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Maybe it’s because of the niche category it exists in, floating somewhere between pragmatism and playfulness, or its nostalgic sensibility that drives fanatics looking longingly to girlhood, but the Mary Jane shoe has not only made its way back in fashion; it’s engulfed the entire footwear industry with vigor. And that stamina shows no sign of fatigue, especially after Mary Jane shoes reemerged by way of Miu Miu’s ballerina flats. Tatiana Hambro, Editorial Director at Moda Operandi, says the Mary Jane offers a bit more support than ballet flats, yet still carries that sought-after femininity.
“Defined by buckle straps and harder sole, Mary Janes offer a more supportive alternative to ballet flats, yet still carry that girlish nostalgia and slip-on ease,” Hambro explains. “I consider them a sort of halfway house between hardy leather fisherman sandals (which have also trended in the last year) and more delicate ballerina pumps. The Mary Jane is a shoe for someone who’s going places but is too chic to even consider a sneaker. It’s both sensible and stylish — and in that sense, it’s quite French.”
Watch on FN
For the coming season, we’re watching a fresh, sometimes avant-garde take on Mary Jane shoes, but the classic soft, flat option has staying power, thanks to what Hambro says is due to, “its inherent practicality and versatility.” The best part? Mary Jane shoes can be worn, well, for any occasion. “The flat Mary Jane will take you from the airport to city-strolling, or out to dinner.”
From Gigi Hadid in New York to Sofia Richie and Zoe Kravitz, Mary Jane’s has also enamored celebrities, editors, and industry it-girls alike. Ahead, Hambro’s favorite iterations of the everyday women’s shoe, in a range of beloved styles from The Row to Manolo Blahnik.
Colorways: Silver, cream, black
Materials: Leather
Additional Features: 1.75″ block heel, memory foam cushioning, buckle strap
Retailer Availability: Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s
Nordstrom Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.8/5 stars
Bloomingdale’s Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.8/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $330
Colorways: Black, silver, peacock blue, multicolor
Materials: Suede, leather
Additional Features: Foam cushioning, elastic strap
Retailer Availability: Margaux
Price upon publish date of this article: $275
Colorways: Black, white
Materials: Lamb leather upper, rubber sole
Additional Features: 0.25″ flat heel, round toe, buckle strap
Retailer Availability: Bergdorf Goodman, Mytheresa
Bergdorf Goodman Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.7/5 stars
MyTheresa Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.7/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $990
Colorways: Black patent leather, cream leather, black leather
Materials: Calf leather
Additional Features: Buckle strap
Retailer Availability: Net-a-Porter
Net-a-Porter Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.9/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $295
Colorways: Black
Materials: Leather
Additional Features: 1.25″ block heel, round toe, buckle strap
Retailer Availability: Neiman Marcus, Net-a-Porter, Ssense
Neiman Marcus Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.6/5 stars
Net-a-Porter Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.9/5 stars
Ssense Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.5/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $460
Colorways: Pink, blue, black
Materials: Fabric, leather
Additional Features: Leather insole and sole, round toe, buckle strap,
Retailer Availability: Mytheresa
Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.7/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $455
Colorways: Black, pink, brown, blue, white
Materials: Leather, viscose, silk, rubber
Additional Features: Elastic strap, round toe, bow detail
Farfetch Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.1/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $975
Colorways: Red, black
Materials: Calf leather
Additional Features: 3.5″ heel, t-toe strap with buckle
Retailer Availability: Saks Fifth Avenue, Net-a-Porter
Saks Fifth Avenue Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4/5 stars
Net-a-Porter Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.9/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $577.50
Colorways: Silver, orange, pink, black, beige
Materials: Leather, rubber, plastic
Additional Features: Slip-on style, 2″ heel
Retailer Availability: Anthropologie
Anthropologie Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.6/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $109.95
Colorways: Red, black, cream
Materials: Velvet, rubber
Additional Features: Buckle strap
Retailer Availability: Net-a-Porter
Net-a-Porter Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.9/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $105
Colorways: Black
Materials: Cowhide leather
Additional Features: 2″ heel
Retailer Availability: Moda Operandi, Net-a-Porter, Mytheresa
Net-a-Porter Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.9/5 stars
MyTheresa Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.7/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $693
Colorways: Black
Materials: Sheep leather
Additional Features: 2.5″ heel
Retailer Availability: Net-a-Porter, Bergdorf Goodman
Net-a-Porter Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.9/5 stars
Bergdorf Goodman Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.7/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $325
Colorways: Black, cream
Materials: Calf patent leather
Additional Features: 0.5″ heel, buckle strap
Retailer Availability: Net-a-Porter
Net-a-Porter Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.9/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $1,375
Colorways: White, nude, black
Materials: Leather
Additional Features: 1.78″ heel, elastic slingback strap
Retailer Availability: Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom
Saks Fifth Avenue Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4/5 stars
Nordstrom Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.8/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $1,200
Colorways: Black
Materials: Leather
Additional Features: 3.5″ heel, button strap
Retailer Availability: Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman
Neiman Marcus Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.5/5 stars
Bergdorf Goodman Top-Quality Store Badge on Google: 4.7/5 stars
Price upon publish date of this article: $825
The History of Mary Jane Shoes Trend
The timeless Mary Jane shoe tells a rich history of women’s contemporary footwear, but it actually originated as a children’s shoe in the late 19th and early 20th century. Worn by both boys and girls, “bar shoes,” referring to its top strap, were functional and dressy for conservative school uniforms. It wasn’t until 1904 when they were dubbed “Mary Janes” by Brown Shoes Company, after a popular Buster Brown comic strip character that routinely appeared in the New York Herald. Later, women began strapping on functional and comfortable Mary Janes in the 1910s and 1920s as jazz club dancing shoes. Newly shortened flapper hemlines brought emphasis to fanciful footwear, and stylish iterations of the block heel and cross strap began to develop in glossy patent leather or hand-painted patterns and prints. The Mary Jane became a quintessential style of the roaring ‘20s, which would be referenced and reimagined throughout every successive decade.
