fun fact: i wore a uniform from sixth through twelfth grade. while it made getting dressed pretty easy in the morning (i probably evaded quite a few meltdowns over “having nothing to wear”), it didn’t allow for too much personal style expression.

however, one way i was able to have a little fashion freedom was with my choice of footwear. i wore a lot of flats, vans slip-ons, and stylish sneakers. in fact, it’s crazy to think these have come back in style.

lately i’ve been gravitating back to the shoe styles of my youth -particularly in the search for comfortable lace-up sneakers. as i creep well into my 30’s, i’m finding my tolerance for living in discomfort waning. my feet already put up with a lot of wear and tear between barre classes, cycling, and the occasional stiletto heel, the least i can do is find some reasonable footwear to sport one to two ways a week.

enter the espadrille sneaker. where form meets function just in time for summer. along with this dress, my step-mom gifted me a pair of jenni kayne’s suede sneaker in this gorgeous camel (almost blush) shade. aside from looking good, these summer kicks also feel pretty dang good, too.

since the jenni kayne version is a bit of an investment, i’ve rounded up similar budgetary espadrille sneaker styles below: