- Insider spoke to designers, podiatrists, and fashion experts about some of the worst shoe trends from the 2010s.
- Wedge sneakers were called out for being impractical.
- Sock sneakers, sock boots, and slides don’t offer proper support, meaning they can potentially be harmful to your foot and ankle.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The 2010s welcomed back old footwear styles and introduced new ones, but perhaps not all of these trends should stick around for 2020.
Here are some of the worst shoe trends from the past decade, according to experts.
Wedge sneakers are no longer seen as stylish or very functional.
Wedge sneakers were quite the hit throughout the mid-2010s, and designer Isabel Marant is widely credited for starting the trend in 2012.
And although these shoes could be considered a comfortable alternative to heels, some style experts just think they’re impractical.
"Before they truly became a fashion statement in the later 2010s, sneakers were mostly for functionality. Now here's a wedge to take all the functionality away," Carly Jordyn, a New York-based fashion designer, told Insider.
Old-school, chunky "dad" sneakers once again became a street-style staple in 2018 and 2019.
"Many trends from the '90s and early 2000s came back between 2010 through 2019 and crept back into people's closets," Jordyn told Insider.
She said that these particular sneakers likely became popular because of their nostalgia factor, even though she thinks they are "straight-up ugly."
And as television fashion stylist Cindy Conroy previously told Insider, these sorts of sneakers "are on their way out" for 2020.
"Yes, they are an orthopedic dream, but they look horrendous and are far from eye-catching. I just loathe the trend," Conroy said.
Whether you like the look of them are not, sock sneakers and sock boots aren't great for your feet.
Sock boots and sock sneakers were some of the biggest trends of 2017, but Dr. Miguel Cunha, leading podiatrist and founder of Gotham Footcare, said you may want to toss these from your closet because they're not the safest footwear.
He explained that although the upper knit part hugs your foot and ankle like a sock, the fabric doesn't actually provide much support.
"They provide no support to the top and outside of your foot, which can easily lead to an ankle sprain," he explained.
Split-toe shoes were spotted on celebrities and runways, but some experts wish they hadn't been.
Recently popularized by the brand Maison Margiela throughout the late 2010s, these split-toe shoes have been worn by a number of celebrities, including Lady Gaga.
Mona Molayem, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, told Insider that this style works for tabi, a type of split-toe sock worn in Japan, but it doesn't translate well onto high-fashion boots.
"They literally look like you have camel toes for feet," she said. "The shoes come in ballet flats, sneakers, heels, boots, and even men's dress shoes, and are all equally atrocious."
Clear, plastic boots can actually get sort of gross.
Clear, plastic boots were worn by stars like Kim Kardashian throughout 2016 and beyond, but both style experts and medical ones hope to say farewell to this trend in 2020.
"I like the idea of them, and they're exciting, but they're disgusting - with no ventilation for your toes, they can create condensation," Jordyn told Insider.
And because of their moist, warm environment, these clear, plastic shoes can be quite conducive to bacterial and fungal growth.
Peep-toe booties aren't exactly practical for all of the seasons.
Everything from stiletto boots to chunky booties got the cutout treatment this past decade - but some fashion experts feel that these peep-toes make for confusing designs, not stylish ones.
Leslie Fu, cofounder of fashion retailer M-USEFASHION, said she's not a fan of the weather-confused footwear, especially because they're not practical.
"They can literally become sweat funnels in spring, summer, and fall," Fu told Insider. She also said that even if you try to wear socks with them to make them functional for cold weather, they just become too slippery to walk in.
Whether fuzzy or smooth, slides are still not beloved by everyone.
With brands like UGG and Rihanna's Fenty X Puma entering the fuzzy-slide game, this shoe became a major hit in the mid-to-late 2010s.
But they haven't charmed everyone, including Jordyn who said she thinks these shoes are just slippers that shouldn't be worn outside.
In addition, Cunha said the flat soles on these shoes aren't great for your feet.
"The slide shoe is one of the worst trends because it has no heel support and the toe box is very narrow, which will aggravate your feet - especially if you suffer from bunions and hammertoes," he told Insider.
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