A token Google of the phrase “best shoes when pregnant” will advertise the following pieces: Birkenstock’s soft footbed sandals, Crocs and something called Kizik sneakers, which are not pleasant to look at, but are described on the company’s website as “the world’s best hands-free, slip-on shoes.” I’d imagine these items would help alleviate the various ailments—joint pressure, swollen ankles, a flattening of the foot’s arches—that stretch well into most people’s pregnancies.
Nowhere is it suggested mesh heels—as Hailey Bieber wore yesterday afternoon while strolling through Los Angeles in a crop top and low-slung jeans with a large Bottega Veneta Hop bag—might be a suitable companion to someone’s third trimester. But the model was never going to follow the traditional what-to-expect-when-expecting guidelines laid out on Mumsnet.com. This is, after all, the same person whose maternity wardrobe ranges from Alessandra Rich lace jumpsuits, Blumarine butterfly tops and Laquan Smith bodycons to draped Phoebe Philo dresses.
Margot Robbie—who recently announced that she was expecting her first child with husband Tom Ackerley—was also photographed in fishnet heels while dining in London earlier this week, doing away with the fishnet ballerina trend that has proliferated this magazine’s headlines for the best part of 12 months. Consider this proof, perhaps, that being pregnant does not always require quite as many style concessions as Google would have a person believe. Robbie’s feet doubtless benefitted from a cool breeze even if those diaphanous babies were swiftly removed beneath the dinner table.