It has recently come to my attention that there’s a mini-trend afoot: Mary Jane flats! They are everywhere, in every price point, so I thought we’d round up a few of them for kicks.
Readers, what are your thoughts on Mary Jane flats for work — would you wear them? They’re often shown styled with longer skirts — how would you wear them for the office?
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The Best Mary Jane Flats for Work
Just for kicks, we’ll start with the highest priced items — the reverse of our usual strategy.
These Mary Janes from The Row were the first ones that kind of tipped me off to the trend. There was a random Twitter thread where someone was noting how they were drooling over these, and then a bunch of people I follow who I would generally describe as “cool writers in their 30s” all chimed in to say that they were already wearing them almost daily, but with more affordable versions.
After that I noticed that both Nordstrom and NET-A-PORTER have separate featured sections just for Mary Janes. Whoa.
These do look like great Mary Janes if you want to invest in the trend — I like the slightly organic line of the vamp.
The shoes are $895 at NET-A-PORTER. If you’re on the hunt for other pricey versions, Manolo also has a Mary Jane flat this season, as does Valentino. There are also some low heels like these Prada ones that are gorgeous as well (although $1200).
In the middle range we have these minimal ballet flats-with-strap from Frame. They offer memory foam cushioning and “lasting comfort” — nice! They’re $348 at Nordstrom and Saks. (There’s also a mule version that feels really fresh.)
These Loeffler Randall flats feel really similar.
(In the same price range: These stiffer, three-strapped Mansur Gavriel Mary Janes were so popular they’re down to lucky sizes at Nordstrom.)
These stiffer patent-leather flats from aeyde also look great for $295. Love that really dainty strap!
In cloth: I’m not familiar with the brand Frances Valentine, but at $298-$388 they look a bit like an elevated version of Rothy’s Mary Janes. )
These Sam Edelman flats are on the lower end at $130, but there are a ton of other options around this price range.
These babies have 92 good reviews at Nordstrom — and they’re just as minimal as the ones from The Row.
Other options that are just a bit more expensive: Rothy’s and Vagabond Shoemakers, as well as Coach. On the less expensive side, Steve Madden has a pair.
Anonymous
The more structured ones with a bit of heel would be fine for work.
Cat
Nah, this is too Zooey Deschanel for my work image.
Anon
I like mary janes and other shoes with straps generally, because otherwise I walk out of my shoes, but we can certainly do better than straight up first-day-of-elementary-school shoes.
ALT
These are all hideous. Zara had some fun gold Mary Janes that I would consider wearing with an all black outfit, but I wouldn’t wear any of these.
Senior Attorney
+1
Runcible Spoon
+2
PLB
It’s a no.
anon
They are hideous, but they stay on my skinny feet so well. Decisions …
anon
yup. same. since narrows have become increasingly difficult to find, i get these. i think they’d be ok w pants, probably not a skirt or dress.
Anonymous
As someone who wore mary janes as a small child, I will never be able to view these as a shoe an adult would wear with any kind of seriousness…
Anon
Same here. And the photos above are f u g l y.
Anon
I gotta say, this is allegedly a fashion blog and the editor hasn’t heard of frances valentine?!
Anon
Frances Valentine was the successor to Kate Spade when Kate could no longer use her name after selling the company from what I remember.