Fall Shoes You Can Use

Welcome to shoe shoulder season. On the docket today: Bally! The future of the Mary Jane! Shoe-booties! Platypus toes! A very demure, very mindful loafer. And a bonus commuter flat.

Welcome to shoe shoulder season! Though of course the real star of this little gallery is my Alaia mini that will get more wear than anything else I own this fall / winter. Buckle up, you will be seeing a lot of her. The rest of the shoes and more fall things that I simply couldn’t wait a moment longer to wear, below.

On Wednesday I put on a white, sleeveless, cotton shirtdress and prepared to leave for the Proenza Schouler Spring 2025 show. It’s fashion week here in NYC. Right on top of back to school, baseball uniform pickup and Q4 planning. What’s life without the chaos tho, amirite!? I digress. So as I was cinching the waist on the dress that Proenza Schouler so graciously sent for me to wear to the show, my end of summer tan finally showing itself off, I realized a sandal just felt wrong. What this outfit needed was a big black paperweight to let everyone know that, yes! this white frock was intentionally chosen for September 4th, two days after Labor Day. And it hit me. What we need to talk about most urgently this week are shoes that will ease us into the “Back to School!” nights, the work events, political fundraisers!?, the office uniforms that might only gradually evolve from their summer versions.

Said dress and loafer combo, courtesy of Phil Oh for Vogue.com

The shoe is our most important tell of seasonal change - less drastic than a coat or prairie dress, which we ease into as the leaves turn or branches bud respectively. So below, five (and change) closed toe shoe ideas to make the rest of your closet work as your brain catches up with your calendar this month. Hoping at least one of these five are THE ONE for you.

Houston, she has a problem! Promise I wear them all, tho.

The Shoe-Boot Hybrid

Man, it’s great to be back in my closet. I can’t wait to pack away the tissue tanks and shorts and linen. I’m nervous if I do it too soon we will get a heatwave. But we are getting our layers back today, with outfits upon outfits for work, life and a little fun. And kicking us off (literally?) are two pair of little boots that are cut so close to the ankle that they’re not boots at all, but shoes? Hard to tell. I’ve updated my Eastland moc to the ankle boot version for fall and not sure how I will ever again live without Jamie Haller’s version of the Clarks Wallabee. It’s a similar profile to the style I have worn for years but with a thin, dainty sole and a narrower lip across the toes. So nice to tone down dresses and skirts. And an easy option with jeans and cords, the hardest combo to master.

The outfits get a little wild this week. Partially because I’m so glad to get dressed again. And because it’s NYFW so its fun to pull out all the special pieces. I think I will wear this Versace dress (for some reason half price at Luisaviaroma!) to dinner next week with these Eastland moc boots, very similar and 1/7th of the price of the Bally version (which I also want), lined with fishnet socks. Warning, the leather is…what you would expect for a $100 pair of boots so do not make the mistake I made break in with socks for at least the first five wears. But wear them in the rain with zero guilt.

Doing my best to recreate the Fall Bally show. With a Max Mara button down. Rue Sophie flared pants (size up!! I wish I got a medium.) and Eastland mocs.

What I will be wearing to every single school/parent event this fall. If you saw me in it the week before, no you didn’t. :) Ulla Johnson dress, The most perfect of all time Maison Margiela cardigan, I also love this one. It’s going to be a shrunken sweater fall. You heard it here first! Jamie Haller Chukkas (somehow already sold out, but I’m sure they’ll be back. In the meantime…the original!), Khaite belt

What I will wear to non-school functions.🙃. Tibi dress. Zimmerli tank (this looks like a nice alt). Negative bralette. Jamie Haller Chukkas

The Future of the Mary Jane is…Edgy

We have reached peak MJ as Leandra said earlier this year. But what happens when this happens to a style you have loved long time!? The Mary Jane I want to wear this fall, that doesn’t feel cannibalized, has a little edge. It’s a little bulky. Or it has a weird toe. The price was right on this Souliers Martinez pair I bought over the summer and they have been a great balance to all my skirts I am eagerly awaiting wearing this fall. A chunky sole, elongated foot, shiny leather and a skinny strap makes them feel a little bit like they are out of a cartoon. They have been a hit at fashion week. More than one friend texted me from across the way at Alaia to ask “what are those Mary Janes!?” And I’m still planning to wear the Tory Burch Violets all fall with little black socks and tights. And Miu Miu showed a glorified Doc Marten that I wore every single day of seventh grade. Do I need them?! The nostalgia is hitting so hard. Lesson here, is that the Mary Jane is not dying but mutating. May the most interesting version win!

The Souliers Martinez MJs with our Vince skirt from this newsletter. If you missed it, this is a nice alt from a cool Korean brand. A Toteme jacket (I bought a DT32, sizing is weird! And I also like this one if your size is gone.) and &Daughter knit polo. I’ve been wearing these shoes for a week and they are STIFF. It is part of what makes them so good looking, but the break in has not been fluid, lets just say. I think I’ll add sheer tights for today to save my heels til they mold a little bit more to my foot. Man, rentrée to real shoes is TOUGH!

