By that, I mean harnessing “main character” fashion energy—but letting my choice of shoe take the lead. I love whimsy, and I’ve always believed that impracticality is a form of luxury…so why not wear a pair of chartreuse velvet ballet flats in the dead of winter? Maybe, I hypothesized, the choice would have less to do with looking cool and more about how a pair of shoes could make me feel.
New York Fashion Week was quickly approaching, and I had events, dinners, previews, and shows lined up for nearly a week straight—surely I could muster up the courage to be daring. Enter my sherpas: Mandy Lee, TikTok’s preeminent “freaky shoe” expert, and Sabrina Elba, whose sexy spin on minimalism reads to me, in all caps, MAIN CHARACTER. I fired off an SOS text to them both. “My advice is not to try so hard,” Lee replied by voice note. “Switch your mindset to think about shoes as joy-procuring objects, not something you must wear to protect your feet. That’s where the magic happens.” Elba offered: “If your shoes make you feel a little bit powerful and a little bit mischievous, you’re on the right track.”