Dr. Scholl's Exercise Sandals

Fashion Synopsis

Clip, clop. Clip, clop. Clip, clop…The Original Exercise Sandal. It started out as a fad, became a craze, and soon every pedicured foot was gripping the shaped wooden sole of a Dr. Scholl’s clog sandal.

Created in 1961 by an orthopedic specialist, Dr. William Scholl, the wooden clog was specifically engineered to exercise the foot and leg as you casually walked the day away. A simple yet fashionable strip of colored leather secured your foot onto the wooden platform, and an adjustable buckle on the strap furthered the comfort and ensured a tight fit for your walking gym.

By a system of toe gripping when you lifted your foot, the muscles were engaged, which supposedly gave them tone. Thanks to a brilliant design, your foot lifted away from the shoe, forcing your toes to grip onto the shoe to keep it from leaving your foot. This gripping action engaged the muscles of the leg and sent the shoe smacking back to your foot with a hearty ‘clop.’ Toned or not, your feet just couldn’t get any sexier.

Kids loved the snappy shoe because it felt so adult. And adults loved the shoe because it was so fashionable. They were so much cooler than the foam rubber flip-flop that was the only other choice of summer footwear. Exercise had nothing to do with it.

Dr. Scholl’s exercise sandals became the sassiest shoe of the 70’s, but sadly fell from favor during the 80’s. In the ergonomic-obsessed 90’s, Dr. Scholl’s resurfaced on the streets in a whole new collection of fashion prints. The original design remains, but a whole slew of technologically advanced editions follow close behind.