If you are casting around for a new pair of trainers, I can confidently say that high-tops are now verily the thing. You may have always thought that high tops were the thing… but in fact I’m sorry to break it to you but actually they weren’t, for a bit.
But now they are.
Here are my top high-tops.
Converse. Good old Converse! This is a trend that started over in LA a while ago but now firmly over here too. Get them in black. Wear them with everything, particularly skirts and dresses, but also cropped light wash denim straight jeans.
Nike Air Jordans. The original and best and super-cool basketball trainer.
Utterly love my Hummels.
If you feel like spending some money, I saw Alison Loehnis, who is the CEO of Yoox Net a Porter wearing these precise shoes from Golden Goose Deluxe Brand. I confess I slavishly bought a pair and was horrified at how uncomfortable they were, but I wore them round the house for a day and in fact they just need a bit of breaking in. Love them now.
p.s. I am seeing from the comments below a lot of people dismissing high tops as unflattering or only for people with thin calves and ankles. I just don’t think that is true! I’ve been watching people with all sorts of leg shapes in high tops over the last six months or so and in fact I think they do legs all sorts of favours.
Yes I am slim but my legs are out of proportion with not much of an ankle and pathetic skinny calves that make my feet look like massive boats – and they work well. AND I was on a shoot the other day with a plus size model who definitely did not have skinny calves or ankles and she was wearing black Converse high tops and looked great. I think this anti-high top thing is a bias from that one time you tried them on and thought in your head you looked weird. Give them another go. Try to change your mind. Being stuck with the same old prejudices is very ageing.
Sadly ain’t got the legs for high tops…
Me neither.
Didn’t you say on insta the other day that £300 pair were hideously uncomfortable???
I’ve broken them in! They’re fine now
I absolutely love your column, but cannot in any shape or form do high tops ! Can you suggest some modern heavy soled trainers for this summer for a ‘more mature woman’ than yourself please ?
Sheila are you SURE you can’t do hi tops? why not? because you think you’re too old? That’s nonsense. Just try a pair, for me. If it’s still really no, then Vans are having a comeback and they are very comfy but also fly under the radar
I’m with Laura, I love my Ash hi top leather trainers, no laces, zip up with buckle detail. I’m 53 and have never felt that they aren’t age appropriate!
Sadly, not very flattering if you don’t have thin ankles and calves
I disagree! I have seen over the last year or so all body shapes wearing high tops and I think they look good on pretty much everyone. I think you need to give them another go
High tops: made for-meant for-only for the young
The preserve of the 25’s and under…
is it true that Converse have a thicker sole now? I had a pair of high tops about 9 years ago and they felt so flat and thin (and let in the cold!) on the bottom. But then I think I read that they are linked with Nike and have better formed cushiony soles??
I was wondering this. Didn’t know they were now Nike influenced in comfort. I wore converse solidly from maybe 11 until 33 (many pairs, not one invincible pair) but having taken a break for a few years I find myself wondering if I’m not over them and their thin soles and proper trainers are a better option. Vans much comfier. Or Nikes or whatever. But converse with a comfy sole. Game changer. Elaine x
If Vans fly under the radar, does this mean that I can get away with some Vans high tops? I’ve been debating for a while…
Can’t wear them. Shorten already stumpy muscley legs (mine). If I had long, slim, brown smooth legs I would pop on a pair, but unfortunately they are not for me.
I am in my 70’s and love converse hi-tops unfortunately I also have a penchant for leopard so will be wearing mine this summer with short leopard socks. Watch out London!!!!
Any chance you are thinking of doing a spring summer capsule shop update? I live overseas and rely on you for tips on what to get and where as all I have is Zara and H&M which are both great but sometimes a girl needs to branch out just a bit. I’ve got vans high tops. I love them
I second this!!
