Many on trend shoes for Spring and Summer cover the entire foot, are high in the vamp, and look best worn sans socks. I’m referring to styles like shooties, oxfords, loafers, slip-on sneakers, and slipper flats. Yes, I know that wearing closed shoes with bare feet can be uncomfortable, but there are ways of keeping your feet happy in order to sport the fashionable look. 

Here’s how: 

1. Choose shoes in soft leather with a cushioning footbed: This makes a world of difference right away. Hard shoes are very unforgiving and create blisters. Add a cushioning insole to enhance comfort even further. 
2. Wear a footie: They’re also known as “no show socks” or “liner socks”. They work particularly well on a high volume foot that gives the sock something to hold on to. 
3. Wear flesh toned knee-highs with jeans and trousers: These create the illusion of bare feet and ankles, but keep you warm and comfortable. 
4. Wear nude hose with skirts and dresses: Make sure you’ve chosen a colour that is close to your skin tone. Again, this option is warm as well as comfortable. It is NOT frumpy to wear nude hose. 
5. Use Bodyglide: I’ve mentioned Bodyglide before. It is an anti-chafing balm that works fantastically well on your feet. Rub it on the areas of the feet that are prone to blistering to prevent chafing. Don’t rub Bodyglide onto the underside of your feet though. You’ll slip in your shoes and fall like I did.

You can combine some of these tricks for extra comfort, like wearing soft leather shoes with a footie and using Bodyglide. 

I don’t wear footies because they slip off my low volume feet while I’m walking, which drives me bananas. I do choose soft shoes and add a cushioning insole. I wear nude hose and knee-highs, to combat the cold more than anything else. And I’ll use Bodyglide when I’m going to be on my feet for many hours. 

I have very fussy feet and like to walk a lot, so I will not compromise on comfort. But I love the look of closed Spring and Summers shoes without socks. Trust me. These tricks are worth a try.

As I mentioned in a recent Spring footwear report, slip-on sneakers are very much on trend. They’re like a more casual and sporty version of a loafer or laceless flat oxford. They work well with orthotic inserts or an additional cushioning insole, so they can be extra kind to your feet. 

Slip-on sneakers are available in leather, pleather or canvas. Solid or patterned. Studded, textured, metallic or smooth. Most of the toe-boxes are round, but some have a pointy toe and the occasional metal toe cap. The soles are usually a little chunky and a shade of white, but styles with black soles do exist. Slip-on sneakers are also available with platform heels, much like the flatforms some of us wore back in the ‘90s. 

I love the way slip-on sneakers have been styled in the outfits below, all sans socks. They are excellent with boyfriend jeans, especially with styles that are cropped a little shorter. They look great with slouchy cargo pocket pants and khakis that are rolled at the hem. I love them with shorts, skinnies and straight legs. They also look super cute with a shorter skirt. 

Slip-on sneakers can look stumpy and dumpy because they are flat and high vamped. Yet there are ways to create a longer leg line with the style:

• Create a low contrast between your skin tone and the sneaker when sporting them with bare legs. 
• Wear them in a colour that is low contrast, or self-colour, to regular length skinnies and tapered trousers. 
• Shorten the hemline of skirts and dresses.
• Wear them with a column of colour. 
• Partially tuck your top to create structure.
• Or just wear them, and don’t be overly concerned with the effect they have on your leg line.

The examples here are all high-end, but slip-on sneakers like Vans are available at a fraction of the price and do a great job of creating the look. 

I like the slip-on sneaker, and want to add one to my wardrobe for Summer. They look wonderfully crisp, simple, comfortable and practical. No laces and no fuss. Plus I adore the big white sole. I’m not yet sure about the colour, but I’m thinking along the lines of white, a pastel, a metallic, or possibly a pattern in black and white. I’ll also be encouraging my clients who lead a casual lifestyle to explore the trend. They are a great option for Mums on the go, or for travelling, or any situation where you need to throw them on at the speed of light. Plus they can create an interesting juxtaposition when worn with dressier outfit pieces.

Over to you. What do you think of slip-on sneakers? Will you be wearing them?

Brooklyn gets its own Fashion Week, Suzy Menkes leaves The International New York Times, Prada is taking over Harrods in May, and more style news from around the world.

