Cute shoes for thick ankles?

April 13, 2009 9:36 AM

Skirt season! I would like to wear skirts! What are some good casual shoes/sandals for thick ankles (cankles, if you will)?

I know they should have a heel and be pointy-toed, but can you give me links to examples of fun shoes (Zappos or Piperlime or Amazon)? FWIW, I mostly wear simple straight or A-line skirts that hit at (or right above) the knee, so not super-feminine or flowy.

Also, I'm terrible at heels, and I have to walk around outside a lot. Are the chunkier kinds of heels on Danskos (which I find comfortable) slimming at all? What about cowboy boots or shoe-boots? I'm not sure if these will hide or accentuate the thickness.

Thanks in advance!

posted by anonymous to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

I remember watching women from the British version of what not to wear and for cankles, they suggested wearing backless shoes because it elongates the leg.
posted by spec80 at 9:49 AM on April 13, 2009

I would refute the point-toe thing. I have a pair of Dansko Madrigals that I love to death. I wear them with pants, skirts, dresses, with socks, without socks...they've been amazingly versatile. The ankle strap is super comfortable.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:50 AM on April 13, 2009

The thing is to make the longest line possible from the hem of your skirt to the top of your shoe. If you cut the vertical line with a horizontal, it looks wider. So I would avoid ankle straps in favor of slingbacks, for instance, and find the lowest "throat" (the part of the shoe that goes over your toe) possible.

Cowboy boots, on the other hand, should fall just below your calf muscle, and they sort of visually finesse the whole issue--ideally, the boot continues the line, narrowing slightly from your calf muscle to your ankle and drawing the eye downward.

Really short elf-boots probably aren't a good idea if you're de-emphasizing thick ankles, and shoe-boots with skirts are right out.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:05 AM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Just a guy chiming in: I have a friend who has thick legs and ankles. In the summer she wears simple, knee length skirts like you're talking about with very casual (backless? Heel-less?) slip-ons and sandals. I think she mostly wears Birkenstock. Her leg's wind up looking very cute with this arrangement.
posted by wfrgms at 10:12 AM on April 13, 2009

Personally, I feel like a low-cut vamp (I think this is what Sidhedevil calls a throat) is more important than a heel. Having a heel will make your legs look longer, yes. But showing more of your foot (i.e. ballet flats VS shoe-boots) will also make your legs look longer, and you'll be able to walk around more comfortably.

I like heels, but they're simply not practical for all circumstances, and I hope you don't feel like you have to wear them simply because they you have thick ankles.

The low-cut vamp is important for making your legs appear long and slim, because, imagine if you were wearing high top Reeboks and a skirt that hit right below your knee. There's barely any of your leg showing, and it chops the line of your leg up into pieces, making you look stumpy and stubby.

Avoid Mary Janes with the strap right up against the ankle; that line across the ankle will make it look thicker. Mary Janes with the strap farther down by the toes, like these, are OK. I would say no to gladiator sandals, as well; I am biased because I hate them, but those million straps crossing all over your calves probably won't do you any favors.

Here's a photo of Agent Lover wearing gold cowboy boots and skirt. She's got a lot of girly shapliness packed into a short self, and she manages to pull it off, so I am sure you could too. Rock them boots.

These have an incredibly low vamp, come in a million colors, are reasonably priced for real leather, and would go with anything. I considered buying them myself as work shoes, in fact; they look like you could walk miles in them.

OK, these are way too expensive for me to consider you actually willing to buy them, but they're so cute and spring-like I can't resist. Besides, like anyone would be able to tear their eyes off those butterflies to glance at your ankles.

Cheaper, just as cute, lower vamp, and an even more obnoxiously adorable embellishment.

Dressy flats with a slightly pointed toe. Lots of colors.

Even more pointed.

Also, this probably sounds completely off since they're perfectly suited for winter, but some Frye boots would be so chunky they'd make the rest of your legs seem svelte by comparison, they'd cover the cankles, and they look crazy cute with short skirts.
posted by Juliet Banana at 10:12 AM on April 13, 2009 [4 favorites]

I think these are all adorable low sandals that would look just fine with your legs. I have thicker calves and ankles too, and I mostly try to go for things like this. The trick is to not choose a strap style that forms a circle around your ankle, but may create the illusion of that. The last one is the most iffy- I think they would cute with a longer skirt.
posted by Mouse Army at 10:48 AM on April 13, 2009

A couple more design points to look for:

A little bit of crossover detailing in the middle of the vamp (i.e. like this) will help to lengthen your legs. If you find them comfortable, d'Orsay-style vamps like these or these would also create a nice effect.
posted by thisjax at 10:57 AM on April 13, 2009

A chunky heel and a chunky leg is a very bad combination and makes a person look all kinds of 1993.
If you want a comfortable heel, look for a wedge like this red sandal-y one instead of a thick heel.
If you don't want a heel, I agree with what everyone else said about some low-cut ballet flats like this.
posted by rmless at 11:32 AM on April 13, 2009

On the cowboy boot theme, I have these in both black and red. They're discontinued, but you can still find them sometimes. I've worn my red ones 3-4 times a week for 7 years, am on my second pair of soles (yes, resoleable!) and still love them to death. Best boots ever.
posted by mollymayhem at 12:23 PM on April 13, 2009

Personally, I feel like a low-cut vamp (I think this is what Sidhedevil calls a throat) is more important than a heel.

Agreed. The vamp is part of the throat, though--the throat is the whole topline of the shoe.

A shoe with a low vamp and a high topline elsewhere (i.e., it comes up relatively high around the sides of your foot), even though it dips low right over your toes--like this one, for instance--is not going to lengthen the line of the leg as much as a shoe with a low-cut topline at the sides, like this one.

So it's worth looking at the whole throat, or topline, not just the vamp.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:50 PM on April 13, 2009

The Fatshionista flickriver has a bazillion great shoe ideas, many of which look dynamite with solidly-built legs. Better yet, if you click the photos, most of them have shopping information included. As a data point, I think boots are awesome and ballet flats look really cute, too. I'd wear substantial shoes with clean lines and strong sturdy heels rather than teeny wispy strappy ones with thin heels.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 1:12 PM on April 13, 2009

I have a cankle problem too, and I'm just starting to discover the magic of ballet flats. Because I wear slightly long jeans most of the time, I can't wear them a whole lot, but a really dressy one--like a patent leather one of the pink Urban Outfitters one another poster linked to--would look great with a skirt.
posted by bookwibble at 9:12 PM on April 13, 2009