And he adds, "They look good."

Still, not everyone has stepped into the sandal scenario.

Bradford's friend Jordan Gulas has remained loyal to bucks and sneakers. Tevas, he says, are "for dumb hippie kids who can't afford shoes."

But the kids can afford to shell out $30 to $50 for a pair of Tevas, and more than $80 for Birkenstocks?

Gulas and his non-hippie friends call the rubber sandals "Air Jesuses."

For some young people, the perception that sporting a pair of Birks or Tevas will label them a "crunchy" '90s hippie is a minor drawback.

"I'd wear them all the time except for the crunch stereotype," Luecke says.

The stereotype is not surprising, since both shoes have counter-culture or outdoorsy origins.

Birkenstocks, named for their German inventor, were first brought to America in 1966 and sold through a health food store.

Geil says the surge in Birkenstock sales are an indication that "Americans have left the '80s dress for success era."

Tevas were invented in 1982 by Colorado River guide who, tired of flip-flops falling off into the water and shoes full of rocks, designed the rubber sandals. The sandals are named after the Hebrew word for nature.

Though Teva is pronounced with a short e as in "bed." Most people pronounce it with a long e, as in "street." Its manufacturers don't mind the mispronunciation, though.

"The way we figure it, if people are buying and want to call it teeva, it's fine with us," says Dana Carlyle, a customer service representative for Deckers.

Fish adds that the company's marketing strategy is "mainly aimed at the outdoor-type, active people, or people that want to look outdoor and active."

The marketing strategy appears to have succeeded--for now. But before you go drop close to $100 on a pair of Birkenstocks, you might remember the fate of another cork-soled contraption: the now obscure platform shoe.