A few years later, ballet flats went from a chic means of getting around comfortably and blossomed into a fully-fledged movement—in no small part due to the release of Gossip Girl moment, which showed its Upper East Side high schoolers at their most pert and polished. Ballet flats were practically soldered to Blair Waldof’s feet, while in the November 2007 issue of Vogue, an entire article was devoted to the Repetto ballet flat craze, featuring model Agyness Deyn in a studded pair of Comme des Garçons flats and Sofia Coppola in a simple black version. “So what is it about them? Comfort? Surely. Elegance? That, too. Nostalgia? If you ever took a ballet class when you were a girl, probably,” the author wrote, adding, “The good news is, Repettos are so ubiquitous (kind of like flip-flops but much, much chicer).”
Molly Goddard spring 2022
Photo: Ben Broomfield / Courtesy of Molly GoddardFast forward to 2022, and the ballet flat appears to be experiencing yet another revival thanks to nostalgia for both indie sleaze and the put-together style of Gossip Girl, the latter accelerated by its revival on HBO Max last year. On the runway for spring 2022, Molly Goddard had ballet flats in charming hues of pink and orange, Simone Rocha showed the shoe in metallic purples and reds, while, of course, Ferragamo churned out a classic one with their signature flat bow. My colleague Steff Yotka is on the hunt for “a chunky toe ballet flat like the ones Phoebe Philo used to make at Céline,” and notes that “Khaite currently has a great velvet pair.” There’s also a flat version of the Margiela Tabis, which fashion news editor Sarah Spellings thinks “still have the sweetness that I like without being just pure sugar.”
The best part? These pieces can be styled with universally anything–from a ballgown à la noughties Lanvin, to a skinny jean in the style of Moss–and you’ll still look timelessly stylish. Oh, and very firmly down-to-earth.
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