As the famous saying goes: what goes around comes back around. This statement has prominent applications in the fashion industry.
Mom jeans, cargo pants and scrunchies – fashion trends from the 1990s – are back, as well as 1980s fashion staples such as high-waisted jeans and chunky sneakers. Current “in-fashion” trends even go way back to the 1920s, with circular frames back in style.
A fashion staple that has made its comeback is Crocs™. Crocs™ are a bit of a controversial one – their unique and comfort forward design results in people either hating or loving them.
This time, Crocs™ have come back with something new – personality. Social media platforms, such as Tiktok and Instagram, have been flooded with people taking the simple and convenient shoes and transforming them to stylish displays of their personality.
With the design of Crocs™, there are plenty of ways to customise and make them your own – and this article will show you how.
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What are Crocs?
Founded in 2004, Crocs™ is an American footwear company. The shoes are uniquely manufactured using a non-toxic closed-cell resin, Croslite™.
This is what gives the shoes the recyclable, comfortable, lightweight, and non-marking properties that have made Crocs™ popular. They are also breathable, easy to slip in and out of, support circulation and have enough room in the front to not injure your toes.
For reference, the Crocs™ design manufacturing and marketing refer to them as “foam clogs”. The company’s brand attributes are innovation, fun, comfort, and simplicity – four adjectives that revival of Crocs™ have become most associated with.
It is important to note, however, that there are mixed results when looking into how good Crocs™ are for your feet. Crocs™ lack arch and heal support, and can cause irritations such as friction blisters, excessive sweating, and feet odour.
To reap the benefits of the roomy and soft shoes, experts advise Croc-lovers to not wear them for long periods at a time and to reserve them for moments that do not involve heavy-duty walking, high-impact activity, or if you’re standing or walking for a long time. It’s also not advised for older peoples or those who are flatfooted and prone to foot pain.
The ways to customize Your Crocs
There are various ways to customise your Crocs™. The first way is with Jibbitz.
The main design choice that makes Crocs™ stand out from other shoes (and where some of the controversy of the shoes lies) is the holes in the front of the foam clogs.
Jibbitz™ – a company started by stay-at-home mom, Sheri Shmelzer, but now owned by Crocs™ – designs and produces colourful and unique charms to stick into the holes of any croc design. They come in a variation of shapes, colours, packs, and forms, encouraging Croc-wearers to show off their sense of style, humour, or latest trend obsessions.
They’re also sometimes known as “toppings.” The charms are designed to fit securely into the holes of your Crocs™ and are easy to get on and remove.
The most recent Jibbitz™ are designed with a new backer, allowing you to pin, tie and clip the charms onto different shoes, backpacks, clothes and so much more.
One extreme that Tiktok users are using to customise their Crocs™ are small, LED turbo lights – referred to as Croc headlights – that fit into the holes of the shoe. Tiktok creators have found this customisation hack enhances the convenience of the shoes.
These can be found on Jibbitz™-Crocs™ website or on any camping section of a website or store.
For the bright and sparkly personalities, using rhinestones is another way to customise your Crocs™! With gemstones, sequins and a glue-like adhesive, the sky of creativity and bedazzling is the limit. If you do choose to go down this route, we do have two small recommendations: (1) when buying your gemstone, buy them in bulk.
Rhinestones and sequins are not as secure as the Jibbitz™, so buying in bulk allows you to quickly replace the fallen accessories with new ones. (2) Make sure your Crocs™ are clean dry before customising them.
Similarly, gluing on fabric patches gives your Crocs™ a cool, 1990’s feel. Iron-on patches have been trending over the past few years, people ironing them on their jacket, bags, and jeans.
You may not be able to iron them onto your Crocs™, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them! There truly isn’t anything a strong glue cannot fix.
Moving away from the front of the Crocs™, another accessory that is used to customise Crocs™ is fur. With some mink soles, fake fur, a glue gun, and small scissors, adding fur to the lining of your Crocs™ transforms them into the perfect, warm winter companion.
This is something you could do with any fabric to give your Crocs™ a bit more of a soft and homely feel.
Another widely used method to customise your Crocs™ is paint. There are a few different types and ways to use paint, including:
Using fabric paint
Interesting, Crocs™ produce “Croc-a-doodles” – fabric paint pens designed specifically for Crocs™. You can also use normal fabric paint or paint markers.
Sidenote – it is recommended for non-artists or beginners to use paint markers, as they provide better coverage and easier to handle. Fabric paint is washable, allowing Croc-lovers to continuously change their customisations as often as you want, making them work with any outfit or style!
Acrylic Paint
For a more permanent coat of paint, acrylic paint is the most effective, as it doesn’t fade, peel or crack. It is also an easily accessible resource, as you can get from any local arts and crafts store.
You can also use acrylic spray paint and water to hydro dip your Crocs™. A more complicated version of this is to tie-dye them instead. To do so, you need nail polish remover, paper towels, shaving cream, iDye Poly, paper cups for each colour of dye, water, plastic wrap and latex gloves.
Believe it or not, but if you want to do all these customisations but do not have the time or don’t feel like you have the artistic ability, Crocs™ actually do this for you. Using this link, Crocs™ allows you to pick colours, patterns and upload any logos and create Jibbitz™.
You can submit these as a .png or .jpg file. Once they approve your design, you pay and they ship it to you. There are only two downfalls – the price and minimum order.
The price starts at $70, with $5 per Jibbitz™. Additionally, the minimum order quantity is 24 units.
Two methods, and the easiest customisations of them all, that Crocs™ themselves cannot do is using Sharpies and magic erasers.
Sharpies are extremely versatile and high quality. Like the paint markers, the thick, bright, and vivid permanent markers make for easy tools to customise your Crocs™.
Finally, to simply make your Crocs™ shine and look as good as new, cleaning them with a magic eraser for the white parts and dish-washing detergent on the other parts works. Finished off with some polish after they’re dry – and boom – your Crocs™ are customised to look as good as new!
Conclusion
Some people may not be too pleased about the return of Crocs™, but you cannot deny that they have come back better than ever. With a large number of ways to customise them, the only thing limiting you is your imagination!
