Leighton Meester’s recent appearance in Madrid for Elizabeth Arden—a brand whose founder once revolutionized beauty by selling lipstick and lingerie as complementary essentials—offered more than a perfume launch. It presented a lesson in foundational style. Her strappy, metallic gold sandals, with their sculptural toe detail and slingback ankle strap, are a direct descendant of a foundational garment: the girdle.
The structural engineering of mid-20th century foundations, designed to sculpt and support, finds its echo in the precise crisscross straps of modern footwear. Just as a Maidenform or Warner’s girdle of the 1950s used strategic panels and stitching to shape the silhouette, these sandals use narrow bands to frame the foot. The slingback strap itself is a direct translation from lingerie, evolving from the elasticated backs of bullet bras and corselettes that promised security and a specific, elegant line.
Meester’s choice to forgo jewelry further underscores this point. When the footwear carries such deliberate architecture, additional adornment becomes unnecessary. The look recalls an era when undergarments were considered a complete, if hidden, outfit in themselves—a private luxury with public consequence. Her gilded sandals are not merely accessories; they are the visible culmination of a design philosophy born in the lingerie drawer, proving that the principles of support, structure, and subtle sensuality never go out of style.
Originally reported by WWD