Gen Z is kicking ungainly boulders to the curb.
Lug-soled boots and chunky platforms are now a thing of the past, the fashion pendulum has swung the other way, and dainty kitten heels now reign supreme.
“2024 is the year of kitten heels,” declared spokeswoman Kendra Hettig. hello magazine.
Every style of footwear, from strappy sandals to ankle booties, is now adorned with slim kitten heels measuring less than 2 inches, worn by Hailey Bieber, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Victoria Beckham, Bella Hadid, and more.
Chunky ankle boots were once all the rage among millennial women, but now they're being ridiculed by kitten-heel-loving zoomers.
Low heels too Appeared on the recent catwalk For some of the biggest companies in the business, pradaAlexander McQueen, gucci And Jacquemus.
But despite achieving chic status, kitten heels have long been a controversial shoe.
once associated grandmaKitten heels are a bit of a “half-baked” shoe, said Colleen Hill, senior curator of costume at the FIT Museum. shoes news“It was often marketed to young women who were not yet ready to wear high heels, so the term came to refer to young, cute animals.''
Elizabeth Semmelhack, director and senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, agrees that they are “oddly in-between and in-between.”
“Kitten heels aren't as comfortable or stable as flats, and they don't really act as a stiletto when it comes to expressing strength and glamour,” she told Footwear News.
However, Hill argued that they were better for foot health than high stilettos and easier to walk in than wedges.
“This style works very well with a variety of looks, especially if the wearer wants to play with proportions. For example, it pairs very well with cropped trousers,” Hill added.
According to the magazine, the origins of this heel style date back to the 1950s, but it didn't skyrocket in popularity until almost a decade later, when Audrey Hepburn wore the heel style in “Breakfast at Tiffany's.” In the '90s, even Princess Diana, a style icon for Gen Z fashionistas, wore modest stiletto heels.
“Kitten heels have long been associated with modesty, so perhaps that's part of the challenge,” Semmelhack says.
Coincidentally, the word “modest” is a prime candidate. Oxford University Press It's the word of the year, and it's on the shortlist of pop culture terms vying for the top spot.
Born from a viral TikTok by creator Joels Lebron, the viral mantra “So humble, so caring” has gone viral on social media and inspired even more people. “Sophisticated” look During “low-key autumn,'' we lead a style that is the antithesis of “brat summer.''
Therefore, kitten heels are in line with current trends. The Trend Cycle of Quiet Luxury and Stealth Wealth — if clothing without a logo portends good luck — and, of course, the idea of being “modest.” Guardian contributor Jess Cartner-Morley.
She writes: “Demure is a low-heeled shoe that you can dance in rather than going home in spike heels that get blisters.”
