Light-Wash Jeans Look More 2026 With This Trendy Shoe Style Instead of a Boring One

See the perfect pairing on Sarah Pidgeon and shop the heel trend for your own denim outfits.

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Sarah Pidgeon wearing a red leather jacket, light-wash jeans, Chanel leopard-print bag, and Chanel cap-toe pumps
(Image credit: TheStewartofNY/GC Images/Getty Images)
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There are several buzzy denim trends this season, but I'm not sure that any compare to the buzz of light-wash jeans. The wash, which has historically been thought to make an outfit look more casual, is being styled a bit differently this time around: with heels. 2026's newest It girl, Sarah Pidgeon, just displayed why the combination is so cool, and with a specific shoe trend that makes light-wash jeans look even more of-the-moment: metallic heels, which make trends look fresher and more intentional than, say, a black, brown, or other neutral-colored pair would.

Metallic shoes cycle in and out of trend status, and for 2026, they're undoubtedly in. Pidgeon's outfit included a red leather jacket, light-wash straight-leg jeans, a Chanel pre-fall 2026 leopard-print oversized flap bag, and a pair of metallic gold cap-toe heels from the same collection. Given how incredibly buzzy Chanel under the creative direction of Matthieu Blazy has been from the start, it's safe to say that anything he designs will remain a trend for seasons to come—metallic heels included.

Scroll on to see Pidgeon's trend-forward light-wash jeans outfit and to shop metallic heels to wear with your own faded denim.

Light-Wash Jeans and Metallic Heels on Sarah Pidgeon

Sarah Pidgeon wearing a red leather jacket, light-wash jeans, Chanel leopard-print bag, and Chanel cap-toe pumps

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

Sarah Pidgeon wearing a red leather jacket, light-wash jeans, Chanel leopard-print bag, and Chanel cap-toe pumps

(Image credit: Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Image/Getty Images)

On Sarah Pidgeon: Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen jacket; Chanel Rectangle Sunglasses ($625), bag, and shoes

Shop Metallic Heels

Shop Light-Wash Jeans

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.