If you're anywhere near #fashiontok (the fashionable side of TikTok), you'll know the 'Wrong Shoe Theory' is sweeping the app.
Seemingly coined by stylist Allison Bornstein a while back, but picking up momentum currently, the simple styling concept is exactly what the name suggests: that you should wear what might historically be considered the 'wrong' shoe with your outfit, to achieve a more interesting look.
'Let me remind you of the easiest way to give your look personality: choose the wrong shoe', Bornstein says. 'A shoe can really take a look from being obvious and straight-forward to more interesting and unique.'
But, what's the wrong shoe? Well, if loafers are the right shoe to wear with tailoring, make them wrong and wear them with a Princess dress instead. Pair that aforementioned tailoring with a casual set of trainers. Think of it like all odd pairings, be it marmite and cheese, basil and strawberries, or chocolate and chilli - weird, but totally scrumptious.
Once you know about this theory, be prepared to notice it in so many outfits you see on the streets, save on Instagram, or even put together yourself. A brief look around ELLE UK's own office confirms it: we've got denim cut-offs and loafers, shirting and clogs, plus jelly shoes and pleating. Yes, the wrong shoe theory is everywhere.
All of the world's most stylish women seem to subscribe to the yet-unwritten rule. Mary-Kate Olsen is big on the wrong shoe scene, infamously and single-handedly reviving the ever-sunny flip flop in 2018 by adding it to her dark, gothic wardrobe. Similarly, Solange is the Queen of unlikely combinations, our favourite being a rugby shirt with ballet flats. Heck, even Kylie Jenner's new paired-back look involves a prairie dress and dunks.
The ephemeral categorisation of 'good style' has long been defined by this oxymoron of both casual and formal, feminine and masculine, or safe and daring. Be it Chloe Sevigny's ever-tousled hair with even the most prim of minis, or a Le Smoking suit with a seductive red lip - it's in the tension where 'coolness' apparently lies.
Mixing it up over an entire outfit can also feel a touch too chaotic for most, so relying on a wrong shoe plus right everything else recipe feels like the perfect middle ground.
So tomorrow, when you're deciding what to wear with your heatwave-proof linen dress, or directional denim maxi skirt, we dare you, wear the wrong shoe.