Pointed-toe shoes are here to stay this fall.
This week, the Wall Street Journal published a story highlighting “bitchy, pointy” shoes — AKA pointed-toe pumps and boots with thin stiletto heels, which have emerged as a popular silhouette on the footwear market this fall. In the piece, stylist Micaela Erlanger spoke on the shape’s return and provided her logic on why the shoes have earned their aforementioned adjectives.
“It’s a term I’ve [used] over the years,” Erlanger told writer Katharine K. Zarrella in the article. “It represents a certain attitude.”
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Within the same article, FNAA-winning designer Tamara Mellon added her thoughts on the “bitchy” shoes’ rise — even sharing a recap from the Daily Mail‘s coverage of the piece on her Instagram Stories — as a replacement for buckled “ugly” sandals and clogs that rose in popularity within the 2020s.
“After Covid, people need something that looks fresh and different,” Mellon said, citing a consumer desire for formality as opposed to casual dressing. “When you’ve had too much of one thing for too long, the pendulum’s going to swing really far the other way. So we’ve gone from a Birkenstock to a bitchy, pointy pump.”
Pointed-toe pumps, in fact, are a longtime shoe staple in the fashion industry. Initially introduced by Roger Vivier in the 1950s, the first styles featured thinner heels totaling 3.15 inches in height, according to SATRA Technology. Through the years, the style’s heels and toes have remained sleek and dynamic from their geometric shapes; most are regarded as a staple shoe for formal events, office-related work or to simply dress up a more casual ensemble. Styles are frequently released from a wide range of labels in a variety of colors, heights and finishes, often with leather or suede uppers as their base.
The shoe silhouette is also a top celebrity staple, as well; a core example has been New York Fashion Week’s spring 2024 shows, where celebrities like Emma Roberts, Lori Harvey and Sofia Richie have all been spotted in front rows wearing different variations of the style.
How the shoe changes — and continues to remain the same — in the future, however, remains to be seen.
