Bowling shoes are the latest in fashionable footwear, according to the Wall Street Journal and Fox News Chicago, which both reported recently on a growing shoe-theft craze.

“No longer is it just the occasional high school or college prankster,” The Journal claimed. “Now it’s cheap chic.”

DeKalb bowling establishments, however, say shoe theft hasn’t become a huge problem.

Shoes disappear at a minimal rate, said Huskie Den employee Mary Clemens, a junior corporate communication major.

“Most people bring them back,” she said. “We keep an ID of theirs, like a residence hall card or an NIU ID or a driver’s license, so it’s something they need back.”

Still, Clemens admits that if IDs weren’t taken, a lot more shoes would end up missing.

Regular Den visitors say the policy works.

“I’ve been bowling in the Huskie Den for 13 semesters, and I’ve never seen anyone steal shoes,” said Julie Warman, a senior visual communication major.

Other alleys, such as Mardi Gras Lanes, 1730 Sycamore Road, don’t require their bowling patrons to leave a deposit for shoes. Employee Jim Eul, a junior industrial technology major, said people don’t always take advantage of the honor system and sometimes will walk out with a free pair.

“Every once in a while, shoes will come up missing,” Eul said. “I think it’s so they don’t have to pay for a pair of shoes.”

A search for evidence of shoe stealing in DeKalb didn’t turn up much footwear featuring numbers on the back.

“I wouldn’t want them,” sophomore accounting major Jeff Froelich said. “Tons of people have worn them before me.”

His opinion is shared by many NIU students and DeKalb residents.

“They’re ugly as hell — that’s why people want them,” said Danielle Goder, a senior visual communication major who admitted to once accidentally walking out with a pair of bowling shoes, which she later returned.

One person who freely admits to taking shoes is Sarah, a senior music education major at NIU who asked that her last name not be used. She walked out with shoes from a lane in West Chicago a few years ago.

“It isn’t a big deal,” she said. “I took them because I thought that they looked cool, and I wanted a pair.”

Reactions to Sarah’s stolen slippers have changed over years.

“At first they were like, ‘Are those bowling shoes?’ And I would say, ‘Yes.’ Then they’d be like, ‘Oh, cool,'” she said. “Now they’re used to it.”

The fashion industry and many bowling alleys have tried selling new versions of the classic bowling shoes, but the Journal reports that they aren’t as popular because stolen shoes are more authentic and bear the size on the heel.

The ugliness and uniqueness are what make the originals so sought after, Froelich said.

“I don’t even like to wear them in the bowling alley, so why would I wanna wear them in the street?” he said. “I think people steal them just as a joke, just to say they’ve got a pair bowling shoes.”

The consequences of stealing bowling shoes, if the trend gains popularity, could include an increase in rental prices or bowlers being asked to leave their own shoes as collateral.

Worse yet, bowling alley owners could follow the example of many alleys in Canada, where disposable shoes called sliders are sold in vending machines for $3 a pair.

To avoid such penalties, Eul offers a simple alternative for getting the shoes you want.

“Just buy them,” he said.