were designed by a shoe maker in France after World War II, when there was a leather shortage in Europe. Another possibility is that the shoes were created somewhere in the late 1950s or early 1960s, when plastic became a commonplace material, and fashion designers began to experiment with it. Black and brown t-bar jellies sandals were popular school wear for boys and girls in Australia during the 50s and 60s. The Brazil-based shoe company Grendene Shoes claims to have introduced the jelly shoes to the US market in 1982, though a New York Times article published on June 1, 1980 also mentions them.