I Did a Double-Take When I Saw What Shoes Angelina Jolie Just Wore

It takes a lot to shock me in the fashion department. I myself have a tendency to wear unexpected things at times, so when other people do it, I’m rarely phased. That being said, shocked is the only word I can think of to adequately sum up my reaction to finding Angelina Jolie, the celebrity I associate most with anti-trend dressing, wearing one of the Y2K era’s most divisive shoe trends, platform slide sandals, in New York City yesterday—and not just because it was 30º out.

At first glance, Jolie’s chunky mules took me back twenty years to my childhood, when stars like Britney Spears, Posh Spice, and even the animated version of Lizzie McGuire frequented similar pairs. But after further inspection, I realized that while her shoes might be reminiscent of a kitschier time in the world of fashion, the way she styled them was anything but. In fact, Jolie did what I never thought was possible: make platform slide sandals feel timeless and elegant. It helps that her exact pair is made of luxe velvet and printed with Celine’s signature CC logo. I should’ve known it’d only take a French touch to completely revitalize the shoe trend that peaked in the 2000s.