A Love Letter to ’90s Shoes Inline
Photo: Courtesy of Margiela1/161990
Okay, so Martin Margiela first showed his signature, cleavage-toe Tabi boot at his Spring 1989 debut, but he produced many iterations over the course of his career, and all of them communicated outsider cool.
Photo: Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group2/161990
Platform sole, Louis heel on acid, giant buckle—John Fluevog’s Munster shoe became a club classic, thanks in no small part to its biggest fan, Lady Miss Kier of Deee-Lite. “They summed up the feeling of the time,” designer Fluevog told Vogue. “They were danceable. Wearable, and playful.”
Photographed by Dewey Nicks, Vogue, February 19933/161993
“Model’s own,” the caption for this pic might’ve read. Converse’s classic Chuck Taylors were as essential to a catwalker’s off-duty kit then as they are now.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive4/161993
Leave it to Marc Jacobs to take streetwise Dr. Martens out for a high-fashion stomp.
Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, December 19935/161993
The modified Birkenstock is no 21st-century phenomenon, contrary to what today’s designers would have you believe. Narciso Rodriguez covered them in cashmere during his early days on the New York scene.
Photographed by Pamela Hanson, Vogue, March 19946/161994
Even sans logo, a two-toned spectator says “Chanel.” Karl Lagerfeld revisited the house classic, racking up points for ladylike fashion in a world rocked by grunge.
Photo: Courtesy of Manolo Blahnik7/161994
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. First introduced 21 years ago, Manolo Blahnik’s Campari, a Mary Jane with a sexy, stiletto heel, is still in production.
Photographed by Ellen von Unwerth, Vogue, June 19948/161994
The sporty slide gained retail muscle when it left the locker room and picked up a logo or two.
Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, August 199510/161995
Evoking the feminine allure of Audrey Hepburn, the Sabrina heel swanned into fashion in 1995. Prada’s slingback Spazzolatos, with their loafer-style uppers, were a sellout success, but Manolo Blahnik’s take on the trend also had customers purring.
Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, October 199511/161995
You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. Suddenly the humble Wellie became a wear-with-everything boot, especially on rainy-day commutes.
Photographed by Mario Testino, Vogue, July 199612/161996
“I think it’s a little bit of a snob thing,” Miuccia Prada once said of her chunky, clunky heels. “If you can wear these really weird shoes, it means you’re special, not obvious, slightly eccentric. But you have to be brave to wear them.”
Photographed by Mario Testino, Vogue, July 199713/161997
These steel-heeled boots were a notch or two more refined than the over-the-knee numbers Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman, but their allure still bordered on the illicit.
Photographed by Steven Meisel, Vogue, August 199814/161998
Marc Jacobs designed a Mouse that roared. Kitten-heeled or flat, these cheeky skimmers were a retail sensation.
Photographed by Steven Meisel, Vogue, March 199915/161999
A fringed golf shoe in metallic silver leather? Even an arch minimalist like Jil Sander has to let loose once in a while.
Photo: Courtesy of Marni16/161999
Who doesn’t love a clog? Marni’s ponyskin versions had a “hippie-luxe” spirit.
