It’s a rare occasion when fashion gets comfortable, and it’s rarer when the high priest of high heels, Monolo Blahnik, to market flats with Marc Jacobs, Prada and Kate Spade giving him company on the racks. Flats have finally got over their maternity ward image, so listen to your doc and spike your stilettos.
The flats owe their appeal to their versatility – you can pair them with skirts and capris, pants and jeans, and even dresses. Lost in Translation Director Sophia Coppola made it official when she declared at this year’s Academy Awards that she was a fan of flats, and to leave no room for any doubt, she wore pointy Marc Jacobs flats with her black evening gown as she went on stage to collect her Oscar.
So slip into fancy flats and add style to your feet with crystals, sequins and flowers. As Upasna Sarin of Finesse, the GK-I, M-Block Market shoe store, puts it: “We can’t do much with the heel in flats, so we let our imagination loose on the uppers.”
This season’s flat sandals look somewhat exotic, with shorter soles showing the toes. Some feature exquisite buckles or satin laces as decoration; others have delicate, streamlined cuttings. “You can have a lot of fun with flats,” says Amit Gupta of Heels, Connaught Place. “You can add a dash of glamour with wooden beads, feathers, pom-poms, ribbons and bows, butterflies, or crystal buckles.”
Flats look best when they are in funky metallic and fluorescent shades, with contrasting in-soles in white and beige. Adds Mimi Khanna of Preview, Basant Lok: “Theaccessories range from glass and crystal to metal and acrylic. And tie-ups rule the market with thongs because they aren’t over-the-top, which is why lovers of understated elegance opt for flats.”
This season’s flat sandals look somewhat exotic, with shorter soles showing the toes. Some feature exquisite buckles or satin laces as decoration; others have delicate, streamlined cuttings. “You can have a lot of fun with flats,” says Amit Gupta of Heels, Connaught Place. “You can add a dash of glamour with wooden beads, feathers, pom-poms, ribbons and bows, butterflies, or crystal buckles.”
Flats look best when they are in funky metallic and fluorescent shades, with contrasting in-soles in white and beige. Adds Mimi Khanna of Preview, Basant Lok: “Theaccessories range from glass and crystal to metal and acrylic. And tie-ups rule the market with thongs because they aren’t over-the-top, which is why lovers of understated elegance opt for flats.”
The hottest style, though, is the ‘slipper sandal’. “It has revolutionised the way women are viewing footwear,” says Rajan Khanna of The Shoe Garage, Shahpur Jat. “Unlike the everyday chappal, it comes dressed up in sequins, studded with stones, suede flowers and polka dots.”
Give those 52 bones in your feet the rest they badly need. Savour the freedom of movement. Flats have never looked sexier.