• Suzy Menkes, who was Style Editor of The International New York Times for 25 years, has been named International Vogue Editor at Condé Nast International. 
• If you’re in Paris this month, then pop by the “Coming Into Fashion, a Century of Photography at Condé Nast” exhibition.
• May will be Prada month at Harrods, with an exhibition and a capsule collection created especially for the iconic British department store.
• As we mentioned in yesterday’s Link Love, our vote for the most creative fashion show goes to Chanel with Mr. Lagerfeld’s supermarket concept.
• This one’s for the fans of simple graphic tees: Pharrell Williams is launching a limited edition collection with Uniqlo.
• Brooklyn is launching its own Fashion Week. The first edition kicks off on March, 13th with eco-friendly collections.
• If you loved the Orla Kiely for Clarks Summer 2014 collection, then you’re in for a treat again come Fall.
• A Goldman Sachs report predicts that “high-rise pants are emerging as the apparel product of the decade“.
• H&M is catering to the brides-to-be on a budget with a Grecian-style wedding gown that retails for £59.99 (about $100).
• Here’s a fun sneak peek of Amy Poehler starring in a series of upcoming Old Navy commercials. 

Fun Fashion Fact

Nowadays fashion plates are collectibles, but from the late 1700s to about 200 years later these illustrations were distributed via women’s periodicals to illustrate the popular styles, fabrics and embellishments of the time.

This ensemble was inspired by one of Nikki’s outfits, which we featured earlier this week. It’s not to be confused with the boxy shirt under boxy sweater ensemble because in this case the sweater is cropped. Plus, you have the option of combining a fitted shirt with a fitted cropped sweater; or keeping both layers fairly fluid or oversized. 

Take a peek at some street style examples of the ensemble: 

• Cropped turtleneck sweater with cigarette pants and booties.
• Cropped boat neck sweater with dressy straight legs.
• Crisscross cropped sweater with short shorts and flat moto boots.
• Cropped crew neck sweater with leather leggings.
• Cropped oversized sweatshirt with tunic shirt and pencil skirt.
• Cropped crew neck with sleek blouse and leather leggings.
• Cropped crew neck with denim short shorts and velvet blazer.

All the examples above show a high contrast between the shirt and cropped sweater (generally a black cropped sweater over a white shirt). But this is just one way to sport the look. Creating a low contrast between the two layers creates a stronger vertical integrity by eliminating the cutting horizontal line. I’ve shown a dark low-contrast combination on the left (the black cropped sweater over the ink polka dot shirt), but wearing a cropped sweater in a light color like cream or blush over a white shirt is another way to go. 

Here are the components of the ensemble:

Shirt: As I mentioned, you can choose a fitted or boxy button-down shirt, and create a high or low contrast with the cropped sweater. Regular shirt lengths work well. Tunic length shirts are more dramatic. Soft blouses, instead of stiff shirts are another possibility. Wear them untucked. 

Cropped Sweater: Choose to create a high or low contrast with the shirt. A fine gauge knit will keep your silhouette sleek, but a chunky knit is not taboo. The sweater must be extra short to create the desired effect. Cropped sweaters come in many variations so be mindful of the neckline and hem shape. Choose a wider and lower neckline if you have a shorter neck. A cropped sweater with a high-low hemline creates a more gentle horizontally cutting line than a straight hem. 

Bottoms: Choose a bottom that works with the outfit. Black slim-fit trousers are a slam dunk, as are a pair of straight leg jeans or a black pencil skirt. White jeans would also look great, and so would a pair of relaxed skinnies or boyfriend jeans. 

Topper: The topper is optional. Think moto jacket, blazer, tuxedo jacket, trench coat or wool coat. 

Footwear: Choose footwear to match the bottoms. Pumps are great with a pencil skirt and jeans. Booties are fab with boyfriend jeans and trousers. Loafers are great with jeans. Pointy toe flats are nice with the skirt and slim-fit trousers. 

Accessories: Choose a bag that works with the outfit. Leave off the belt and scarf. Add jewellery, eyewear and watch as desired. 

This outfit combination is not about creating conventionally flattering proportions. It is an example of just enough structure being sufficiently flattering, on trend, and just as stylish. Above all, it’s fun to play around with proportions and come up with creative outfit combinations.