2 hours ago
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Mariah is on loop in the supermarket and your local cafe is doing gingerbread lattes. It’s officially the silly season. High street windows are filled with ideas for party dressing. There are sequin dresses and strokable velvet suiting, but look down and you’ll spot something a little more unusual. Gone are the customary towering heels. In their place? Sensible flats.
Now, if you are someone who genuinely loves wearing high heels, fine, no judgement, you keep doing you. But if you are someone who feels they should wear heels, rather than actually likes to, then good news – that way of thinking is very much over.
Velvet pumps (above)
After decades of being indoctrinated into believing heels were somehow superior, representing everything from power to femininity and sex – as immortalised in TV shows such as Sex and the City – fashion has done an about-turn and realised that flats are just as alluring – but with fewer blisters.
Balancing on one leg in the street while attempting to switch from trainers into heels is now considered a bit like eating a sandwich on the go – deeply unchic.
This rational way of thinking started on the catwalks. All the big designer debuts this season, including Jonathan Anderson at Dior and Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga, championed flats – from sparkly slingbacks to velvet flip-flops. Even the Cannes film festival got the memo. Ten years after ejecting women for wearing flat shoes, this year the Croisette was peppered with flats, including The Substance’s Margaret Qualley in a pair of two-tone Chanel ballet pumps.
Downsizing is easier than you may think. If you previously opted for a stiletto, shifting to a pointy slingback such as River Island’s embellished leopard print flats won’t be too much of a jump scare. For strappy sandal wearers, may we interest you in a mesh slip-on from Loeffler Randall or Dear Frances? And for those who still worry about flats looking frumpy, get excited about embellishment and texture – there’s nothing dowdy about Bimba Y Lola’s sequined ballerinas or Flabelus’s tinsel-adorned versions.
Snakeprint loafers (above)
Ballerinas
Satin ballet
Yellow silk
Silver cross-strap pumps
Burgundy patent leather
Gold ballet
Leopard print
Red patent leather (above)
Embellished
Bow pointed toe
Rhinestone suede
Stud point suede
Sequin ballerinas
Silver studded
Studded suede
Black courts with silver flower (above)
Pointed Slingbacks
Burgundy studded
Patent leather
Chisel toe tartan
Satin leopard print
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Green suede
Burgundy crocs
Rose pink wrap-up ballerina (above)
Velvet
Zebra print
Farfetch
Burgundy velvet mary janes
Velvet embroidered
Bow flats
Red velvet mary janes
Diamante strap
Nude mesh (above left)
Red pointed (above right)
Mesh
Leopard print
Shiny pomegranate
Wine buckle
White rhinestone
Mirrored studs
Floral embroidered
Burgundy tinsel (above)
Models Esther at Milk, Duni at Body London and Eiril at Mrs Robinson
Styling assistants Roz Donoghue and Charlotte Gornall
Hair and makeup Sophie Higginson using Sam McKnight, Evolve Beauty and Essie
Hair and makeup assistant Lizzie Checkley
Location St Antony’s Catholic Club – The Red House, London E7
English (US) ·