Confirmed: This Foot-Hugging Heel Trend Has Replaced Traditional Pumps Among the It-Girl Crowd

Shop the comfortable heel style that won't make you miss flats for once.

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Dakota Johnson wearing a sheer black sweater, maxi skirt, and cream pointed-toe glove pumps in NYC.
(Image credit: Aeon/GC Image/Getty Images)
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For every bold shoe trend we have (I'm looking at you, primary colors), there's a notably subtle one, and the always-stylish Dakota Johnson just wore the latter. The heel trend in question is pump-adjacent, and while I wouldn't go so far as to say that traditional pumps are dated, I will say that chic dressers are choosing a style that's similar but different these days: glove pumps.

These soft, foot-hugging heels—which can be made of leather, suede, calf hair, or satin—are akin to the glove ballet flats that It girls have been so fond of throughout 2026. As the name suggests, the soft shoes mold to the foot, and to my eye, they look cooler and more modern than classic pumps. With her all-black outfit, Johnson chose cream kitten-heel glove pumps with a V-shaped vamp. The most common iteration of the trend these days is one similar to Johnson's, a kitten heel and pointed toe, but the options are plentiful.

Scroll on to see the recent outfit Johnson wore while out doing press in NYC and shop an assortment of chic glove pumps to elevate your own outfits. Bonus: They're actually comfortable.

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Dakota Johnson wearing a sheer black sweater, a maxi skirt, and cream pointed-toe glove pumps in NYC.

(Image credit: Aeon/GC Images/Getty Images)

Dakota Johnson wearing cream pointed-toe glove pumps in NYC.

(Image credit: Backgrid/Santi Ramales)

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Allyson Payer
Allyson Payer
Senior Editor

Allyson is a senior editor for Who What Wear. She joined the company in 2014 as co-founder Katherine Power's executive assistant and over the years has written hundreds of stories for Who What Wear. Prior to her career in fashion, Allyson worked in the entertainment industry at companies such as Sony Pictures Television. Allyson is now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She holds a BFA in theater arts. Her path to fashion may not have been linear, but based on the number of fashion magazines she collected as a child and young adult, it was meant to be.