Not brave enough to teeter in towering needle spike shoes à la Kardashian sisters?
Never fear, this season’s hottest trends are a stiletto-phobic’s footwear fantasy: high heels you can wear without falling over, and flat shoes you can wear without looking like a Granola Queen.
Yes, that’s right, comfort is actually in; the wedge sect and the moccasin camp are gaining ground. This season, you can even wear Birkenstock sandals and still make the fashion cut.
The Rise of the Espadrille
Whether you choose one of Tory Burch’s modern take on the classic Basque-inspired canvas espadrille with a rope-adorned sole, the newer wedge shapes topped by satiny fabric and ribbons laced fancifully around your ankles, or opt for a stylized, updated interpretation of the sliced style fashioned from metallic leather straps, you can count on the espadrille to offer a dose of comfort and style.
Wedge shoes are sweet with the other trend-setters of the summer, including 1940s-style print circular, prairie, and tiered boho skirts — and they’re great at grounding capris and cropped pants.
Get Down In Moccasins
Taking a cue from Indian motifs, embroidered and beaded moccasin shoes and sandals are hitting the streets in dazzlingly bright hues. Hand-stitched slip-ons soothe the sole with exotic flare, combining down-to-earth comfort with glamorous trimmings of satin, sequins, beads, lace and shimmery glitter. Ladies with a penchant for heights can also hunt down the nouveau moccasin, decked out with a sharply pointed toe and elevated (albeit not to the Himalayas) with a delicate kitten heel.
Beauty and the Birkenstock
No, hell hasn’t frozen over. And no — you aren’t hallucinating. Even Birkenstocks weigh in on the Chic Scale this season, as the über practical, pseudo-orthopedic sole has been reborn and embellished in the ethnic eye-candy that has completely stolen the show this season.
Okay, it’s still not exactly a sexy shoe, but who’d have though the word stylish would ever be used in the same paragraph as a Birkenstock sandal? While this look is a perplexing yet pleasing interpretation of the ultimate in Plain Jane of footwear, it seems to have caught on: along with (and often fused with) the beach-lover’s flip-flop thong, the Birkenstock-type sandal can be spotted on a league of Glitterati and Fashionistas who are anything but granola.
Fancy-schmancy rules. Being over-done is near impossible. Under the continued reign of boho chic, even the most practical of us can enjoy the plumage of the season in comfort.
