Sliding into warmer weather with the season's it shoe :: The Mule

The Mule is a must have shoe for every wardrobe. Image via All For Fashion Design.

My love affair with this simple slide began decades ago when I was young - It was the late 1970s and early 1980s and the era when the bell bottom, peace love and happiness transitioned quietly into the early days of disco and jumpsuits. The shoe I'm referring to, of course, is the clog. How I so fondly remember my beloved wooden soled clogs. During the cooler season I wore my clogs and when the weather was warm out I proudly donned my Dr. Scholl exercise sandals. Over the course of several years I would own all three colors, red, white and blue... there might have even been a denim version as well.

Were you a child, teen or young adult in the 1970s? Were clogs your most favorite shoe? Image via In the Gloss

I have two very vivid memories of these simple slide-ons. The first is quite a painful one, and still makes me flinch at the thought of my foot accidentally slipping off the back of the shoe where the tender part of my instep would land on the hard, sharp edge of the heel which resulted in shooting pains up and down and had me seeing stars... 

1970s Gucci Clogs. Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The other memory is that of my mother yelling at me as I clomped loudly across our wood floors. I wasn't exactly the quietest or most graceful of children, and I would soon learn these shoes were best worn outside. (I grew up in an old pre-war apartment on the Upper East Side with the most spectacular wood floors. Despite the large oriental and shag area rugs I still managed to sound like an elephant walking on two-by-fours!) Eventually, my love for these most un-delicate of shoes faded into a quiet oblivion only to be replaced by something else. Fast forward ten years or so and fresh out of college and my go to shoe was a simple black kitten-heeled mule. Although that particular pair is no longer in my closet, my shoe racks are filled with countless versions of these backless shoes. Perhaps it has something just a tiny bit to do with my own laziness, but mostly it is because I find this style of shoe to be comfortable, extremely flattering and incredibly versatile. I wear my mules about 80% of the time. And now as the weather has warmed and the snow has melted we can look forwards to giving our boots a break and slipping into a pretty mule. And once again they're all the rage - from the pages of your favorite fashion magazines, to the runways to the streets.... From The Gap to Gucci, from Aldo to Valentino, the mule is is the shoe style to slip into this season. 

Peeptoe glam makes this sophisticated mule appropriate for the workplace and the cocktail apres! Image via Freshnet.

Edgy snakeskin mules for the forward thinking gal. Image via The Alternative Bride. Original Source unknown.

Stylish flat mules complement a casual weekend wardrobe. Image via Emerson Frye.

Mules also make a mod comeback. Image via Emma Gutteridge

We adore these tassel flat mules from JCrew. Image via JCrew.

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy looked stylish in mules in the 1990s. This timeless look remains fresh today. Image source unknown. 

Elegant kitten heel mules offer a casual elegance. Image via Cosmopolitan. 

Mules are popular across the Pond according to Fashion Me Now (Is this a kinder, gentler clog, perhaps?)

Open toed mules, image via Elin Kling