Toes are in, ballet sneakers are back and dining at Café Deco
The hottest shoe trends this summer are... dare I say... toe-stopping
Hola!
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Love Rach X
I hope you’ve all had a gorgeous week. Mine has been lovely. I cooked gluten-free pancakes Sunday (well, my boyfriend did but who’s telling). I bought a beautiful candle and finished this guilty pleasure book. It was peaceful + nice.
I’ve been on somewhat of a health kick, too. The month of February was lots of eating out so I felt I needed to give my body a bit of a break. In the final week of that month alone, I went to Café Deco, the Bistro Freddie pop-up at Shoreditch House, and a gorgeous gastro pub in Dalston called The Prince Arthur.
Café Deco was an absolute highlight. For those of who live in London or are planning to stop through this city on your European summer vacay, I recommend adding this to the list.
The restaurant itself is in this charming little house in the heart of central London. Inside, it’s warm. It kind of feels like I stepped back in time; to a mid-century café in Paris or Milan.
The crowd was relaxed and understated. It felt like the hidden gem of those who love to dine. There weren’t the usual gaggle of girls itching to get their Instagram shots or the over-excited tourists with their oversized DSLR cameras (who are part-and-parcel with the usual London hotspots).
Instead, normie couples and groups in their 30s, 40s and 50s enjoyed glasses of Spanish Sparkling and French Grenache over relaxed conversation and an assortment of plates.
My friend Liv and I sat in the corner and ate pork and rabbit rillettes toast and gnudi with wild garlic pesto to start, before moving onto the deep-fried rabbit for mains and crème caramel for dessert.
A perfect Friday evening.
Agenda for today’s letter:
Toes are in
Ballet sneakers are back
Toes are in
You heard it here first
No really. You did hear it here first. Lest we forget my off-handed comment in last year’s letter about the culture’s obsession with toes.
While I do give myself credit, admittedly I’m not the first person to discuss this. This is a trend that I believe was truly pioneered by the 2023 Tabi boom. It was further proliferated by Addison Rae and Petra Collins. And then, discussed in one of my all time favourite podcasts by the Jessica Defino and Emily Kirkpatrick.
And of course… there’s been loads of anecdotal evidence of its steady rise. (Spotted: in Newington Green on pretty much any Saturday afternoon).
But peak-toe has never been so clear to me than Coperni’s recent release of their “Five toe ballet flat”. Retailing at a measly £680.00 for the black leather pair (and well over $1500AUD for the ones covered in crystals), this shoe marks a clear departure from the toe’s subcultural roots.
In my humble opinion, the toe-renaissance arose in direct response to the mainstream-ification of the Tabi. Much to the distaste of the hardcore Tabi fans – who have proudly been wearing the divisive shoe for years – the mainstream has all but accepted this once-polarising style as “in”, “cool” or dare I say, “standard”.
They went viral on Tik Tok. Ultimate-cheug Emily wore a pair in Emily In Paris. They were even brandied on the garbage bins in London Fields, as captured + reported by Beth Bentley in this very insightful Substack.
Irrespective of where you land on the Tabi trend (I have – and always will be – obsessed with Tabis. I do not care if people perceive me as mainstream or basic in any way shape or form), there’s no doubt there’s been a growing dissent of original Tabi-fans who want more.
Enter: the 5-toe shoe.
Sitting directly at the intersection of fashion and running subcultures, the 5 toe shoes is back in a major way. Vibrams, the barefoot running shoe made popular following Christopher McDougall’s pioneering 2009 book “Born to Run”, has been increasing steadily re-entering the fold.
I had observed this colloquially. But Google data also backs me up.
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