Hailey Bieber’s Off-Duty Formula Once Again Hinges on Toteme’s Flip-Flop Kitten Heels

Hailey Bieber has kept her summer shoe streak rooted in subtle variations of black heels, and this week in Los Angeles she brought back a pair of Toteme’s flip-flop heels.

Bieber styled the shoes with Gap’s UltraSoft ’90s Loose Jeans in a dark indigo wash. The relaxed denim’s pooled hem left the heeled flip-flops fully visible at the ankle, a contrast to the strapless white bandeau top she wore with it. Black rectangular sunglasses finished the look, keeping the palette minimal while leaning into a casual, late-’90s and early Y2K proportions.

The $560 Toteme style is not new for Bieber. At the end of June, she was spotted in what appeared to be the same thong-heel silhouette during a Manhattan outing, paired then with white polka-dot capri pants. That look ran alongside a second appearance the same day in Saint Laurent mules, positioning her within a broader wave of barely-there black heels that has carried through much of her summer wardrobe.

Flip-flop heels have also been among the season’s most divisive silhouettes. Rosé of Blackpink wore a slim white pair while traveling in Milan, while Emily Ratajkowski and Latto have favored pared-back neutral leather takes for day and night appearances alike. On the men’s side, Jonathan Bailey has pushed the conversation further, wearing The Row’s $690 Dune sandals from a London photocall to Los Angeles streets. The choice jolted menswear out of its Oxford-and-loafer script and made the high-fashion flip-flop a flashpoint for both “quiet luxury” and appropriation debates, with Brazilian voices calling out how quickly Havaianas were reframed as runway novelty.

For Bieber, the consistency reflects her larger footwear rhythm. She tends to cycle between a few categories — black pumps, sleek mules, minimalist heels — using them interchangeably to anchor outfits that vary in shape. Even with Rhode’s billion-dollar expansion under E.l.f. Beauty placing her in new professional contexts, her off-duty looks have kept to the same formula: clean, controlled and choosing shoes that carry an understated edge.