Ah, pearls. The lustrous gem birthed from the mouths of shelled mollusks is as timeless as it is beautiful. It has dashingly dressed necklines for ages and comprised one of A$AP Rocky's all-time best hair moments.
You know what else is enjoying the VIP (Very Important Pearl) treatment right now? Shoes. Yes, I'm talking about those things you wear your feet daily but dripped out in pearls. It's pearls for the girls...and their feet.
For me, it was YVMIN's UGG collaboration that directed my attention to the mother-of-pearl trend, marking the most recent effort to bring pearly goodness to the feet.
The pearl trend has not spared even the most classic of shoe brands. Take YVMIN's UGG collaboration, for instance. This Beijing-based label has given a fresh twist to the iconic UGG boots and sandals, adding in new Mary-Jane styles and delicate details.
Silky ribbons and shiny bows now adorn these shoes, making for super decorated steppers. But YVMIN didn't stop there. They topped off their creations with strings of pearls, proving that even UGGs deserve a pearl necklace (or seven).
Simone Rocha, as Highsnobiety style writer Tayler Willson declared, is the princess of pearls. This title was further solidified with the brand's seriously bejeweled Crocs collaboration. With Simone Rocha's touch, Crocs' classic clogs and hiking shoes were transformed into genuine shoe gems, complete with glistening pearls to match.
Further sifting through the files of the latest pearly shoes, I stumbled across jewelry brand Tasaki, who decked out its anniversary ASICS sneakers with rare Akoya pears (for roughly $29,000, by the way).
And how could we forget Mattias Gollin's super luxe Timberland boots covered in Swarovski crystals and pearls?
I remembered. The pearly Timbs live rent-free in my mind, actually.
Sure, embellished shoes have been around forever, but lately, footwear has taken a special liking to pearl gemstones for both subtle charms and dazzling full-on coatings — so much so that I smell a pearl-fect shoe craze on the horizon.
