Croc-tastic winter boots

So many people take the piss out of Crocs. In fact people take the piss out of people who wear Crocs. The thing is, I don't give a shit what other people think - Crocs are comfortable, waterproof (which can only be a good thing in the UK), washable and are the only shoes I can wear (with the exception of my Nike trainers) for a whole day spent on my feet without being in serious pain. And I can dance in them too, all night long! They help with my slightly dodgy back, and since I have freakishly wide square feet they are one of the few brands that really fit me so you know what? I Friggin' LOVE Crocs in all forms, and anyone who thinks I'm unfashionable can kiss my big fat ass! You can see from the pic below that I have many pairs (this isn't even all of them!) and they all look nice with trousers or dresses. People tend to have the same reaction when they ask me where my shoes are from, it goes like this.... 'Crocs?! Really?! I can't believe those are crocs, they're so cute!'. I win!

This leads me to my real blog post. Last year I was going through the same thing that I do most winters. Trying (and failing) to find some good comfortable boots. I wanted something that would last, go with trousers & skirts, keep me dry and warm, and be comfortable enough to walk around in for long periods of time. Too much to ask apparently. There seems to be some weird rule that fake leather boots are allowed to have soft rubber soles - they are normally too thin for my liking but at least they have some give. Leather boots on the other hand always seem to have soles made of the horrible stacked (hard as nails) plastic or even wood. My heels just cannot handle such a hard sole, there's nothing to cushion the impact of the pavement! I gave up on Clarks, Ecco and the numerous other places I'd been desperately scouring, and figured that as my spring / summer go-to comfort shoes were Crocs, that I should just get some black boots from there, even if they do end up looking like wellies. Then I saw them. Crocs Cobbler ankle boot. What a thing of beauty! Yes £100 but they are suede, wedges, and lined with an ankle big enough to fit my fat legs! Joy! I ended up getting them for about £65 by buying them when there was a special offer and then using a discount code on top of that. I'm so glad I did. I love them, they look lovely on, and are so damn comfy. I wore them loads, and they're still in really good nick. I'm looking forward to wearing them again when it gets colder. So anyway, I decided I wanted some more boots - flat ones this time, and crocs was my first stop.

Here is what I got. I'm such a happy bunny right now! Lots of the boots I liked last year are now on sale in the Crocs outlet on their site. They currently have a great offer on their outlet styles which is buy 2 pairs and get 20% off, buy 3 pairs and get 30% off, buy 4 pairs and get 40% off. They are also offering free shipping for orders over £20, and if you buy before October 31st you can get an extra 5% off with the code AUTUMN5 which is what I did. The two pairs of boots cost me £87.34 and they are worth every penny!

The Crocs Berryessa buckle are solid, and can be worn as an ankle boot or rolled up to a longer boot. In a land where shoes are made for wide feet I am a size nearly always a 6.5, so I get Crocs in a size 7 (W9). They pretty much always fit me. I have to say that getting my foot into this boot is tricky. The shoe section is very solid, so I won't be able to wear big socks with them, but they're lined so I don't need to anyway. I will probably wear these with dresses and thick tights so they are perfect for that. Love them! The marks on these are my fault, they didn't arrive like this!

The second pair I got have been on my wish list for a year - the CozyCrocs Fairisle bootie. Like I said, in a previous post, I'm a sucker for festive prints and love all things with a 'winter' theme! Putting my feet in these is like putting me feet into a huge fluffy pillow. There are no words for how comfy and warm these are. Entirely (faux) fur lined. I realize that they are going to get filthy, but I kind of like my boots to look worn (I'm the same about trainers, I like them a bit scruffy for some reason!) and these will be so awesome with little winter frocks and skinny jeans. True love! Size-wise these are much more generous than the the first pair - I guess these are designed to be worn in snow so you'd want to fit a big sock inside. I should also add that Crocs are really good in wet / snowy / icy conditions, because unlike other types of rubber Crocslite doesn't aquaplane (I've had to get rid of so many shoes / boots with supposedly good grips because I've nearly broken my neck aquaplaning!). I love my uggs, but when it comes to navigating an icy hill Crocs win hands down. Btw, these are not folded because of my massive legs, they are actually sewn in folds!

I'll sign off with my favorite Crocs from the website. The one thing I will say is this - Crocs are shipped from the Netherlands so they can take a while to arrive, and they don't offer free returns so read the reviews on the site before you order. On the plus side, Crocs seem to retain their value on Ebay and sell for surprisingly high prices, so if they didn't fit you and the return postage was too expensive then you could always sell them! I think that the boots are particually good at the moment. How much do I want a pair of boots that look like a bar of chocolate?!