It might be a coincidence, but the shoe fashion fits into this time.

The first days of autumn already give a foretaste of what is to come: cold and uncomfortable months, and so far we can only guess at the degree of cold and uncomfortableness.

So it's fitting that shoes are in vogue that aren't capricious and elegant, but are such that we can march through the cold season on firm, thick soles.

Anke Schipp

Editor in the "Life" department of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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Elegant high heels, for example, become rustic models whose heel widens downwards like flared trousers.

Classic ankle boots now have platform soles with a profile that is otherwise only known from mountain boots.

Shoe without lacing

However, the trend is most obvious in a shoe that otherwise has nothing rustic about it: the college shoe.

It was originally called the "penny loafer" because it was popular with students at American elite universities and students allegedly put a penny in the recess of the shaft bridge over their instep for good luck.

The low shoe without lacing, which many people still know from the 80s and the popper era, is getting a completely new face this fall and winter that has little in common with the upper-class attitude of the past.

Its sole is no longer made of the finest leather, which makes a clicking sound with every step;

Rather, the loafers now have a solid tread sole that is otherwise only known from sneakers.

That's why they got a new nickname: chunky loafers, which means clumsy.

In a way, the shoe is now divided into two parts: on the top it retains its elegant touch with a leather upper, which is usually combined with a metal buckle, while on the bottom it becomes rustic.

The advantage: the chunky loafers are as comfortable as sneakers.

And by the way, the college shoe loses the snob character it had in the eighties.

And something else is different: while it was preferred to wear it with tapered pants that narrowed at the bottom, the opposite is now the case.

The loafers are combined with pants that are particularly wide and have the nickname "wide leg".

The wide silhouette with the chunky shoe makes for a massive appearance that signals: Hello, here I come!

And if you dare, you can go one better and buy the shoes in trendy bright colors: frog green or Barbie doll pink.