Before Miu Miu made ballet flats feel like a manifesto,
there was another era.
My teenage years were punctuated by small rebellions.
Before starting homework, in what felt like a small private joy, I would quietly log onto a 다음 (Daum) community called 할리우드의 아름다운 커플들 (Hollywood’s Beautiful Couples) and scroll through paparazzi images of early 2000s celebrities.
It wasn’t the red carpet that interested me.
It was the in-between moments —
the way they threw things on without ceremony.
Unstyled, unannounced, somehow perfect!
At some point, Amy Winehouse’s pink ballet flats began to hold my attention.
Before that, I had already been quite captivated by the flats of Kate Moss, Nicole Richie, the Olsen twins, oh and of course, Mischa Barton — all of them gliding through airports and side streets in soft leather soles.
But Amy’s were different.
She wore them everywhere. LITERALLY. No occasion required.
Pink. Unapologetically so.
I remember thinking, there must be a reason.
(You know, like Steve Jobs and his New Balance 992.)
Some preferences are deliberate.
I had never owned a pair.
They were kind of impossible to find in Korea at the time.
No one really cared for them.
But I wanted to know what it felt like...
That soft, almost naïve longing for pink ballet flats eventually found its outlet in an unlikely place: Topshop.
In 2010, I placed my first overseas order.
Direct.
At the time, the pound(£) and as a student, it felt terrifying — nearly double.
I ordered anyway.
Kate Moss collaboration pieces.
And, most importantly, the £16 ballet flats I loved!
Yes, that era, I was very pleased.
In 2011, I wore Acne’s grey skinny jeans with pink flats, clearly channeling Kate Moss.
Seems pretty blend, but there was a certain power in them.
They were a small, lovely declaration.
A refusal of heaviness!
A softness worn deliberately.
And long before trends returned them to the runway,
they had already meant something to me.
On the left, me in Topshop head to toe.
I still think about that leopard Paul’s Boutique bag.
Sixteen years on,
this is the pink flat I return to.
With worn denim or a soft spring skirt,
they simply work.
Check these beautiful pieces, Odette Satin Ballet Flats.
(The leftover gift box from my mother-in-law happens to match them perfectly.
I like that subtle sparkle.)