Welcome to shoe trend school. Here, we use our in-house Who What Wear intelligence team to suss out which shoe trends are passing with flying colors and those that are flunking out. If you follow a lot of fashion girls in your feed, sometimes it can seem like everyone is wearing a certain trend, when in reality it’s a select, high-profile group that has purchased a certain style (or have all been gifted by the same brand, but that’s another story for another time). To find out which shoe trends are actually translating into purchases from women everywhere and those that aren’t, we tapped our expert commerce team for their perspective. Ahead, discover the top fall shoe styles that are making it through checkout and which trends are still languishing in the cart.
Flunking: Sneakerdrilles
Passing: Cowboy Boots
Cowboy boots have been widely adopted by It girls everywhere, and by now, just about every fast-fashion retailer offers a pair. If you're looking to get ahead of the trend cycle, we predict the 2.0 Western boots will be taller, sleeker, and a tad more '80s-inspired. Meanwhile, sneakerdrilles, or sneaker-espadrille hybrids, didn't reach a mass audience.
Flunking: Curvy Heels
Passing: Toe-Ring Heels
Curvy heels and toe-ring heels are both sleeper trends that started with a niche fashion audience. Curved heels ended there while toe-ring heels went on to major success. Celine pioneered the trend's re-emergence in eye-catching red and mix-and-match colors. How do we know the trend was successful? The Forever 21 knockoff sold out immediately. While our toe-ring heels are likely put away for colder weather now, we'll still be bringing them back come spring.
Flunking: Sock Boots
Passing: Snakeskin Boots
In a battle of the 2018 animal prints, leopard would most certainly win. But snakeskin is hot on its heels. There's a Zara snakeskin mini that has also gone viral, but the trend has been translated most widely on boots. While sock boots are still popular, thanks especially to the two-tone Celine pair, their rise can't be compared to the omnipresent snakeskin boots.
Next up, these seven boots trends are over, according to our editors.
This story was published at an earlier date and has recently been updated.
