Victorian-style lace-up boots will be the biggest footwear trend for AW19

By Freya Drohan
14th Sep 2019

Image via Instagram/ManuAtelier

Lace-up boots

Lace-up boots are the new trend-du-jour. Here’s how to wear them and where to buy them this AW

If you’re prepping to purchase Chelsea, biker or knee-high boots for the incoming AW season, empty your online shopping carts – this footwear trend is the one to snap up.

While some things feel very new in street style right now – like Bottega Veneta’s omnipresent square-toed sandals and voluminous smock dresses – the boot that’s bound to dominate the cobbles outside harks to a bygone era.

Granted, everything in fashion is cyclical, but some designers have evidently cast an eye all the way back to Victorian times for footwear inspiration.

Lace-up boots

Lace-up boots (also sometimes known as granny boots, old west boots, Lolita boots or witch’s boots) with their spindle-thin heel and rows of criss-cross ribbons are an unlikely star; typically considered more Civil War than chic must-have.

Historically, the flat or heeled ‘dress shoe’ was rendered in satin or leather, and either blessedly plain for work or intricately embroidered for dancing. Since its heyday in the mid-1800s, the shoe fell out of fashion for the most part, save for use in costumes.

Yet, thanks to designers such as Laura Vassar and Kristopher Brock of Brock Collection, Dion Lee, Giambattista Valli and Rejina Pyo, the Steampunk staple now has a new desirable status.

Popular ready-to-wear shoe brands including By Far, Miista and Manu Atelier picked up on the vintage-inspired reference early on and ensured the Instagram set could dip a pointed-toe into the trend before the rest of the world had even caught on.

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A post shared by Celeste Barber (@celestebarber)

Always one to predict a fashion moment, Zara’s beige and blue-hued lace-up booties sold out instantly when the Spanish retailer debuted them a few weeks ago. A word to the wise; put your email address down for when they inevitably restock them, you have until then to decide which striking shade your heart leans towards.

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A post shared by Celeste Barber (@celestebarber)

Shop the look

In the meantime, if you’re not one to be deterred by the nicknames ‘granny’ or ‘witch’s boot’… here’s where to shop the shoe of the moment, right now: