Look down at your feet. If you're wearing Crocs or clogs right now, then you win and you're right on trend. There's a "low shoe revolution" afoot and it's all about comfort. According to this Wall Street Journal article, "Are High Heels Dead?" ladies are proudly taking to the streets in their best-worst "unfashionable footwear."
Here's what allegedly ushered in this trend toward comfort: those ubiquitous Isabel Marant wedge shoes, Phoebe Philo Birkenstocks circa 2013 and, of course, Normcore.
WSJ reports:
Running shoes, Birkenstocks, Teva-type hiking sandals and Adidas-style slides were among the low shoes with a high profile during the recent spring fashion shows on the runway—and in the audience. Wide, flat footbeds, toe room, cushiony soles. Slaves to fashion have never been so comfortable.
Comfort is a good thing. I'm not mad at this. I'm a person who typically opts for flats or chunky boots and women who can shove their toes into four-inch stilettos on a daily basis are brave. But there's no real reason to trash all our favorite pumps.
The article goes on to describe the new state of affairs in which high heels are at the bottom of the totem and can't sit with us right now:
Christian Louboutin's spike heels looked sadistically sexy. But women were soon wearing them to work and to dinner, and growing accustomed to an extra 4- or 5-inch boost in height. The flimsy, support-free ballet flats many women wore for walking were hardly better than heels. [ :( ] Fashion footwear was a podiatrist's cash cow. Flat shoes with toe room looked frumpy by comparison. It seemed sexy hookup shoes had become the norm for dressy women's footwear. But when they fell, they fell hard.
Cue E! True Hollywood Stories theme music.
Now designers like Christian Louboutin are equipping sneakers with "python or calf hair" and "Pierre Hardy has trimmed his sneakers in fur." Pretty soon, even dunks will be unaffordable.
Image via Brunello Cucinelli