We run the search numbers before every one of these posts, and September's are the clearest we have seen all year. Loafers pulled about 144,000 US searches last month, the most of any shoe style we track. Mary janes followed at 104,000. Knee high boots jumped 43 percent over their yearly average, and wide calf boots climbed right behind them. Summer is over in the search bar. Here is what that means for your fall lineup, and where each trend stands on our shelves in sizes 9 to 14.
Loafers are the most wanted shoe in America right now
The polished flat has taken the sneaker's old job. A loafer reads put together with trousers, denim, and skirts alike, it needs no break-in, and it survives a commute. Add the menswear influence running through fall collections and you get a shoe that 144,000 people went looking for in a single month.
The honest report from our side: our loafer wall is nearly gone. The Reese Loafer in cream ($110) is down to its last pairs in a size 10, and the black and burgundy runs sold out weeks ago. If you wear a 10, that link is worth a click today. Everyone else, the buckled flat below carries the same polished-flat idea and is stocked deep.
Mary janes and the return of the buckled flat
Mary jane searches have doubled over the past two years, and the shape doing the work is the strap. A line across the instep turns a plain flat into something deliberate, and it holds the shoe on your foot, which matters more as the flat gets sleeker.
Our take on the trend is the Match Set Mesh Flat ($69.95): two slim straps, an adjustable buckle, and a breathable mesh upper that carries the mary jane idea into a shoe you can wear for ten hours. The adjustable buckle earns its keep on wider feet, where a fixed strap usually lands in the wrong place. It comes in black and a natural and black colorway, and both are stocked deep as of this writing.
Boot season, and the knee high problem
Knee high boot searches ran 43 percent above their yearly average this month, with wide calf boots climbing alongside. The reason the wide calf searches spike every September is that a knee high has two fits to get right, the foot and the shaft, and brands that cut extended sizes rarely handle both. A boot that fits your foot and gaps at the calf is still the wrong boot.
Our answer is to start the season at the ankle, where that second fit problem does not exist. We made the full case in our fall ankle boot guide, with fit rules and the pairs we stocked across the whole size run. The short version: the Cadence Bootie ($140), sizes 9 to 14, is the safe first buy of fall.
The transition shoe: a patent slingback on a kitten heel
Kitten heels led our July report, and fall has only sharpened the trend. The version to buy now is patent, which reads seasonless and dresses a simple outfit without effort. The Lisa Slingback in black patent ($100) is our deepest stocked heel of the season, a two inch kitten heel with an open back that stays comfortable through a full workday and slides into evening without a shoe change. The pastel pink version is the softer play, and it looks unreasonably good with chocolate and camel, fall's favorite palette. Both colors are on the shelf in full size runs from 9 through 14 right now.
The pattern repeats every fall: extended sizes go first, and midseason restocks are never a promise. September is the month the full size runs exist. Shop accordingly.