A handful of wardrobe classics will forever be associated with Princess Diana: a Lady Dior handbag, a houndstooth blazer, bike shorts worn with a slogan sweatshirt and a fabulous tan. Not forgetting, of course, the dainty heels she frequently paired with her Catherine Walker dresses back in the ’90s. Defined by their closed toe, sensible-ish mid-height heel and delicate straps, the royal made the shoe a foundation of her formal wardrobe decades before Jools Lebron uttered those immortal words, “very demure, very mindful.”
Now, Diana’s favorite subtly sexy shoe is once again a player on the party scene, after it emerged as something of a micro-trend on the fall 2024 runways. At Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello showcased satin versions that would doubtless have appealed to the night owl princess, while Matthieu Blazy’s Bottega Veneta take–with its gently curving heel and soft ruched leather–would lend itself well to dinner at San Lorenzo.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – JUNE 27: Princess Diana At Serpentine Gallery In Hyde Park, London. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)Tim Graham/Getty Images
Over at Alaïa, Pieter Mulier offered a rather more extreme version of the shoe that Princess Diana might have hesitated to road-test (check out that heel height!) But Victoria Beckham, as we know, has no qualms about experimenting with a vertiginous stiletto–this is, after all, the woman who refused to succumb to flats even with one leg encased in a medical boot. The designer was snapped in Paris this week ahead of her spring 2025 show, wearing the ankle-strap Alaïas in red. Whether sensible or towering, we’re all in on the revival of Lady Di’s tried and true silhouette.