While Shirley Temple shined in a pair of Mary Janes in the 1934 film Baby Takes a Bow, the shoe wouldn’t sink into the fashion lexicon until the 1960s. Designer Mary Quant, often revered as the mother of mod fashion, certified the Mary Jane as a far more than a dancing shoe when she photographed Twiggy in a pair. The shoe became a style statement that harkened back to doll-like styles, while remaining chic in modern women’s dress. The Mary Jane began to appear with thicker top straps and bigger buckles, and designers such as Charles Jourdan and Christian Dior offered them in extensive colorways and with higher pump heels. In the early 1970’s, Pierre Berge at Yves Saint Laurent presented new iterations of the shoe in shiny metallics and open-toe styles, while Jane Birkin’s enduring street style featured the patent pumps paired with sheer tights, alongside her signature straw bags.
Later, as 1990s trends resurrected staple styles of the 60’s, Mary Janes saw a major comeback. Designers from Calvin Klein to Isaac Mizrahi reintroduced the shoe with ladylike styling, whether paired with polished wool coats or dressy miniskirts and stockings. Stars on the screen sported the shoe, too; Cher Horowitz in Clueless wore silver flats with knee-high socks as playful twist on a school girl uniform, Rachel Green in Friends sported a pair of pumps, and Sex and the City featured a whole storyline around the shoe, as Carrie Bradshaw famously stumbled upon of a pair of Mary Janes by Manolo Blahnik, dubbing them an “urban shoe myth.” In fact, Blahnik’s highly coveted iteration worn by a select few including Kate Moss, featured a pointed toe, high heel, and a grosgrain trim in patent leather, and was only available in London in 1994 — until today. As the aughts came, Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen designed similarly posh iterations in 2004 fall collections, which would go on to influence preppy “Twee” aesthetics of the 2010s, made mainstream by fictional and real-life ‘It’ girls like Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl and Alexa Chung.
Meanwhile, from the “Indie Sleaze” style era to the end of 2010s, platform iterations also appeared on the runways of Michael Kors, Daniela Gregis, Mary Katrantzou, and Marni, leading into today’s grunge-rock styles celebrated by Gen Z — as seen in the chunky Mary Jane collaboration from Dr. Martens and Heaven by Marc Jacobs, or on the feet of girly-goth stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Jenna Ortega. Today, Mary Jane shoes are poised in both sentiments: Hyper-feminine balletcore stylings of smooth leather and satin with minimal square-toes, à la The Row or Sandy Liang and Miu Miu spring 2024; or stacked as platforms on spring 2023 runways of Prada, and Versace, along with trending styles from brands like Bottega Veneta, Chloé, and Nodaleto. Mary Jane shoes remain one of the longest reigning women’s footwear trends of all time, and continue to serve both fashion and function, enhancing practically every personal style perspective.
How We Selected the Best Mary Jane Shoes
For more than 75 years, Footwear News has been the shoe authority. Our coverage spans top industry news, retail trends, head-to-toe fashion, athletic and outdoor analysis and more. Footwear News’ global network of editors has carefully curated all product selections featured using our expansive brand knowledge and thorough research to find quality, long-lasting items.
To curate the best Mary Jane shoes for women, we consulted a style expert for insight on current trends and popular styles. We compared customer reviews and a variety of styles, keeping in mind essential comfort, support, functionality, and fashion appeal. Additionally, we chose brands based on the shoe style’s long history, and considered both timeless and modern styles to include in our top list. Our editors also assessed our own product testing to determine overall durability and versatility for day to night wear. Learn more about us here.
Meet the Expert
Tatiana Hambro is the Editorial Director at Moda Operandi where she oversees fashion reviews and editorial features. Previously, she worked as the luxury retailer’s senior fashion writer, after contributing as the Deputy Retail Editor at British Vogue. Hambra has also served as a curator to the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s December 2019 editor guide.
Meet the Authors
Cortne Bonilla is a freelance fashion writer based in New York City. Her previous work has appeared in publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Bustle, and more. She is a writer and editor with over five years of experience in digital media, producing articles covering fashion, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle.
Olivia Cigliano is a Commerce Writer & Producer at Footwear News and WWD where she writes shopping content on the best-rated footwear, TikTok style trends, and more. Olivia received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Emerson College, and her byline can be found in publications including Elite Daily and CR Fashion Book. In her free time, Olivia can be found scouring the internet for deals on cool combat boots and dad sneakers to add to her ever-growing collection.
