Summary: After wearing my Rothy’s clogs nearly every day for a year, I can confidently say they are a good investment that manages to be sustainable, insanely comfortable, and highly versatile. With no break-in time, they mold to your feet, and at roughly 50 cents per wear, they’ve landed in my top three purchases of the entire year, and I’m already eyeing additional colors.

What I love:

  • Rothy’s clogs are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn, right out of the box. They work for my high arches, and the upper fabric molds to the tops of your feet. 
  • Truly a sustainable brand. Rothy’s has turned 200 million-plus plastic bottles into their signature thread, owns a LEED Gold zero-waste factory, and each pair can save 5-10 bottles from the landfill! 
  • They are machine washable. Just pop them in the wash, and lay them to air dry. Washing and mending is always more sustainable than buying new!

Things to note:

  • At $160, they are an investment, but after 350+ wears, the cost per wear is beyond affordable!
  • They’re holding up great after a year. My most-worn pair still looks basically new, and every clog style I’ve tested has consistent quality.
  • Don’t just relegate them to errand shoes! They work well with dresses, pants, and are especially great shoes to pack for travel.

I had seen Rothy’s clogs around the internet for about a year before I bought them. Rave reviews from influencers were all over my feed, gushing about their insane comfort and versatility. Photos of Jennifer Lawrence, styling them with red socks, turning them into a headline-worthy fashion moment.

I’d looked at them on the website, unsure if I found the style appealing or even remotely cute. I hadn’t been a clog girl up until that point. I went into a store in LA and tried them on. SO comfy, but I didn’t end up buying them. When I looked down at my feet, I was still unsure if they were a match for my personal style. But I couldn’t stop thinking about them — so finally, last September, while I was in NYC, I walked myself to the Rothy’s store and made the purchase: The Casual Clog in ReVelvet™ Portobello. And I can truly, 100% honestly tell you: I haven’t taken them off since. I’ve probably worn them 350 out of 365 days this past year, and 100,000 steps is just a mere window into my love for these shoes.

A woman walking along a grassy coastal path with the ocean in the background.
A pair of tan Rothy’s slip-on shoes on a patterned area rug over a wood floor.
I wore my Rothy’s clogs everywhere in Europe, from exploring scenic routes to lounging in the hotel… and you can tell that these shoes have put in the work!

First, they came with me on a trip to Europe. They were the perfect plane shoe: Comfortable, compact, packable, and easy to slip on and off for the long-haul flight. Then when I arrived in Italy, I quickly adopted them as my walking shoes, surprised at how well they supported my arches and how they didn’t feel like they were going to fly off my feet like other slip-ons I’ve tried. And how well they work with or without socks!

At the hotel, instead of taking my shoes off like usual (sorry!), I kept putting them back on to wear around my room… my feet started craving the soft, supportive soles. The top of the clogs is a flexible woven material, a blend of merino wool and Rothy’s signature thread, made from recycled plastic bottles. They shape to the top of your foot, and since I have extremely high arches, that made them feel extra comfy, with no break-in period. I wore them the entire trip, with jeans, dresses, sweatpants, to dinner, running down to the lobby. Even when they were stylistically inappropriate, I caught myself with them on. In just a few weeks’ time, I’d gotten my cost per wear to an all-time low. My only regret is that I didn’t buy them sooner.

“In just a few weeks’ time, I’d gotten my cost per wear to an all-time low.”

When I got home, much to my apartment floors’ chagrin, I kept accidentally leaving them on and wearing them around the house. You know that feeling at the end of the day when you rip off your jeans and put on a pair of sweatpants? That’s what slipping into my clogs feels like. Not to mention how good they feel to pop on after a night of wearing heels!! A dream!

At home, I love wearing them for arch support while I’m cooking or cleaning, and they’re perfect for slipping on and off to water the plants or take out the trash. So I quickly hopped online and ordered a slipper version dedicated to wearing in the house ONLY: The Cozy Clog in Cookies and Cream Bouclé. They have the same comfortable design, with a fluffy vegan shearling-lined footbed which is perfect for an extra layer of coziness at home.

And you know how when you love something, everything about it starts to look perfect? That’s how I started feeling about the look of the clogs too. Even though I thought they were ugly at first, I loved and appreciated them so much that they truly became more and more aesthetically pleasing to me. I learned to style them with pull-on pants and wide-leg jeans in a way that actually looks… dare I say… CUTE!

