All Hail The Mighty Gladiator: the latest on the shoe trend that won't die

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All Hail The Mighty Gladiator: the latest on the shoe trend that won't die

By Jennifer Thorp

Maybe it was Mary-Kate wearing Chanel. Or Ridley Scott making another film with Russell Crowe. Or the recession making us wish for a simpler time.

For whatever reason, gladiator sandals – those leather, flat, criss-crossed types once restricted to vegan types and the Emperor Augustus – have stood the test of time, and are in for the long haul.

I’m never a girl for trends (she says, on her fashion blog), but if you pay attention, fashion moves in cycles. Trends flicker and pop out like bulbs, but fashion’s big movers embrace various feels – boho, power, experimentation – and play on them season after season. They find what works. Hence the gladiator’s continual presence. They’re chic, Coco Chanel would have a fit of ecstasy over how practical they are, and they fit the modern woman: classic, unfussy, playful and individual.

For all that they give you truly ridiculous tan lines, they’re a beautifully rustic alternative to thongs, high-heeled sandals and thin summer flats. However, if you’re the type to wear below-the-knee styles of skirt, go for gladiators which don’t rise above the ankle - otherwise your legs will look shorter.

Personally, my favourite, if incredibly way-out, interpretation of the trend was Balenciaga’s 2008 gladiator boots. You know the ones – black and white zig-zagged, knee-high, killer heels, worn by both Jennifer Connelly and Rihanna (who liked them so much she wore them shopping. Shopping!)

The way things are going now? Dress-up. The plain styles have been worn to death, and now the fashion pack are slashing, embellishing, studding (last season’s rocker-studs have never seen so much play, as in this fabulous Chloe pair), fringing, and generally acting like extras in Almost Famous.

Next cult favourites? I predict Anna Sui’s butterfly cut-out black ones, and Balmain’s embossed leather heels, which look like your grandmother’s handbag embellishments, if your grandmother happened to be a Romany gypsy.

Bet you ten bucks that Mariah Carey gets herself some of the former.

Image: above: Miu Miu Gladiators.