Cheryl Shops

Not so much: wedge espadrilles
Last week, when I was looking for a new denim skirt for my trip to Vegas (for the record, I was too lazy to wash my dirty skirts, so, yes, I went out and bought a new one) at Loehmann's, I happened to spot some wedge espadrilles by Michael Kors. My stomach turned a bit. There's nothing wrong, really, with espadrilles themselves: Worn by peasants in the Basque country in Spain, espadrilles surged in popularity in the states in the 1970s, when the rage was for anything and everything ethnic. My grandmother, who was actually a very stylish woman, wore espadrilles in the summer at our lake house and when she gardened. However, espadrilles, much like girdles, are outdated. You could wear them for irony's sake, or perhaps even on vacation, but they're simply not stylish.

So it kind of disturbs me when people like Michael Kors try to make espadrilles trendy. Case in point: Kors' suede espadrille, sold at everyone's "favorite" boutique, Scoop. An espadrille with a wedge heel is still an espadrille, honey. Perhaps Kors envisioned these on a fashionista who lives on Lafayette Street, or even on a Park Avenue princess (more accurately his clientele, anyway), but I can just as easily see these on a 70-year-old grandmother sitting by her condo pool in Boca Raton. (And before anyone thinks I'm being too hard on Kors, let me just say that while his stuff isn't exactly my style, I appreciate what he does as a designer and how he interprets classic American sportswear that appeals to so many women across the board.) Some things are just better left in their original form--remember Manolo Blahnik's Converse-esque sneaker boot from a few seasons ago? Exactly.

So, wedge espadrilles: not so much.