Retire Your Trainers—These 6 Outfits Prove Heels Are So Much Chicer for Spring
It's time to retire the trainers, because kitten heels, slingbacks, mules and stilettos are making a very strong case for a comeback.
Some trends stem from the runway, but the reality of what people actually wear can only be spied out in the world—on the way to work, at the supermarket, in a bar, or scrolling through social media. The biggest takeaway I've noted for spring? The love for trainers is finally retreating, swapped out for kitten heels, mules and even sky-high stilettos. The 2016-era trend has clearly left its mark and fancy footwear is firmly back on the agenda.
Growing up in Essex, during a time when a platform and six-inch stiletto was the appropriate shoe to wear even inside the local pub, this revival is one I've been waiting for. Albeit a far more refined version—mules, block-heeled ballet pumps and kitten-heeled sling-backs is now leading the charge. Polished being the key aim, with heels paired across everything from jeans to pencil skirts and silk mini dresses that wouldn't look out of place at any wedding.
Scroll on for the heel-clad outfits worth recreating this spring for every occasion, just in case years of trainers and ballet flats have left your inspiration in need of a nudge.
6 Spring Outfits with Heels to Wear Now
1. Pencil Skirt + Shirt + Slingbacks
Style Notes: If it's a head-turning outfit you're after, Caroline Lin's butter yellow and blue combination is a particularly strong contender. Pencil skirt, shirt and slingbacks may all be officewear favourites, but it's the small styling details that make it anything but. Cool would be an understatement.
Shop the Look:
After a classic white cotton, a blue striped shirt is the second most popular pick for good reason.
A lightweight butter yellow trench coat like Caroline's will tie the whole outfit together.
Consider these Manolo Blahnik's a wise investment that will see you through many years of styling.
This skirt works just as well with a white tee as it does the blue shirt.
A belt helps to easily tie an outfit together.
2. Suede Shorts + Stiletto
Style Notes: The trickiest part of dressing in spring is the temperature shift—near-freezing in the morning, sweltering by noon. Liv Madeline offers one particularly stylish solution: suede shorts. Legs out, yet somehow warm. Made all the more impactful with a sharp stiletto. It is, after all, the era of the high heel (again).
Shop the Look:
While Liv has opted for a yellow suede jacket, this leather style feels just as sleek.
Few finds feel as cool as a suede culotte.
High heels are having a comeback, and the wider base of this one makes them just a tad more stable.
A classic gold hoop is often enough to just elevate a look.
I've started to lose count of the number of DeMellier bags I spy on my Instagram every day.
3. Jeans + Trench Coat + Heeled Ballet Pumps
Style Notes: Practical yet polished, this is the look I'm adding to my everyday spring outfit moodboard. Chances are you already have many of these elements hanging in your wardrobe too. Logo-adorned vintage baseball cap included.
Shop the Look:
Heels don't all need to be high to have an impact.
Every fashion editor I know owns a pair of Agolde jeans.
Trench coats seem to have been built for Spring. Warm enough to keep you from freezing in the mornings yet light enough to not have you break a sweat.
A baseball cap is a classic for good reason.
Called the croissant bag, for obvious reasons, this is one of the most unexpectedly well-loved finds of the season.
4. Mini Dress + Zebra Print Mules
Style Notes: Heading to a spring wedding, an evening dinner or a date night? Julie Serjent Ferreri makes a strong case for the mini dress—butter yellow, still very much in the colour conversation, elevated only by an attention-grabbing shoe. Proof, if you needed it, that animal print is always a wise idea.
Shop the Look:
I'm confident this is Julies' exact dress.
Whether worn with jeans, skirts or dresses, these calf hair zebra print mules are sure to make a statement.
This classic shoulder bag is just large enough to hold all the essentials.
Until the temperature hits summer highs, it's best to keep a cosy knit on hand.
These bangles work best when layered with similar styles.
5. Jeans + Shirt + Snake Print Heels
Style Notes: Few outfits vary in style quite like jeans, a leather jacket and heels, but Aimee Song's take feels especially polished. Brown jeans over everyday blue, a trending pink shirt in place of classic white, and snake print pumps that make a far stronger case than block colour. An outfit I'll be copying for the office.
Shop the Look:
If you invest in one item this season, make it a pin shirt. Chanel, Calvin Klein, Ahluwalia and Bottega Veneta all sent them down the SS26 runways.
Snake print pumps can effortlessly elevate any outfit.
It's not quite warm enough to step out without a jacket and this one feels particularly polished.
Consider brown jeans the spring-ready alternative to classic black.
Alo's venture into high-priced bags has won the athleisurewear label plenty of attention—and it seems to be working. Aimee's large size has already sold out.
6. Leather Jacket + Sheer Trousers + Two Tone Pumps
Style Notes: Granted, sheer polka dot trousers may not be the most obvious office choice—but if you're after an evening look that's genuinely unexpected, consider Vic Montanari's take a very welcome upgrade on the all-black outfit. Grounded by the two-tone Chanel pumps that chic women have actually been lining up for. Myself included.
Shop the Look:
Every wardrobe needs a great leather jacket, and Nour Hammour is fames for crafting some of the best.
Consider these your new party pants.
Mixing textures adds a great amount of interest to an all-black outfit.
Matthieu Blazy's first Chanel collection is near-impossible to get your hands on and these heels are a real highlight.
If you're someone who can't seem to keep hold of glasses, it's a wise idea to stick to the high street.
