Okay, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Crocs are tacky’. ‘Crocs are fashionable vomit disguised as a shoe’. ‘I hate fun’. Well, let me break it down for you and tell you one true thing about 2020 and 2021 shoe trends: Crocs are cool again, babyyy.
To the theme of many once tacky Y2K fashion pieces, Crocs have made a massive footprint in the vintage and Depop style icons of recent times. Specifically, chunky and colourful statement piece Crocs, platform Crocs, and Crocs with a shit tonne of camp and endearingly tacky charms (called Jibbitz). But, don’t let me prove why you need to be on the right side of history with this one. Allow some of our favourite trendsetters to show you.
Over the last year or so, Crocs have slid back into fashion with creatives and influencers alike taking the opportunity to create their own stylised versions. Famously, Aussie fave G-Flip dropped a pastel tie-dye infused shoe with a white sole, dressed in pastel, spacey and musical instrument Jibbitz. Think, a snare drum, a broken heart, yin and yang symbols, and a lava lamp. While she’s yet to have her own version, Flex Mami has unofficially become the Down Under spokesperson for the swiss-cheese looking shoe over on Instagram.
Justin Bieber dropped the drip with a honey-mustard yellow pair dressed in iconography from his streetwear label Drew House. One high luxury branded version, a bright orange carrot-themed one, has one in ten scientists questioning whether the shoe can give you the ability to see in the dark (for legal reasons, don’t fact check that). Hell, there’s even a KFC-branded pair that allegedly smell like crunchy and crispy fried chicken. P.S. if you saw me in the club without food-scented feet protectors, no you didn’t.
I’ve had many conversations with friends about how Crocs are back and much to their dismay but nothing reminded me that I was right (and you’re wrong) quite like what was unveiled before us recently. Earlier this week, Daddy Diplo released his own tie-dye wavy printed blend styled with a pair of psychedelic-looking mushroom jibbitz on each foot. Oh, and he was near-nude for the photoshoot, too.
Last year, Bad Bunny’s simple white Crocs sold out in 16 minutes. Hours after it debuted, it went from $64.99 USD to going used for *checks notes* at the cheapest price of $265 on StockX.
Look, if there’s one thing I have learned to embrace in 2021, it’s that things that are camp and kitsch are extremely in right now. Frog cakes, silly little creatures, avant-basic couture and patterns inspired by Alice in Wonderland. And, my girls, gays, and theys, that includes a chunky and bold pair of Crocs, platform or otherwise.
Now, if you are going to step up to the challenge and enrol in the trendiest of shoe styles right now, you’ll want to elevate the look by investing in a set of Jibbitz. I bought a pair of bright yellow statement piece Crocs the other day and matched with them four jibbitz of Disney and Nintendo princesses and lemme tell you, the access I had. The gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlboss energy I now exhibit when merely walking to Coles? Let’s just say Jan Levinson from The Office wishes she were me.
Every day I wake up, put on my silly little clothes and my silly little Crocs, and forget about the horrible things happening around the world for one (1) minute. And to those who look at me and my Crocs with disgust, I say, don’t you know what fun is? Don’t you remember the sheer childlike awe and imagination of tacky clothing and cartoon visuals? My Crocs and I remember, and maybe you should buy a pair and remember it, too.
