An Ode to Espadrilles

I bought my first pair of espadrilles from J.Crew when I was a sophomore or junior in high school. I don’t remember a lot about them, except they were definitely flats, they didn’t have ankle laces, and it took me a minute to get used to walking on a stiff, jute platform. But fall in love with them I did, and I wore them non-stop one summer until they basically fell apart (or maybe I’d gotten them wet too many times at the neighborhood pool; who can really say at this point?).

A girlfriend of mine texted me the other day to ask for advice on what to wear to a summer wedding in Hawaii, where heels have been strongly discouraged due to grass-based festivities. She sent me a link to a pair of espadrilles that she was meh on; I replied with a “Have you ever checked out Soludos? I think they have a ton of styles right now.” I hadn’t actually looked at their site in forever, but two pairs of leather Soludos sandals acquired over successive summers via Shopbop have held up perfectly, and become my summertime faves. When I went to the actual Soludos mothership, I was blown away by how many espadrilles they had. And how much I wanted all of them. And how affordable they all were! So that’s what inspired this post. I’ve probably been living under a rock, because subsequent excited texts about these shoes to other style-loving friends yielded a few “Yeah dude…I know” replies. But just in case you’ve been under the rock with me…

It feels like espadrilles are bigger than ever this spring, and I’m not complaining. I’m really into the styles that have hybridized the mule trend; even better if you add the tassel trend too (seriously, THESE SHOES!). In putting this post together, I also found out that well-known espadrille manufacturer Castañer has been around the block when it comes to these babies, and they were directly responsible for helping Yves Saint Laurent put the wedge espadrille on the map. Isn’t that cool? So if you buy a pair of Castañers, do it with the knowledge that you’re also getting a little piece of style history (I’d say you can’t go wrong with these).