Not so long ago, admitting you owned a pair of Crocs was the kind of confession best whispered. The foam clog lived on a list of fashion’s great embarrassments, tolerated by gardeners and nurses and almost nobody else. Then something strange happened on the way to the runway, and the ugliest shoe in the room became one of its most wanted. The Miami Square Flip is the latest chapter in that unlikely redemption, and it is arguably the most elegant one yet. Here is a Crocs that has clearly been studying the collections. The silhouette pairs whittled-down straps with a gentle graduated wedge, just enough lift to lengthen the leg without asking anything of your balance. The square toe does the quiet work, a shape that reads current rather than nostalgic and lends the whole thing an air of considered nonchalance. This is the brand tiptoeing, at last, into the territory of the genuinely chic.

The Redemption Arc, Continued

Fashion loves nothing so much as a plot twist, and Crocs has supplied a spectacular one. The house built its empire on a single heretical idea, that shoes need not punish the feet that wear them, and spent years being mocked for it before the mockers quietly capitulated. The Miami Flip carries that hard-won swagger. Its soft TPU upper feels broken in from the very first wear, sparing you the blistered fortnight that used to be the toll for a new sandal, while the drop-in Croslite footbed delivers the faintly springy cushioning that turned skeptics into loyalists. Diana Vreeland liked to say that the eye has to travel, and hers would surely have paused here, amused, at a shoe that once signaled surrender to comfort and now signals something closer to confidence.

The Sandal Built for the After-Party

Crocs Miami Square Flip Shoes, $ 37.99

The name is doing exactly what it promises. This is footwear conceived for balmy nights and terrazzo floors, for the slow stroll from dinner to somewhere livelier once the heat softens. There is a knowing wink to Miami itself in the design, all neon reflections and pool-deck glamour, the city that never quite believes the party should end. Wear them barefoot with a slip dress, or let them anchor wide linen trousers as the sun goes down. They ask for very little and give back a great deal, which is more than most footwear, and indeed most people, can honestly claim.