These Sandals Used to Look "Cheap" But Now They've Transformed Into Classy

The hot weather and parade of celebrities flocking to the Côte d'Azur have only signalled one thing: summer is in full swing. With it, the climate brings hot new pedicure shades, short hemlines and the knowledge that you’re about to get a year’s worth of vitamin D intake in the span of just a few months. Indeed, we’re kicking off our Chelsea boots and slipping into something a little more flirtier now that sandal season has officially arrived.

As for the styles that are leading the charge, you only need to glance at the off-duty looks trotted around the Boulevard de la Croisette as part of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for clues. Or, more specifically, the classic pair Simone Ashley wore while walking through the lobby of the iconic Hôtel Martinez.

Indeed, the Bridgerton star arrived during the back half of the prestigious event but wasted no time in making a splash. Dressed for the French Riviera, the 30-year-old British actor wore a breezy all-white ensemble accented with a soft glass slipper blue Prada Galleria purse.

The outfit was actually a three-piece co-ord made from a delicately crinkled nylon. The pièce de résistance, however, wasn’t the balmy bralette, cropped vest top or skater skirt, but rather the strappy white sandals that tied the whole thing together.

When I circulated the shoes around the Who What Wear offices, there were a few mixed opinions about the style. Personally, I’ve long adored the look of white sandals, especially since the days when every fashion insider finished their silhouettes with The Row’s Bare leather sandals. That said, it is one of the more shoe colours out there, as many of my colleagues agreed—one misstep and they can scuff in a way that makes them look, for the lack of a better word, cheap (I can practically picture the unsightly studded toes you so often see on pointed courts). Sandals, however, tend to negate this issue as they're open toe and I'm pleased to say that, styling wise, we've collectively has moved on since we all first wore them with back in the early '00s, making them look much chicer by proxy. Take this Kendall Jenner look, for instance.

Of course, we’re not all supermodels or members of Young Hollywood, so I also took to Instagram to make my case for some still unswayed opinions. Opening my feed, I was bombarded with a plethora of sophisticated white sandals, ranging from sleek flip-flops worn by London-based content creator Karina Marriott (a.k.a @styleidealist) while on holiday in the Dominican Republic to kitten heel options favoured by New York fashion influencer, Makenna Alyse McReynolds.

Yet, it was the perennially chic Monikh Dale’s Loulou de Saison slingbacks that cemented my argument the most. (Trust a Parisian brand to do so!). Be it heel or flat, there are plenty of ways to style the trend this season.