How Wooden Swedish Clogs Have Relevant All These Years, Defying Fashion and Changing It As We Know

Clogs are pretty unique; they are made of wood and adorned with decorations and other materials. This is the modern clog we are talking about, such as women’s clog heels, clog boots, clog sandals, etc. What many people don’t know that wooden Swedish clogs have stayed relevant not since their resurgence in the 70s, but they were used in Europe as far back as 11-13^th century. Not many fashion icons stay relevant for so long, so what made clogs any different?

Clogs of Bygone Era

The earliest recorded clogs were from The 1200s, in the area surrounding present-day Netherlands and Sweden. It was first introduced as the common man’s footwear because they were easy to make from wood (that was available in plenty) and offered solid protection for feet. Back then, there were no machines or equipment for manufacturing, so all shoes were hand made by skilled cobblers.

As civilizations expanded and developed, so did the wooden clogs. Wooden clogs started changing designs, and what was once limited to farmers started being embraced by the general public, even those of the high society. After world war 2, wooden shoes lost their appeal and fashionable leather shoes came into public acceptance, taking away all the limelight from the wooden ones. This period saw a big dip in the popularity of wooden shoes.

The Resurgence and Widespread Adoption

Sometime in the 70s, wooden Swedish clogs made a big comeback in a completely different avatar; adopting hybrid shoes instead of 100% wooden shoes. Not many wanted full wooden shoes, but everyone wanted a hybrid wooden clog with wooden heels and uppers made of leather, suede, etc. that lead to their appeal. This way, wooden clogs changed their exterior outlook to stay relevant in the fast-changing world of fashion. Demand for hybrid wooden shoes meant traditional manufacturers had to completely change the way they made traditional wooden shoes, for the stitching of new materials on wooden soles required another kind of expertise many didn’t have.

As a result, most modern wooden Swedish clogs are partly made of hand and partly by using machines. This also helps because the demand for wooden clogs is a lot more today than it used to be centuries ago, hence the involvement of machines not only make production accurate, but also faster.

Today, wooden clog shoes form an important part of Swedish fashion culture and find themselves in demand all over the world. The rich tradition, propelled by their uniqueness that most modern shoes don’t have, have led to wooden clogs staying relevant even after all these years.