Are you worried about the future of your slippers? If not, you should be...
Ladies clothing catalogue JD Williams has recently announced that the sale of slippers has fallen by 72% year on year, as The Metroreported.
And if the decline continues at such a fast rate, forecasters predict that the slipper might soon be extinct.
Asides the obvious lack of love currently aimed at the footwear, the slipper has a number of other difficult factors to condend with. Such as, the continuing threat posed to them by their age-old predator, the family pet.
Slippers have likewise had to compete on a day-to-day basis for their habitat, sharing their environment with the more popular species of footwear, the shoe.
In recent years, the average household's shoe population has grown exponentially – which experts believe might be partially due to the convenience and increasing popularity of online shopping. Similarly, it is thought climate change plays a part in the slippers' demise; warmer households mean less demand for warmer footwear.
When news broke of the threat to the slipper, footwear afficionadoes the world over took to social media to lend their support. Indeed, a number of fans posted pictures of their beloved slippers to Twitter, alongside the hashtag #SaveTheSlipper.
Notably absent from the campagain, however, is endorsement from HRH The Princess of Charming, who owns possibly the rarest pair of slippers in existence – the fairytale glass slipper.
Princess Cinderella was gifted the precious footwear by her Godmother. It is thought they were the catalyst for her romance with, now husband, HRH The Prince of Charming. As The Daily Tale reported at the time, Prince of Charming found one of the glass items outside Palace Nightclub following a rave. Allegedly, he refused to rest until he discovered its owner, going door to door, with a burger in-hand, until he reunited the pump with Cinderella.
The Princess has been contacted to comment on the #SaveTheSlipper campaign but has yet to do so.
What will become of the slipper, remains to be seen. But if you want to keep this much-loved footwear both in-store and on your bedroom floor, forevermore, spare a thought for the slipper this Christmas.