Rihanna‘s effortlessly cool outfits are now a case study in styling a ballet flat micro-trend.
On Thursday, July 11, Rihanna was photographed going for a late-night stroll with her beau, A$AP Rocky, in New York City. For her outfit of the night, the multi-hyphenate put her Fenty magic to good use, stepping out in a semi-sheer, zebra-printed two-piece set. The pajama-like co-ord featured a breezy oversized blouse—and it seems she tucked into her bra to create a cropped effect at the front—with coordinating wide pants to match.
The Anti singer went streetwear with most of her accessories. She teamed her baggy loungewear with a navy blue New York Yankees hat, XXL silver hoop earrings, and a sleek black leather shoulder bag.
Rihanna completed her outfit with an unlikely shoe trend. Instead of chunky Puma sneakers, her relaxed trousers pooled over her feet and revealed a pair of silver ballet flats.
Lately, Riri has been taking her pajamas from the house to the streets. Just the day before, on Wednesday, July 10, the musician-slash-entrepreneur sported a high-low moment with a gray Jawara Alleyne graphic T-shirt styled with Puma sweatpants and platform Ottolinger x Puma sneakers. The “high” part of this look stemmed from her $1,750 Gucci tote bag (and the thousands and thousands of dollars in chunky gold and silver jewelry pieces, if that counts).
But Rihanna makes an interesting choice with ballet flats. It’s not every day that the “Diamonds” singer is captured wearing the dainty style. Rihanna’s metallic flats come right at the peak of the balletcore trend—the aesthetic that focuses on tulle, frills, bows, and of course, ballerina-inspired flats.
Ballet flats were once a core (and controversial) staple of the 2000s and 2010s and have now made a much cooler return. From mesh to satin, stars like Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Hailey Bieber, and many, many more have paired their flats in a number of ways in the past couple of years—think sweatpants, jeans, and midi skirts galore.
Within all those flats, shiny silver pairs are an emerging moment of their own. Tory Burch designed a flat-toed metallic version endorsed by Katie Holmes, while Jennifer Lawrence has worn a pair studded all over by the same designer.
Now that Rihanna’s on board, it seems the silver ballet flat is the breakout style to try. Shop it below.