Floss Heels Are the Naked Shoes of 2019

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(Image credit: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images)

Floss heels is a term I coined to describe heeled sandals with straps so thin and minimal they’re reminiscent of—you guessed it—floss. It may or may not have started with #oldceline’s famous “nude” sandals, a pair of tomato red cage-like heels from the brand's 2018 resort collection with straps so shockingly skinny you could barely see them on your own foot at times. While the trophy shoe is still in many a wardrobe rotation today, next in line to take the fashion and street style worlds by storm at the last fashion month was The Row’s Bare sandals.

After The Row’s takeover, next to steal the spotlight was a refreshingly affordable pair of heels from Zara that won the hearts of editors, Instagram girls, and mums alike this fall and winter. From Copenhagen to Paris (and every city in between), every it girl was wearing a pair. And if that’s not enough, a little birdie at Net-a-Porter told us that they’re expecting it to be among the site’s most popular shoes for this spring as well. 

After all that, you may be wondering if we've reached peak floss heel. Well, I say absolutely not. In fact, while the style has been on an upward trajectory for over a year at this point, it’s only recently made its way to the masses and continues to appear in more and more brands’ offerings by the day. This is what leads me to believe that the floss heel is set to eclipse last year’s omnipresent naked shoe as the biggest footwear trend of 2019. 

Just keep scrolling to see how floss heels made their mark in the spring 2019 collections, check out their Instagram presence, and shop my favourite versions out now.

In the spring 2019 collections:

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Jacquemus S/S 19
(Image credit: Richard Bord/Getty Images)

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Rejina Pyo S/S 19
(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

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Tibi S/S 19
(Image credit: Peter White/Getty Images)

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Isabel Marant S/S 19
(Image credit: Courtesy of Isabel Marant)

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Alexa Chung S/S 19
(Image credit: Courtesy of Alexa Chung)

On Instagram:

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Shop Floss Heels:

Up next? See our guide to the key trends for spring/summer 2019.

This article was originally published on Who What Wear US. 

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Editor-at-Large

Since starting as an intern back in 2013, Nicole Akhtarzad Eshaghpour has held several roles here at Who What Wear, and she is currently Editor-at-Large. It was a less expected route, seeing as she was graduating from business school at USC when this all began, but it has turned out to be the best one for her. Fast-forward to 2024, and she's moved to NYC from her hometown of Beverly Hills and spends her workdays a little differently from when she was an intern starting out. Currently, she focuses on a weekly mélange of shopping content. As far as her personal style goes, she's largely drawn to classic pieces and neutral basics but will always make an exception for something colorful, printed, or bejeweled as long as it's deemed worthy enough. After all, the only thing she loves more than a good party is dressing up for one. On weekdays, she can usually be found at home eating something delicious for dinner and trying to force her husband to watch Summer House.