Best Shoes 2019

We should probably call this section the best footwear of 2019, because footwear includes boots and shoes — and this year's picks are mostly boots, mostly statements. Six pairs made the list: chained ankle boots, spiked leopard espadrilles, leopard combat booties, a feathered sandal, a mixed-material sneaker and a sheepskin boot built for festival nights.

The pattern in the picks is decoration with intent. Leopard print runs through two of the six pairs, hardware and feathers decorate two more, and even the sneaker is a collage of four materials. After years of minimal white sneakers, 2019's best footwear wanted to be looked at.

Balmain Mercy Boots and Louboutin's Mad Monica

The Balmain Paris black leather Mercy ankle boots open the list: a 9.5 cm (3.7 inch) stiletto heel, silvertone metal chains, a pointed tip, a leather sole and a zip closure in back, with the Balmain logo on the insole and on the side and silvertone trim throughout. The material is 100% calfskin, the item is SN1C137LGCHEAC, and the boots are made in Italy — a biker chain party worn over a court shoe's silhouette.

The Christian Louboutin Mad Monica wedge espadrilles answer from the opposite season: allover spiked espadrilles in leopard-print suede, woven raffia and metallic jute, on a 4.7-inch wedge heel with platform, with strap bands, an open toe, a d'Orsay silhouette, an adjustable ankle strap and the signature red leather sole. Mad Monica is made in Spain, and it was found at Neiman Marcus (online inquiries NMS19_X4JSY). Spikes on an espadrille is 2019 in one shoe: a beach classic, armed.

Gianvito Rossi Twice: Leopard Combat Booties

Gianvito Rossi appears twice on this list, in two opposite moods. The leopard-print suede combat bootie comes first: a 1.5-inch chunky heel, a round toe, a lace-up vamp, pleated leather side panels and a lugged rubber sole, made in Italy and sold by Neiman Marcus (online inquiries NMS19_X4LKB). It takes the year's combat-boot trend and dresses it in the year's print, softening a utility silhouette with suede without surrendering the lug sole.

The combat bootie is the practical end of the leopard thread. It walks all day on a chunky heel and a rubber sole, it laces like workwear, and the print does the styling work that would otherwise need hardware or color. Of the six pairs here, it is the one most likely to be worn three days a week.

Gianvito Rossi Athena: Feathers at 105 Millimeters

The Athena sandal is the same house at full evening pitch. Delicate Dahlia pink feathers enrich the ankle strap and toe band of the suede Athena sandal, and the simplicity and elegance of its silhouette, finished with a 105mm stiletto heel, is showcased further with tone-on-tone feathers. The sole and insole are leather, the composition is 100% suede, the fitting is true to size, and the model code is G61354.15RIC.

Set the two Rossi pairs side by side and the breadth of a single designer's year is the story: a lugged leopard bootie for the street and a feathered stiletto for the evening, both unmistakably from the same hand. Best-of lists usually pick a house's one mood; 2019 rewarded range, so this list keeps both.

Givenchy's Mixed-Material Sneakers and UGG's Fluff Punk

Givenchy's sneakers are assembled from panels of white smooth leather, suede, neoprene and mesh — low-tops designed with a chunky tonal rubber sole, a 1.75-inch (45mm) midsole, a rounded toe, a rubber logo patch at the padded tongue, a pull tab at the padded collar, a logo-embossed heel guard, white patent leather piping, white flat laces and matte white hardware, lined with neoprene and made in Italy. They were sold at Barneys, style #506016981 — the maximalist year rendered in all white, texture doing the work of color.

The UGG Women's Fluff Punk boot closes the list: channeling the attitude of desert bikers, it mixes spiky Toscana sheepskin with colors from the road to evoke a glamorous rebellion — lightweight and soft, with an ultra-durable, all-condition outsole, a statement shoe for late-night music festivals and aesthetic-driven road trips. Model 1104231 is built from twinface sheepskin and leather with whipstitch detail, a functional zipper with a leather tassel and Toscana trim, a sheepskin lining and insole, a Treadlite by UGG midsole and a Vibram outsole with ArcticGrip. Thank you for using the Apparel Search website.

Photos