I really love how the chunky sole and the shiny, slightly bulky toe of these balance out the these traditional shapes. It all feels appropriate, but not boring!! Which is basically always my goal and could be another name for this newsletter. LOL. Commission polo, Margiela skirt (a great alt here), Souliers Martinez MJs

The Bally Moccasin

I have nothing else to say other than that this is my dream shoe. She is finished to perfection. The inside is just as gorgeous as the outside. It’s comfortable, it’s special and it just gives me so much happiness. It’s my most important purchase of the year, hands down. If you are lucky enough to fit into men’s sizing, I’d recommend the Morjas Derby as an alternate. And there is this uncanny option from Scarroso, but is it too uncanny to be comfortable with? IDK. It looks pretty good. At the end of the day though, I’m not sure this baby has any true comps.

They even work with a baggy floor length jean. A style I find so hard to pair with anything other than sandals as to not be swallowed whole. 🏆

The Bally loafers with a Margiela cardigan, my favorite AG tee (still avail on the outlet in M,L,XL! and this looks like it’s maybe our update?) Junya x Levis jeans. But these look great too! I have them in white. And a Dehanche belt.

Peress for Prada. I kid, I kid. But this is the last thing I bought at Peress before they closed up shop. Here is a nice looking one for a decent price on the web. Layered under my Maria McManus blazer from last fall and it comes pretty close, no!? This is a great current season blazer, too.

The Big Birk Base

I call these my platypus feet because…I just think they look like a big, wide bill! I love how weird they are. I love that they seem like some aggressive fashion take on a Birkenstock, but that they are really JUST A GREAT BIRKENSTOCK! As I’m sure almost all of you know by now, a love an extremely functional shoe paired back to my most fashiony fashion. It prevents it all from getting too…expensive? I mean this literally and figuratively. I plan to wear them for long writing days in the library. But also with wacky vintage stuff like this Chanel tweed midi skirt below. The shape feels Bottega-ish. But cooler, because they’re not?

The Birks with Alex Mill chinos, Maria McManus cardigan and an Everybody World t-shirt.

The Birks with a J.Crew button down and old Chanel tweed skirt. But insert your favorite fall patterned skirt here to do the trick!

The (Very Demure, Very Mindful) Loafer

The slipper style loafer is here to take you to the office. How many times am I asked: “I want a loafer but not a super chunky sole. help!?” Friend of 5 Things Samantha L. bought these before me (She is a lawyer! And must get dressed!) and just couldn’t stop talking about them. So I caved. It’s the easiest option for everyday. When we are not thinking about fashion but getting out the door. Or when you don’t want to look too fashion but still look done.

I wore these through an airport. To a fashion show. They work with jeans. They work with sweats. They work with dresses. They are simply winners. The idea here is that the loafer base is flexible and relatively flat (though slightly more lift than a “slipper” so as not to crush your feet on the concrete) and the toe a bit wide and round. This gives it the look of ease while still at the end of the day, being a dressy shoe. These are The Row, but great options abound from Dear Frances, Khaite, Le Monde Beryl and Loewe to name a few. I happen to just like the combination of elements on The Row pair best. Would happily wear any of these above though as well if your schtick happens to be different from mine.

The Row Cary loafers with Levi’s newest greatest invention, the 501 90s cropped! Huzzah for us non-pooling-jeans-girls! A Miu Miu cropped blazer and the merch they sent us home with from the J.Crew fashion week dinner (which I immediately wore to bed and kept on to take this photo the next morning. I love it!)

And with the skirt that can do no wrong. A very easy, very comfortable fall outfit when you still want to feel a little extra. Alaia skirt (FR36 & 38 here. FR40 and above here. I’m wearing a 36 FYI and its stretchy). Guest in Residence sweater. Cary loafers

A bonus commuter flat that made my toesies meltttttt

I would not consider this sixth style to be my ultimate style shoe for the season (Bally will hold that title til first frost, at the earliest), but this M.Gemi ballerina is taking the top honor for best commuter shoe this fall. The leather is so soft it feels like silk on my feet and the back grabs my heel just slightly enough that it doesn’t fall off but doesn’t cut in. The color is cool (though yes they also have black) and the price is right to wear it without checking the weather. I am debating cutting off the elastic because non-adjustable straps are always too big on me :( , but it’s growing on me as is. Plus we all get swollen after dinner. With or without it, if you baby your feet like I do, you will melt in these.

M.Gemi ballerinas. Just weird enough to pique my interest. Please note the red rubs on my ankles from wearing the Eastlands without socks before breaking them in. You have been warned!!! And to those following along on my living room rug saga over on Instagram…I went with the Nordic Knots Grand in Leo and am extremely pleased.

Now go enjoy getting your steps in from head to TOE!

Yours TRULY,

Becky