by Amber Bravo

It’s safe to say that the oft-maligned comfort clog is officially experiencing a renaissance, clodhopping their way back into our lives in permutations Dansko probably never dreamed would happen. We’ve got a plethora of backless and shearling-lined varietals to choose from, not to mention the towering clog boot. Even some of our favorite designers such as Rachel Comey have come out with their own iterations of the traditional gnome-like numbers.

But how do you distinguish yourself in this trend, which already comes candy-colored and coated in rainbows?

The San Francisco boutique Gravel & Gold offers an inspiring alternative: design your own. This is exactly what they did with Minnesota-based Sven Comfort Clogs, wooden-sole purveyors whose site design pretty much reaffirms the shoe’s unsexiness, but whose high-quality construction and variety of raw material offer quite a lot of options for the amateur cobbler. You can choose from a variety of bases, styles, leather, and hue options.

Gravel & Gold had the nifty idea of inserting a dash of color into their design with electric blue accents and a gilded pull-on strap. Our only wish is that the Svens site had a clog simulator, so that we might be better able to envision our designs. Nevertheless, with a little foresight and fortitude (all the options are almost enough to head right back to the basics), your custom clogs just might be stand out. You may be like sheep in your shearling-lined clog boots, but at least they’re not just black.

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