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For most of my late teens and early twenties, ballet flats were my go-to shoes. I wore them to class, to the supermarket and to the club. Then one day the spell was over. I looked at my feet and realised that they were not for me. At 5ft 4in, flats had always made me feel even smaller, in a childish way. They were rarely comfortable, bad for my lower back and girly in a way that didn’t suit me. I put them back in their boxes and felt liberated.
So it was with dread that I saw them coming back into fashion in the early 2020s, propelled by Miu Miu’s autumn/winter 2022 runway collection, a TikTok-led obsession with balletcore and a revival of the Indie Sleaze trend from the 2010s, the real golden age of the ballet flat. I wasn’t keen on being sucked in again — until a number of ballet-sneaker hybrids started populating my social media feeds. Combining thin rubber soles and sporty silhouettes with delicate details such as laces, buckled straps and ribbons, these styles create an aesthetic dissonance that has piqued my interest against my will.
In January, Puma unveiled the Puma Speedcat ballet, a slip-on evolution of the sportswear giant’s slim Speedcat trainer with lateral cut-outs and front elasticated straps (£70, uk.puma.com). Then came the Adidas Taekwondo Mei ballet pump, with laces criss-crossing the front of the foot and circling the wearer’s ankle (£80, office.co.uk). Onitsuka Tiger has the Mexico 66 TGRS ballerinas, which have two buckled front straps (£145, onitsukatiger.com). Brands from Vagabond and Zara to Paloma Wool and Kiko Kostadinov also offer their own versions of the trend.
“Demand for this style of ‘ballet sneaker’ is up an enormous 1,250 per cent in the last three months [compared to the previous three-month period],” says Katy Lubin, vice-president of brand at fashion shopping search engine Lyst. At specialist women’s sneaker store Naked Copenhagen, the Puma Speedcats sold out on the first day they were released (they are also sold out on the official Puma UK site). “It’s a style that appeals to a larger group than people who are into sneakers — it’s a shopper that goes from 16 to 30 years old and wants to achieve that Scandi cute vibe,” says Josephine Bertelsen, the store’s community manager.
Sam Le Roy, creative lead of sneaker culture publication Hartcopy, sees the hybrids’ popularity as a response to fatigue with mainstream sneakers styles such as the omnipresent Adidas Samba shoes, and an informal alternative to ballet flats. “These familiar sport styles sprinkled with feminine details are a bit more approachable than traditional ballet shoes, especially for a younger person or a more playful dresser.”
Lyst’s Lubin believes their appeal lies in how they “subvert the girlish ballet aesthetic within a performance product. That ‘edge’ is irresistible to shoppers whose style choices embrace breaking boundaries.”
While my style doesn’t “break boundaries”, I do occasionally enjoy wearing items of clothing that are a little bit off-kilter and not necessarily flattering. Scrolling through videos of women styling their Adidas Taekwondo Mei with midi skirts and ankle socks and pairing their Puma Speedcat ballets with jorts and one-shoulder tops, I was reminded of the early years of Leandra Medine Cohen’s Man Repeller blog, circa 2011-12, with its quirky take on trends that “women love and men hate”. The shoes also chime with the more contemporary idea of dressing for the female gaze, which means picking clothes according to personal taste regardless of whether they make the wearer look conventionally attractive.
I set out on a hunt for my own pair. I began with Axel Arigato’s Marathon ballets (£240, axelarigato.com), which have an undulated rubber sole and fluffy criss-crossed laces over an open front. They were as comfortable as a pair of sneakers, but I struggled to style them, feeling that the shape made my feet look unnaturally large. The best option I found was with socks and a knee-length pleated skirt, a good off-duty look but not necessarily one I would wear again.
I then tested a pair of Puma Speedcat ballets in silver, my favourites on paper. I paired them with a simple pair of low-rise straight jeans, an electric blue button-up top and a vintage leather jacket and walked confidently into the office. Asked for her opinion, a colleague delicately told me that the shoes were borderline “offensive”, but I was “pulling them off”. A different colleague stopped me to compliment me on the shoes, unprompted. I am still in two minds about them. I like the “ugly chic” edge they gave to my simple outfit, but they still made me feel somewhat childish. More importantly, they were not as comfortable as I was expecting them to be.
Finally, I made a short trip to the nearest Office store to try the Adidas Taekwondo Mei ballets. I was surprised by the pleasant visual effect their black and white snout created by peaking out of my wide leg pinstripe trousers, giving a sporty twist to formal bottoms. Off work, I could also see myself wearing them with a contrasting ankle sock and a skirt for the summer, and even shorts. I didn’t wear them for long enough to judge their comfort level, but the fit seemed more forgiving than the one of the Speedcat.
Helen Tu, a 29-year-old, Toronto-based fashion creator who popped on to my TikTok feed wearing the Adidas Taekwondo Mei pumps, says she was drawn to them because they are an easy styling trick. “You’re comfortable, you are still very chic and you are barely putting any effort [into your outfit], because the shoe speaks for itself,” she says. “I’ve seen girls wearing them with sweatpants and a fitted hoodie, or straight leg jeans and a little cropped blazer. I think everyone can wear them with just a white tee and blue jeans.”
Unlike classic ballet shoes, these hybrids “speak to an audience that isn’t super femme and to people who like to mix and match different types of aesthetics,” she adds. “Honestly, they’re just fun.”
Finally convinced, I went on to the Office website to buy my own Adidas Taekwondo Mei pumps, but it was too late. They were already sold out in my size.
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