From Blue Ivy Carter to Ariana Grande: An Ode to the Kitten Heel

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I love a kitten heel and apparently, all of my favorite fashion girls do too. From Blue Ivy Carter to Ariana Grande, an it girl knows the power she wields in a quaint, chic heel only a few inches off the ground.

Two days ago, Ariana Grande wore a $1,000 pair of kitten heels in Tokyo – prompting my coworker to use the term divisive when referring to the style.The wording led me to ruminate on my years of unresolved sartorial beef with the shoes. Why do people look down upon the kitten heel? Why is it a divisive fashion shoe? So many of today's favorite brands have a galore of vintage kitten heels, and a percentage of fashion lovers on the internet are chasing them down on every reseller site.

The kitten heel is a low, slender (or block) heel typically measuring 1.5 to 2 inches. It emerged in the late 1950s, regarded as a more modest and comfortable choice for younger women who weren’t ready to commit to a stiletto heel. The heel was popularized by Christian Dior, offering a more practical option for women seeking both elegance and ease of movement. (I have never felt more powerful than when I have on a good kitten heel, wistfully speed-walking through the NYC streets.) The style, of course, in its origins, appealed to younger women and teenagers, allowing them to explore the world of fashion without pre-decidedly ruining their growing feet. By the 1960s, the kitten heel became a symbol of sophisticated, everyday wear, continuing to influence fashion today with its retro appeal.

With the continued Y2K and nostalgia renaissance, I’m here to decree that the kitten heel is the optimal heel. All the others fall by the wayside. Take a screenshot, save it for a rainy day, I will never change my mind about this. As someone who brutalized my poor flat feet through high school to fit in and then endured snide remarks about my choice of kitten heels while in college, I will stand by these heels because of their timeless presence in the fashion space. Often underestimated, the kitten heel is beloved by the girlies who get it.

Case in point: Blue Ivy Carter. She is the exact example of why the heel was created years ago. As a growing teenager in the limelight, a small heel will always be a solid choice when first getting started. We saw her lean into that heel during her first several award shows and red carpet appearances. In the last few, she may have upgraded to a platform boot, but she’ll always know her fashion shoe roots.

Grande, notably, has never truly been a consistent kitten heel girl. Our tiny pop-star-turned-Glinda loves a good platform boot and heel. It, of course, adds to her height. But as she entered her Wicked era, we saw her pull out the kitten heel more and more, signifying her current aesthetic, which perfectly fits these tiny heels.

Other divas who understand what a good kitten heel can do for the soul are Sabrina Carpenter, Sydney Sweeney, Doechii, and Addison Rae. Carpenter, like Grande, is a 5-foot-0 pop star who heavily relied on platform heels during her emails i can’t send era. But she famously entered her kitten heel era once she began leaning into her Grammy award-winning short n’ sweet aesthetic. Am I saying a good kitten heel will lead to a Grammy? No, but I’m also not not saying it! Sweeney also served absolute star power while wearing a pair of kitten heels during a press event with Bai. The look shows how effortless and elevated a kitten heel can make any outfit.

Our “Diet Pepsi” queen is no stranger to making bold fashion choices, so it’s not a shock that she is in on the kitten heel game. One of my favorite looks from her came on a random weekday: Rae wore a shorts-and-tank workout set with a Christian Dior-monogrammed headband, a tiger-striped purse, brown ribbed leg warmers, and a pair of white slingback kitten heels. Arguably, such a powerplay in my books, proving that personal style should be fun and there’s nothing a kitten heel can do but make a look more interesting and dynamic. Doechii has had a stellar year — also a Grammy winner, hint, hint — and similar to Rae she leaned into the kitten heel aesthetic wearing leg warmers with her look.

There’s this belief that a small heel ages you, which has always been funny to me given its origins. With this constant TikTok girlhood schtick we’ve been enduring the last few years, it’s interesting that some still devalue the kitten heel. It arguably is not the “grandma heel.” It is the it girl heel.

So while some still laugh at me, referring to my kitten heels as grandma shoes, I will wear them proudly because they are timeless, chic, and practical. I will stay on the dance floor all night, my feet unfazed, only remembering the good times of my younger years, looking chic as ever. While you’ve had to dedicate time to train your feet before a big event, or worse, feel the excruciating pain of five-inch stiletto pumps you can barely walk in for hours to come — the pain being a bigger takeaway than the time spent living.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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