Whichever specific version suits your personal style, know this: The 18 best ballet flats ahead aren’t going away anytime soon.We have mentioned the top 11 options you can choose from in this article. As for materials, it can depend on the season: Transparent mesh and fishnet are suited to sweltering summer days, while heavier leathers and velvet are essential for fall. Across designers, look for soles padded with memory foam and a toe box with plenty of wiggle room. Sarah Flint, the designer behind a namesake line of comfortable flats and heels, said fit and materials are the top two components of any ballet flat worth wearing through it all. Of course, not every pair will last through years, even decades, of outfits and cultural style shifts.

'Ballet flats are both elegant and comfortable-they quite literally tie your look together with a bow,' she told me. With so much versatility and variation, Bazaar senior fashion and accessories editor Jaclyn Alexandra Cohen said the best ballet flats always outlast fleeting shoe trends. Then there are the minimal versions worn by modern style icons like Elsa Hosk: plain black leather with a little elastic strap and a curved toe, as chic with a linen summer dress as a pair of wide-leg jeans. While a few designers have based their pairs off of pointe shoes-ribboned styles from Repetto and Miu Miu come to mind-others have taken the comfortable flats in edgier directions with crystal embellishments (Khaite) and netted exteriors (Alaïa). Today’s reigning ballet flat isn’t just an homage to the history of dance, with leotard-pink leather and elastic straps. (Even though my preferred pair is vintage Chanel.) For the past two years, however, fashion has come back around to what I’ve always known: The best ballet flats are an absolute staple.

While I’ve worn my best ballet flats on a near-daily basis since the late 2010s, the greater trend cycle hasn’t always agreed with my footwear choices. I couldn’t help but feel validated when designers from Miu Miu to Tory Burch began reviving ballet flats through their runway collections.

Crane ballet flats