Column: The wedge sneaker: Adding invisible height

Call me a hypocrite.

In May, I wrote a column bashing the European trend of wedged sneakers. I remember saying, “the U.S. shouldn’t be ready for them,” and “this is a trend that should stay in Europe.”

Well, now I’m going to eat my words.

When I arrived back in the U.S., I could see the wedged shoes sneaking into my local retailer’s shelves. I remember thinking they were, quite bluntly, ugly. But in the past few months I have seen the style of the shoe change slightly.

What I initially disliked about the shoe was its weird hybrid of a shape.

Designers maintained a narrow wedged sole, and as the eye traveled up to the opening of the shoe, it transformed into a slightly chunky type of high-top sneaker.

What I didn’t like was designers in Europe often tried to keep the sleek sexiness of the wedge and ended up making the shoe look lop-sided and top-heavy.

So when I was shopping recently at Target, I was surprised when I found myself drawn in by a pair of these hybrids. I picked up the shoes and was tempted to bite down on the humility of admitting wrong and head to the cash register.

What stopped me from blindly walking away with them was one thought: Why did I all of a sudden start liking them?

It wasn’t because I had time to get used to the trend — shove me in front of the first pair I saw in Belgium, and I would still put them down. Curious, I looked at the shoes in my hand and analyzed what might be different.

It was then I noticed the trend had in fact changed ever so slightly.

The wedge was no longer blatant. In fact, it was hidden. Designers adopted the idea of adding subtle height from another trend, the creeper shoe, which is a Converse-type shoe with an added inch of rubber sole. Widening the wedge made it look like it blended in with the sneaker, creating what I like to call “the new creeper sneaker.”

Wearing the shoe would literally add inches of invisible height without adding the awkward wedge.

I have started seeing people wear them on campus, and it is a trend I am newly happy to say I like.

­— audperki@indiana.edu.