THERE’S no denying Crocs are practical and comfy – and maybe even cool, depending on who you ask.
But sexy?
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I never would have suggested it, until seeing my 6ft 2in, big, bearded husband in a pair got me extremely hot and bothered.
Both my kids wore Crocs as toddlers and still wear them to this day. My 21-year-old daughter lives in hers at uni, while my 14-year-old son wouldn’t go on holiday without a pair.
Then, two years ago, I bought myself a pair for gardening and instantly fell in love.
It was like wearing bouncy cushions on my feet, perfect for pottering outdoors or even popping to the shop.
After raving about them for months, in the summer of 2023 I treated my sceptical husband, Lewis, 53, to his very own white and orange pair, £47 from Amazon, and the minute he reluctantly popped them on, I instantly wanted to rip his clothes off.
I’ve always thought he has great legs, but the Crocs seemed to accentuate them even more than his usual Birkenstocks, showing off his long, shapely calves to perfection.
I watched him stride around in them doing DIY and the two things together nearly sent me over the edge.
As a Fashion Director, I’ve watched the unstoppable ascent of Crocs with interest.
In 2016, they went from ugly, rubber clown shoes – largely beloved by parents of toddlers and people who work in the medical profession – into the fashion stratosphere, when designer Christopher Kane launched a collection of geological and mineral-printed pairs at London Fashion Week.
After that, they were stomping all over the runways of Paris and London as cool collaborations came one after the other, from Balenciaga – whose platform Croc mules left the fashion pack gasping – to Simone Rocha’s collection of pearl and diamanté-studded Crocs, which Vogue humorously named “the prettiest ugliest collaboration”.
Their latest design collection with Swarovski will hit their website mid-May, with prices ranging from £300 to a whopping £1,200 for crystal-encrusted ones.
A-listers love them too. Singer Justin Bieber, rapper Post Malone and footwear designer Salehe Bembury are all huge fans and have their own Crocs ranges out now.
Heidi Klum, Bella Hadid, Jonathan van Ness, FKA Twigs, Ariana Grande and Drew Barrymore are all Crocs converts… even Madonna is a fan.
Plus, Brad Pitt at 60 looked sexy in his white crocs teamed with a cream tracksuit and bucket hat and Pharrell Williams looked cute in his at the premiere of The Black Godfather, even though he wore his with socks.
Of course, as with any fashion trend, there are detractors.
Victoria Beckham has said she would “rather die” than wear them, while shoe guru Christian Louboutin said he “hates” them.
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‘Hideous’
Colleagues of mine have even dubbed them “hideous”, and that wearing them is the ultimate sign you’ve “given up”.
But the brand now has a stellar £3 billion turnover, because instead of apologising for their ugly design aesthetic, they lent into it, owned it and made it their USP.
But despite knowing all this – and being a fan of man-repeller shoes for myself – never once did I imagine that the sight of Lewis wearing them would turn me on quite so much.
Pulling them out of the bag for the first time, he looked at me quizzically, as if to say: “Are you sure?”
Then he slipped them on his feet and I immediately gasped: “OMG, they look sooooo sexy on you.”
Now he teases me with them and promises to wear them not just because he finds them so comfy, but because he knows what they do to me.
He wears them every weekend and doesn’t give a hoot what his mates think, because I am like a teenager with him again when he is wearing them
There are, however, some caveats.
Never once did I imagine that the sight of Lewis wearing them would turn me on quite so much
While my kids wear theirs with sports socks, Lewis must go bare-foot with his, because I am not a total philistine. Socks ’n’ Crocs might be cute on Pharrell and younger generations, but on Lewis it’s a total passion killer.
Secondly, I insist he wears them in ‘sport mode’ – with the strap around the back of the ankle, rather than over the front of the shoe which, for reasons I can’t explain, gives me the ick.
Unlike me, who draws the line at wearing Crocs anywhere fancier than the local Co-op because I just don’t think I am cool enough to pull them off, Lewis wears his everywhere – including every day and night of the child-free Caribbean cruise we recently went on.
As well as being perfect for poolside posing, catamaran trips and walking for miles around picturesque coves, they also ensured I couldn’t keep my hands off him.
So much so, in fact, that we nicknamed our cruise liner The Love Boat.
Plus, if the kids are both going out for the night, he slips them on at home and sends me a suggestive selfie to get me in a spin while I am at work.
So fellas, if you’re brave enough to don a Mega Crush Croc (that’s an extra-chunky ‘platform’ version, for the Crocs virgins among you), or if you are just a bit more of a Classic Croc person like my other half, I can’t recommend it enough.
You might just get lucky enough to get your Crocs off…
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