Jelly Shoes, Beaded Sandals and ’90s Footwear Are Fueling Summer Street Style
By Runway Magazine Editorial Team | June 18, 2026
This summer, what was once considered passé and dated is now officially stylish again. From clear jelly shoes to suede fisherman styles, an overwhelming shift toward nostalgic staples has taken hold. Footwear is leading it. The shoes fueling summer street style in 2026 are not the polished minimalist styles of recent seasons. Bold color, playful material, deliberate nods to childhood dressing — jelly shoes and their embellished companions are the footwear street style photographers are chasing alongside neutral linen sets.
This is the year of the 90s sandals trend and broader 90s fashion revival. Footwear is where that revival is most concentrated and most visible. The Olsen Twins and Jennifer Lawrence quietly reintroduced The Row’s lattice jelly styles in 2023. The current wave is fully mainstream. Clear jellies, PVC straps, and wide-buckle styles have moved from editorial trend reports to street style feeds to high street availability at H&M, Zara, and Ref — without losing any of their fashion credibility in the process.
Jelly Sandals: From Childhood Memory to Luxury Runway
The jelly sandal’s return in 2026 is not a simple nostalgia exercise. It is a fully realized trend with luxury credentials and a design evolution that separates this generation from the plastic beach shoes of thirty years ago. Designer sandals from Chloé — fashion sandals women were most eager to track this season — include the styles where creative director Chemena Kamali released several jelly shoes that went viral on runway season, including the Cosmopolitan pink heeled flip-flops and the charming clear mules now dubbed “Cinderella shoes” — a style that appeared on the SS26 runway and immediately generated waiting lists. Jimmy Choo’s new jelly flip-flops in capri blue became one of the early “shoe of the summer” calls. Capri blue is appearing across Versace, Alaïa, and Tory Burch this season.
The Luxury Credentials Behind the Revival
Christina Martini, co-founder and creative director of Ancient Greek Sandals, explains the appeal: “Jelly shoes have evolved from a one-season wonder into a true summer staple. They have a timeless appeal, evoking a sense of nostalgia and reminding people of carefree, childhood holidays. Despite their origins as a beachside essential, jelly shoes have become a luxury staple through their balance of simplicity and modernity. They add a playful pop of colour and can instantly refresh an outfit. Nostalgic design plus contemporary appeal: that combination has made them enduring.”
That balance separates the 2026 jelly sandal from every prior revival attempt. Earlier iterations felt like novelty. This one feels like fashion. Who What Wear’s definitive jelly shoe trend guide for 2026 identifies six specific jelly styles dominating the season: the classic flat sandal in translucent or bold color, the jelly flip-flop elevated through luxury material, the jelly wedge, the kitten heel jelly mule, the “wrong-shoe” oversized clog interpretation, and the clear PVC-strap hybrid. Fashion sandals for women in 2026 have not abandoned polish. They have redefined it. They have redefined it as something that can also be playful.
How to Style Jelly Sandals in 2026
The styling logic for jelly sandals is counterintuitive. That is the point. The best jelly sandal looks pair the most opinionated shoe with the most minimal outfit. A translucent jelly slide with a cream linen column dress. A Chloé pink kitten-heel jelly mule with wide-leg white trousers. Each contrast is the point. The contrast between retro playfulness and minimalist summer fashion’s quiet restraint is the point. For more on how nostalgic footwear connects to the broader summer street style story, explore Runway’s retro sportswear and 90s fashion coverage.
Beaded Sandals: The “Tacky” Comeback That Is Now Everywhere
This category represents a different kind of fashion reversal. Where jelly shoes were always lovably nostalgic, this shoe style had a harder rehabilitation to make. Once regarded as tacky as a gladiator sandal, this gaudy silhouette was relegated to the annals of fashion history — lost the way Valentino Rockstud heels and Isabel Marant Beckett wedge trainers were. Fashion’s reappraisal of this style is therefore a more significant statement than the jelly revival. It is an argument that the fashion system’s rejection of certain aesthetics as “too much” was itself restrictive conservatism. Summer 2026 is actively reversing it.
Equal parts folky and bohemian, this is the chic maximalist microtrend — an easy way to add colour without too much commitment. Resort wear shoes from the high street and designers alike appear on fashion editors on early summer holidays, wearing theirs with column skirts, shell belts and a tank top — a look that feels very Mischa Barton in The O.C.
The Geographic Spread: Ibiza, Capri, London
That O.C. reference is precise. They carry a specific cultural timestamp — the early 2000s when boho-chic and beach-casual were the dominant aesthetic languages — and the fashion system is now treating that timestamp not as a liability but as a credential.
Beach style fashion and city street style are merging. These have been spotted on beaches in Capri, in Ibiza, and on inner-city streets in London, the beaded sandal trend is quickly taking over this summer. Who What Wear’s dedicated beaded sandal trend report confirms the geographic spread: these are not exclusively vacation shoes. They are arriving on city pavements alongside the resort-coded aesthetics they were originally paired with. As street fashion accessories go, this is the equivalent of the oversized linen set. A vacation-coded item that has crossed into European street style and everyday urban dressing.
The Color Story: From Capri Blue to Burnt Orange
Summer 2026 footwear is not content with one color palette. The sandal color story this season spans from capri blue (Versace, Alaïa, Tory Burch, Ancient Greek Sandals, Jimmy Choo) to burnt orange, candy pink, translucent clear, and muted gold. Each carries a different styling logic and a different cultural reference.
Capri blue reads as European vacation — the specific blue of Amalfi Coast water and Mediterranean summer. Burnt orange pairs a retro edge with modern warmth, connecting to earthy neutrals while introducing just enough color to function as a statement. Candy pink and bubblegum tones are the most explicitly 90s shade — the Cosmopolitan-era color that connects directly to Chloé’s heeled flip-flop. Translucent clear is the minimalist’s entry point. PVC sandal straps, clear jelly slides, and vinyl-strap footwear deliver the trend without committing to color. For vacation outfit ideas and European coastal color inspiration, explore Runway’s European coastal style and vacation outfit guide.
How to Wear Nostalgic Sandals: The Street Style Formula
The vacation street style formula for nostalgic footwear is built on contrast. Jelly shoes work as a playful finishing piece rather than the focal point of an outfit. A colorful flat or sandal instantly elevates a simple monochromatic look. Neutral or translucent pairs help balance brighter spring palettes without competing for attention. They also work particularly well with relaxed tailoring — loose trousers, oversized button-downs, or slip dresses.
Summer footwear trends have pivoted: flat sandals have substantively replaced chunky platform sneakers as the warm-weather footwear of choice. TikTok fashion shoes this season trend toward the delicate, colorful, and vintage-referenced rather than bulkier athleisure silhouettes. Street style shoes driving the most engagement carry visual personality while allowing the outfit to remain minimal. That conversation centers on cute summer sandals in unexpected materials and colors — exactly where jelly shoes and their embellished companions live.
The retro footwear trend at its best requires only one principle. Let the shoe carry the character; the outfit provides the canvas. A beaded-style sandal with a column linen skirt and simple tank is not trying to do too much. It allows one deliberate, specific, highly personal choice to do all the communicative work. That connects the nostalgic fashion trend in footwear to Summer 2026’s broader direction. Fashion trends 2026 have consistently preferred the one strong statement to the many competing ones. For all the jelly sandals, beaded sandals, and summer shoes 2026 coverage that matters, trust Runway Magazine.