I can highly recommend Ash hi-tops, they come in at under £150 are leather and feel like slippers on they are so soft. The classic buckled ones are a real classic and last for years. I’m on my second pair in a decade and am about to buy another one. https://www.ashfootwear.co.uk/women-c1/footwear-c110/trainers-c21/classic-ash-c58
My orange converse high tops are my best friends but the holes in the bottom mean they’re fair weather friends only. BECAUSE I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, I CANNOT CHUCK THEM
Is this just for women? Every summer Rhys and I have a massive holiday showdown as he insists on wearing his Connies ( black or navy- when and where he bought these I don’t know as I never signed off on those purchases) with his shorts. In public. I generally walk a good **i don’t know him** distance when in public. Have I been wrong? Do I now have to see him as ahead of his time and a trend setter? Please tell me no.
I have banned my husband’s black Converse hi-tops. Bought him a pair of (low top) Supergas instead. It’s not so much the hi-toppiness but BLACK shoes in summer … that awful male default grey/black/griege “summer” outfit … Also those Converse stink stink stink as they are of course relics of the sixth-form and still remarkably pungent after 27 years … Husband now looks like a fat German but I prefer this to sad Englishman (I am always taken for a German – I must have very strong Saxon genes).
Converse white leather high tops are a brilliant year round option as well 👍🏼 I’m 37 and have been wearing converse hi tops since I was a child, and will continue until I’m ‘old’. I’ve always thought the great thing about them is that they span the generations, the sexes and body shapes. Literally anyone can wear them, and they should! They never go out of style.
Promise Esther, unless you are skinny in the calf area, they really don’t work. Trust me, I have tried! X
Super excited high tops are “in”. I love them inexplicably. Alas I’m not young either so not sure where my fetish for them has come from.
I got a pair from Lacoste just after Christmas in the sale. They were in a magazine feature on Christmas gifts on the teenager section and I love them aged 37.
One of the chicest women I’ve ever seen was wearing an inky navy boilersuit (KEY: must be long sleeved and legged, cuffs rolled up just so) and lavender Converse high tops. I too, slavishly, went and bought a replica look and wear it all the tiny. She was well into her 60s/70s, willowy with amazing silver hair. I am in my 30s and quite short with legs like earnest oak trees but I think it works just as well for me as it did for her and I get compliments on the Connies all the time!
haha “legs like earnest oak trees” is so funny. bless.
Kathrine, that sounds amazing – I am in awe/envious!
I thought hi tops were not for me at 41 but have been wearing a pair of black Vans all winter. More forgiving on my muscular calves than Chucks! Also a thicker sole.
Not too sure how they’ll look in summer with bare legs, but the right length of dress hides all…
I LOVE my high tops. I’m short, and have skinny ankles and sizable calves and I make them work. What you need is the right pair. Converse high tops don’t look great on me, but I love my Reebok Freestyle trainers, they actually make my ankle/calf ratio look a bit more balanced. I’d have a pair in every colour if I had the storage space.
Have two pairs of Hummels and love them. Those Nike ones are a thing of beauty but I live in a Scottish village full of mud so I could never wear them out of the house! I am 35, I feel compelled to add!
I came here for high tops but I left with wisdom: “Being stuck with the same old prejudices is very ageing.” My problem with high tops is that my ankles are very skinny and I want to show them off, not cover them. But what do I want even less than not showing my ankles? Something very ageing. Thank you Esther!
Nope. Want to be able to wear them but am chunky of calf and as previous posters have mentioned it is not a good look. Plus about 10 years ago I wore converse pumps all summer and ended up with plantar fasciitis (sp?) due to the overly flat sole which really bloody hurt. At the time I had to buy some fitflops slippers and wear for months to get rid of it.
Is it just me who finds them too time consuming to get on and off? I used to have a pair of Converse ones in black leather and I hardly wore them because of it.
I adore my All Stars but the soles go through so quickly. I don’t think I’ve had a pair last more than a year before becoming useless in damp weather.
I love how the look but Converse hurt my feet so much. I think I have the wrong shape feet and always get blisters on my little toe and a gaping wound on my heel. Also the thin sole kills me. I switched to Superga last summer and my feet were very grateful.