I'm sure by now you've heard of the infamous Chacos brand. Chacos may seem like a new trend, but they are actually currently celebrating their 25th anniversary. Now, you may be asking, after so many years, why has Chacos just recently become such a hot topic. The answer to that is one word: college.

I am aware that recently there have been Chaco-bashing articles pertaining to the audience that wear Chacos, and I found it completely preposterous. To give a brief synopsis, an author (thou who shall not be named) claimed that Chacos were only being worn by those who were in college sororities and these were her exact words: "What can only be described as a horrendous take on ‘jesus’ sandals, these monstrosities really take the biscuit. They’re classified as ‘hiking’ sandals, yet nearly every college student wears them casually on a daily basis.Where did you find them?! Someone is responsible for this takeover and it’s not pretty. Not only do they accentuate your feet which shouldn’t even be a thing, but they look horrific in doing so." First of all Miss B-- (whoops, I almost slipped up), how about you shove a biscuit out of that hole that said those words... But in all reality, don't refer to these as 'Jesus sandals' because if Jesus had this back in his day, boooooooooy (in my Louisiana bayou accent) would he have been one fashionable man! Next, not to interrupt your "crumpets and tea", but not every college student wears Chacos. I know for sure that those of us in the South do because it is smoldering here! Let me give you a visual image: imagine you're butter in a pan, with the flame underneath on ten, with a light layer of gasoline conveniently placed under you, AND a grease fire happening simultaneously. This is what it feels like to live in the South. Being that these are the conditions that we face on an everyday basis, of course we like to wear as little as possible, but also have a style that coincides with functionality.

Now, yes, they are meant for hiking, but in our living conditions, we don't care about the initial function. We care about what we can get out of them and that's style, comfort, and durability. They may cost a pretty penny ($85+, if you can't squeeze into a children's size), but hey, "if you got it, flaunt it". They come in too many patterns and designs for anyone not to find the perfect pair for themselves. And personally, if I was girl who got $35 mani-pedis at a bi-weekly basis, you're dang skippy I would accentuate my toes with these wonderful creations. Even though I'm a guy, who cares what my feet look like. Just know that these Chacos that I'm wearing are doing my "horrendously" ugly feet justice.

The next best thing about owning a pair of Chacos is the durability. Now we know everyone has owned at least one pair of flip-flops, whether they be bedazzled grandma ones, or the rubber ones (that we can sometimes find for a dollar). We can all agree on the fact that they don't last long. Being an owner of Chacos (I just bought my second pair, which I can't wait to wear) *insert heart-eyed emoji here*, I can say that these Chacos (not the ones listed above) have lasted me a good 3 years and are still in pretty great shape! Not only do they hold up well, but they provide some of the most noticeable and interesting tan lines!

Now those aren't your typical, everyday use tan lines. Those are the product of a 7-mile, 6-hour kayaking adventure that happened in the Ozarks not too long ago. These shoes held up against raging currents, several wipeouts, saving a friend from almost drowning (heroic, right?), and over 15 miles of actual hiking in Arkansas's various Mountain ranges.

http://www.thedailytouch.com/elisa/8-us-college-st... (this may or may not be the link to said article...)