The 2025 awards season officially kicked off with the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards, which were hosted at the The Beverly Hilton in L.A. last night. The Golden Globes mark the first big red carpet moment each year and, as such, sets the precedent for the rest of the ceremonies. This is also true of the outfits. Every celebrity stylist knows how important it is to carve out a solid first awards season look at the Golden Globes, as this will cement their client as the one to watch for the entire period, which most of us agree ends with the Oscars in late February or early March (this year's ceremony will be held on 3 March 2025, just so you know).
My US colleagues have already done the hard work by rounding up the best looks of the night, and now, hours after the event, it's my job to start analysing the smaller trends that were at play. And it didn't take me long to see that one shoe trend kept cropping up; what surprised me, however, was that it's a shoe that those aforementioned celebrity stylists often try to avoid.
No offence to pointed-toe court shoes—I own several myself!—but they're generally not considered the most exciting footwear choice, especially for a big awards moment. Being a fashion editor, I know several stylists by association who downright refuse to put their clients in court shoes when they're on the red carpet, often defaulting instead to metallic sandals which look more formal and eliminate the risk of the shoe looking clunky set against a beautiful gown. Some might also consider them to be a little dated. Over the years we've seen many other heeled shoes steal the spotlight, from platform mary janes to '50s-inspired mules, courts just haven't had that much of a look in. However, it seems that they're more than just in favour—court shoes are emerging as the biggest shoe trend of the season, with many of the Golden Globes' top-billing guests and their stylists selecting them.
What I also found interesting was the preference for matching them to the dress itself. Zendaya's were cut from the same rust satin cloth as her stunning Louis Vuitton gown while Ariana Grande's Stuart Weitzman pair blended perfectly with her delicate butter yellow Givenchy shift. Elegant as ever, Angelina Jolie opted for a pair of metallic court shoes to complement her silver beaded Alexander McQueen dress, and although Kerry Washington's Balenciagas weren't hot pink like her gown, which was also by Balenciaga, the fact she chose classic black courts to pull her look together with her dramatic black opera gloves is a stroke of genius.
If you are loyal to the court shoe like me, then its sudden revival will be welcome news. Whether you want to add to your collection or don't yet own a pair, scroll on for my edit of the sleekest court shoes on the market.
Shop the Court Shoe Trend, As Seen at the 2025 Golden Globes
