Proof Positive That Pool Slides Are More Stylish Than Ever Before

If there’s one accessory that’s bridging the high-low divide this season it’s the pool slide sandal. You know the pool slide, right? That function-over-fashion shoe that keeps you from slipping as you walk from the swimming pool to the shower ... The one that (at least until recently) you never gave more than a passing glance at because, frankly, it was kind of hideous?

Well, in recent years, designers have been giving the pool slide the full Cher Horowitz treatment, making it over with every type of embellishment you can imagine and transforming it into this season’s fashion darling. And this year's crop is better than ever.

And it makes sense. The shoe’s basic design acts as sort of a blank canvas, letting everyone from Marc Jacobs to Tori Burch, Gucci to Fendi put their own spin on it.

That’s not to say you have to spend $725 on your slides like Valentino’s quilted take. We hunted down a range of options — each as on trend as the next — that run the gamut from designer mega-splurges to under-$30 super-bargains.