Ballet flats, mesh slingbacks, metallics and colour pops: these brides stepped feet-first away from convention
Once upon a time, brides tottered down the aisle in Jimmy Choo’s champagne-hued Azia stilettos, thanks to the trickle-down effect of Hollywood. Next came the Manolo Blahnik Hangisi girls channelling Carrie Bradshaw-chic. Sophia Webster’s “Wifey for Lifey” heels became firm favourites, before Amina Muaddi waltzed in with her Begum glass slippers, endorsed by Rihanna. But while there were once clear paths to go down when selecting one’s wedding shoes, now the trend for bridal footwear is to step out of line and buy – shocker! – shoes that newlyweds might actually wear again in the future.
As always, all roads lead back to Miuccia Prada. When Mrs P’s satin ballet pumps swept the industry in the summer of 2022, brides-to-be made a mental note that the angelic, pearlescent flats could be the perfect solution to pinched toes at receptions. “I suddenly had visions of tripping in heels,” said Tish Weinstock, who grounded her three spectacular vintage bridal gowns with Miu Miu slippers at her “high drama” Halloween nuptials. “I felt much safer in them.” Fashion PR Laura Linden, who used to lead Molly Goddard’s marketing team in London, also prioritised dancefloor capabilities over stature, and teamed her frothy Molly confection with a pair of sweet pink Mius for her Canadian lake celebration this summer. “A nod to my love of ballet, I walked down the aisle to a song from The Nutcracker, arm in arm with my parents,” recalls Linden. “Hopefully, it was a more graceful performance than some of the earlier recitals they had to sit through.”
Vintage lover Tish Weinstock anchored her archive bridal looks with modern-day Miu Miu slippers. Photo: Chris Lensz
“I wanted to be able to bop around and move freely on the day,” says Molly Goddard and Miu Miu bride Laura Linden. Photo: Kaela Leone Photography
Gucci’s rose mesh slingbacks dotted with crystal GG logos have also become a fashion-bride favourite, thanks, in no small part, to Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi, who sent her friend Sara El Dabi a pair to wear with her Disney-esque dress – inspired by her mother’s vintage Biba – for a quintessential London wedding. “Part of me will always be known as a late ’90s, early ’00s RnB fiend, and so the sparkly double-G logo felt like the essence of that,” says former DJ El Dabi. “I wanted the fun diamanté thrown in for good measure.” Florist Christie Leigh Corbally, who is not the sort of Pinterest bride who grew up fantasising about The One (dress, we mean), chose the twinkling Gucci slip-ons to complement her Cecilie Bahnsen look and didn’t regret a single gemstone as she bopped along to local Hampshire band The Old Gits at her bucolic knees-up.
Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi steered Sara El Dabi towards these Gucci slingbacks, which were inspired by Tom Ford’s era at the house. Photo: Eve Milsom
Christie Leigh Corbally’s picture-perfect bridal party had fashion gravitas, thanks to Gucci’s Aria shoes. Photo: Francesca Allen
Those studded Alaïa flats made an appearance at writer and curator Lou Stoppard’s wedding breakfast, alongside Issey Miyake pleats no less, before the bride changed into exquisite pearl-laden Simone Rocha, complete with beribonned pumps, to marry fine object designer Jamie Shaw at London’s Fitzrovia Chapel. For the creatives, whose wedding was as much about their baby daughter Clark as it was about their union as a couple, practical yet whimsical fashion fit their “beautiful and interesting” brief for a big day centred around London’s Café Cecilia (which is, incidentally, owned and run by Simone’s brother, Max).
Lou Stoppard wore pretty yet practical Alaïa pumps for her wedding breakfast. Photo: Tara Juno Rowse
And objet-like Simone Rocha flats for the ceremony. Photo: Tara Juno Rowse
Colour-pop pumps are also rising in popularity. Film director Raine Allen-Miller selected a pair of chartreuse block-heeled Amina Muaddi heels, and a later a pair of Adidas X Wales Bonner leopard-print trainers, to complement her ruffled Cawley Studio dress for her Brixton wedding, while artist Rose Electra Harris snagged the last pair of heart-embellished red Giuseppe Zanotti mules (even though they were a size too small) for phase one of her wedding to literary agent Ben Lyttleton. Pink metallic Louboutins were enlisted for phase two, until they sank into the grass and had to be switched for chunky black Simone Rochas, which were much more fitting for the line-dancing masterclass the Molly Goddard-clad bride had organised for her nearest and dearest.
Raine Allen-Miller later swapped her green Amina Muaddi heels for a pair of leopard-print Adidas X Wales Bonner trainers during her Brixton wedding. Photo: Fern Rose
The second pair of snazzy shoes Rose Electra Harris wore, before she traded her pink Louboutins in for black Simone Rochas. Photo: Inez Gordon
Even traditional Jimmy Choos are finding themselves punctuating bridal looks that are aeons away from the conventional Jenny Packham and Elie Saab gowns of yore. Take Katherine Ormerod’s knicker-revealing Annie’s Ibiza minidress, which she teamed with the pearl-encrusted Sacaria platforms at her Palm Springs reception. Or Phoebe Thompson and Noelle Nikkhah’s crystal-strapped Choos, which brought out the embellishments on their Karl Lagerfeld-era Chanel bridal dresses. “We are both quite traditional so I wanted the bridal looks to feel classic but with modern elements – I kept this in mind when choosing accessories,” shares stylist Phoebe, who is plotting out more looks for a larger follow-up wedding to her NYC elopement. There is always, as these brides show, room for another pair…
Originally published in British Vogue.