This Shoe Color Trend Is Chicer Than Black, Burgundy, and Brown

All throughout my elementary school days, I wore a uniform, and part of that uniform stated that I could only wear shoes in one of three colors: black, brown, or navy. As the sartorial contrarian I am (and always have been), I chose the latter, a choice that put me at odds with basically everyone at my school. It didn’t matter, though. I loved my navy-blue ballet flats and wore them even when I wasn’t in class. When elementary school ended, however, my navy flats didn’t join me. In fact, I never really thought to wear the color in footwear form again, with black, brown, and burgundy shoes all taking prescedent. That is, until recently, when a few styles began popping up in the elegant shade, helping me to remember why I favored them way back when.

On Kaia Gerber: Repetto Cendrillon Ballerina Flats ($300)

Alaïa and Miu Miu are both members of the navy-blue shoe club, as are classic shoe-makers like Manolo Blahnik and Gianvito Rossi. My personal favorite pair? The Cendrillon flats from Repetto, every French girl’s go-to brand for comfortable, yet elegant shoes. And I’m not the only person who holds them near and dear. Kaia Gerber, who frequents the Cendrillon flats in a variety of different colors, also has a navy-blue pair, which she wore this week while preparing for a New Play Reading Series she’s participating in at Williamstown Theater Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

The model and actress styled her flats effortlessly with a matching athletic skort, a red T-shirt, and a black sweatshirt on top. The outfit could’ve easily been worn with sneakers, but her choice of footwear added a sense of formality to it that sneakers wouldn’t have. Even so, the same shoes could easily be dressed up further by switching out the skort for a pair of white jeans or black trousers and changing from a sweatshirt into a sweater or white blouse.

Shop the shoe color trend that’s chicer than black, burgundy, and brown below. Trust someone who’s been wearing navy-blue shoes since the 4th grade—they’re really that good.

Shop navy-blue shoes: