If you happen to follow any models on Instagram, you’ve witnessed the Seussian pool float renaissance with your own eyes.
It would be easy to roll your eyes at this trend and mutter something desultory about “millennials.” But that, my friends, would be a damn shame. Because your correspondent recently spent a day off sipping keep-’em-coming Bud Lights aboard a makeshift double float-illa. The sun was shining, the grill was firing and the cornhole bags were flying. The only regret I have is not showing up to the pool party with an inflatable Gucci Mane face or Kim Kardashian butt (see below).
Did the standard inner tubes and mats of yore get the job done? Sure, but when it comes to the sweet, fleeting days of summer, it’s not about “getting the job done.” It’s about blowing up a giant slice of fake pizza, running towards the pool (or lake or river) and hurtling yourself into a group of friends floating on avocados and swans and mechanical bulls.
You will find all those things among the 10 pool floats collected below. Combine with your favorite canned cocktail and take a load off.
Modul’Air
The most innovative technology in this area isn’t coming via swan wings or ridable bulls — it’s from Pigro Felice’s handsome inflatable furniture, which works as well on the pool deck as it does in the drink. BUY NOW
Pizza Slice
Like an actual pizza, these are best enjoyed with friends. Hell, get eight people together and you’ve got a whole pie. (For lone wolves, there’s also the personal pizza.) BUY NOW
Funboy
Celebrities from Katy Perry to Wiz Khalifa were instrumental in making Funboy the end-all, be-all of pool floats. But with photogenic daybeds and “private jets,” they’re not relying on those endorsements to stay relevant. BUY NOW
Kim Kardashian’s Butt
Do we want to keep up with any of the Kardashians? No. Do we think a giant inflatable ass is the best thing that has come of their fame? You bet. BUY NOW
Swans
Now that the democratization of pool floats has begun, the classic swan can be used by supermodels and the proletariat alike. But if you’re hitting the late-night rooftop pool party, best bring this glow-in-the-dark upgrade. BUY NOW
Gucci Mane
Christened “summer’s coldest pool float.” If you complete the trifecta by eating an ice cream cone on an ice cream cone-shaped float with Gucci Mane’s face featuring an ice cream cone tattoo, you may just be crowned king of summer. BUY NOW
Inflat-A-Bull
Taylor Swift kickstarted this craze with a bevy of swans, but we’d rather hang with Sofia Vergara and this rideable bull any day. BUY NOW
BHH Ring
There’s beauty in simplicity, and with a banana leaf pattern inspired by the Beverly Hills Hotel, this Float Naked ring is photogenic to boot. BUY NOW
Avocado
What’s the point of having an avocado float if you can’t take out the pit and toss it around? Oh, you can? Well then … BUY NOW
Champagne
Pizza and bacon are fine for your good ol’ backyard grill-out, but if you have to go through a doorman to get to the pool — by all means still bring a float, but class it up a bit. BUY NOW
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
