For a split second, fashionistas thought we were Croc-safe. The makers of the popular plastic clogs were on the rocks with financial trouble months ago. Even though the company sold over 100 million pairs of shoes in a matter of seven years, the company had lost $185.1 million last year, slashed roughly 2,000 jobs and scrambled to find money to pay down debt. We thought the ugh-ly footwear was on the outs. We predicted that Crocs would disappear within a handful of years with the halt of production and the already-bought pairs inside unfashionable people's shoe closets being forgotten or eventually disintegrating into thin air...

So close! Thanks to PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., Ysolt says sarcastically, the fashion-crime-of-a-shoe won't be as short-lived as some of us had hoped. A bail-out for the biggest fashion crime of the millenium? No, PNC, no!!!

Other style mavens are with me. Fashionista, Annie Lam, has some major beef with the unsightly footwear. Her rant: "I guess they're okay for downtime, but I'm not a huge fan whatsoever! It's like with Uggs--they are super-comfy, but they are LAZY shoes. Even my sister who is an RN at a teaching hospital wears Crocs--they're a hit there. I think they make one ugly, short, fat and lazy. And, they are EXPENSIVE! Dang pastel plastic--and give me a damn break on those Croc Candies (the accessory clips on the Croc holes). What a great marketing ploy! Moms and kids went crazy for them because 'they are cute.' Hello Kitty is cute. Not ugly plastic mules."

Where do you stand? Please tell me you're on our side?! You're not happy about the Crocs bail-out, are you?

--Ysolt

How cool is this?! You can see what people are ordering in real time on the new Zappos Map! I stared at it for hours--I'm not even kidding. I feel like I know so much about America now, too. You can tell a lot about a person (and their region) by their shoe purchases.

My research finds that Californians are into mukluks, DC trekkers are all about power pumps, and New Yorkers like a kitten heel. And, there must be a dance team in Ohio or something ordering up a bunch of these cheesy cowboy boots with pink flowers on them.

Your turn to do some shoe research. Have fun! Check it out >> Zappos.com/Map

--Ysolt