A person in a black sports bra and bike shorts, wearing sunglasses, takes a mirror selfie in a bedroom.
A person takes a mirror selfie wearing a dark blue t-shirt, wide-leg jeans, and a shoulder bag.
When you love something as much as I love these Rothy’s clogs, do you also find yourself styling them with every look you wear?

They’ve become an extension of me — from meetings, to Pilates, to the grocery store, to trips across the world, I can’t go anywhere without them now. Clogs may seem like just a slip-on for errands kind of shoe, but I’ve easily walked 10k steps in a day, around the city or my local reservoir, and been happy and comfortable every step.

Beyond my obsession with the clog, Rothy’s is also a brand you can feel good about supporting. Their mission is rooted in sustainability, turning over 200 million plastic bottles into their signature thread, which is knit into every single thing they make. My ReVelvet™ clogs alone are made from about 9 recycled bottles, and my Cozy Clogs from about 10!

“Their mission is rooted in sustainability, turning over 200 million plastic bottles into their signature thread, which is knit into every single thing they make.”

For this review, I also got my hands on a pair of their classic Casual Clogs in Soft Black, which have quickly become my new everyday pair. (I have them on as I write this!) I can officially report on almost every style of clog in their collection — and tell you the feel and quality is remarkably consistent. I love the transparency they offer on their website, where they break down the materials behind each clog.

They also own and run their own factory for part of their production, which is LEED Gold and TRUE Zero-Waste certified, and they knit each shoe to shape, so there’s less than 1% material waste on the uppers (typical shoe and bag manufacturing wastes 25 to 50%!). That adds up to about 770,000 pounds of material saved every year. Even the shoe boxes are made from recycled materials and sturdy enough to ship on their own without an outer box needed.

As someone who wears her clogs literally everywhere, this is my favorite part: They’re machine washable. Just pop them in a cold wash with some mild detergent and let them air dry! Washing or mending something you have is ALWAYS more sustainable than buying new.

A pair of black Rothy’s slip-on shoes next to their branded cardboard box on a wood floor.
A pair of black Rothy’s slip-on shoes resting on top of a Rothy’s branded cardboard box.
Rothy’s sustainability mission is impressive, recycling millions of plastic bottles into their threads for every shoe they make. And their packaging is sturdy enough to be shipped as-is!

This may be the most effusive review you’ve ever read about clogs, but after a true year of wear, I genuinely have nothing bad to say about them. Even my first pair, which has gotten the most wear, definitely looks loved and molded to my feet, but it’s still in pristine condition, with nothing breaking down or falling apart.

And if you walk away with anything, let it be this — if you’re even remotely interested in Rothy’s clogs, don’t put off the purchase (or your comfort) any longer! At $160, they are an investment, but they are beyond worth it. If you wear them 300+ times like me, that’s only about 50 cents per wear, and less over time.

A person’s foot wearing a white sock and a tan slip-on shoe inside a car.
A person wearing light blue jeans, white socks, and black slip-on shoes with translucent soles.
Try to find me wearing anything besides my Rothy’s clogs!

When I take inventory of everything I’ve spent money on over the past year, my clogs are in my top three purchases… maybe even the #1 spot. We are influenced to do way too much shopping online, and it’s hard to look at the graveyard of not-so-worth-it impulse buys in my closet from this past year… but I’m glad to say my clogs are not one of them!

If I had to pack for a desert island, these would be in my bag… and I’ll definitely be investing in more colors as time goes on. I have my eyes on the Dove and Chestnut. Last Christmas, instead of wrapping up a gift for my mom, I took her right to the Rothy’s store on Larchmont in LA and bought her a pair of clogs of her choice. She hasn’t taken them off either.

“If I had to pack for a desert island, these would be in my bag… and I’ll definitely be investing in more colors as time goes on.”

If you’re looking for a present for a loved one — or want to make a truly self-loving investment in yourself — these clogs are always a good choice. Run, don’t walk to Rothy’s and thank me later!

Grace Abbott is a LA-based freelance Brand & Marketing Strategist and a Contributing Editor at The Good Trade. She has a degree in Graphic Design from Parsons School of Design and is the founder of How To Go Freelance — a brand dedicated to empowering creatives to monetize their skills and build personal brands. Beyond work, she’s always studying a new spiritual modality, painting her bedroom a new color, practicing Pilates, hosting friends, or going on a nature walk with her chihuahua, Donnie. Find her on Substack or Instagram.