Working the Ballet Flats Beat

Over Christmas my madre and I did a little post-holiday perusing at Saks, and I paused (on two separate visits) to oogle the gold standard of ballet flats- Chanel's quilted beauties with the patent leather toe. So simple, so classic, so lovely.

And sooo $625. In Uncle Karl's world, that's probably a bargain, but in MoS world, that's an awful lot of coin for an awfully small shoe.

But the good news is that where there's a gold standard, there are many worthy knock-offs. Most similar to the Chanel flats (in appearance and in quality) are French Sole's "Passport" style. At $225, they're not inexpensive for ballet flats, but seem much more reasonable in comparison to what you'll find at Saks. Make sure you get the ones without the rubber sole though (as pictured on the left). The rubber soles (shown on the right) just don't look as classic, though I'm sure they'd be very comfey for travel.

And in a close second, turn your attention to Delman's lovely "Falcon" flat- also $225.

But to be honest, Vaneli's "Serene" get us down to $99 and they're awfully similar. I don't normally shop Vaneli, but when I saw these on Zappos I was shocked at how lovely and ageless these look.

And incidentally, the beige/black ones are on sale for $80- love that color combo.

But wait, there's more- we can go even further down in price. Buuuut there's a disclaimer: under $80 you're looking at faux leather. But can you believe these are from Sears for $26??? That gold chain accent is ridiculously chic.

And of course, Tar-zay has thrown their hat into the ring with the Adi Designs version for $39.

And on a side note, while we're singing the praises of Vaneli, check out their amazing Sarette cork flat, which are dead ringers for the Chanel version out this season (that I cannot for the life of me find a picture of!).

Bon weekend everyone- it's a bit too cold to wear ballet flats here, but it's never too late to get a jump on the spring wardrobe!