Ugly Hiking Shoes Are Trending—Here’s How to Make Them Look Chic

Reported by Harper's Bazaar.

Every summer has its shoe moment. Last year it was luxury flip-flops; the year before, jelly shoes staged their unlikely comeback. For 2026, the sandal of the season is neither delicate nor strappy — it's chunky, technical, and aggressively practical. The gorpcore walking sandal has arrived, and it's not apologizing for a thing.

According to Harper's Bazaar, the appeal goes beyond function, though the function is genuinely good: these are shoes long endorsed by hikers and podiatrists alike, built to handle 20,000-plus steps without wrecking your feet. What makes them interesting from a fashion standpoint is exactly what makes them polarizing — their studied ugliness. Mary-Kate Olsen was ahead of the curve in Teva Voya Infinity sandals well before The Row constructed its own hiker-chic interpretation. Phoebe Philo has been photographed in Birkenstock Arizonas and has pushed her own version of the chunky sport sandal through her eponymous label. When those two women are your cosigners, the conversation about whether these shoes are "acceptable" is effectively over.

The Art of Styling Something Intentionally Awkward

The trick with gorpcore sandals isn't to hide them — it's to let them do the casual-cool work while everything else stays considered. In transitional weather, they ground something unexpectedly elevated: think a leather funnel jacket, balloon-leg trousers, a semi-sheer cowl-neck top. On vacation, lean into resort logic — a draped cropped top, a pareo-inspired skirt, an embellished clutch — and let the sandals signal that you dressed with intention, not effort. For city dressing, pair them with a crisp button-down, ribbed white tank, and drawstring pants; throw a trench over it for the weather's inevitable mood swings. The bohemian turn is equally strong — prairie silhouettes in the vein of Chemena Kamali's Chloé and Isabel Marant make Birkenstocks feel like a styling choice rather than a concession. For more elevated daytime occasions, a bold-print dress and complementary accessories push sporty sandals past brunch and into actual grown-woman territory.

The broader point is that a sandal built for a trail or a podiatrist's recommendation doesn't have to stay there. These shoes work because they introduce tension — between polish and utility, between fashion fluency and deliberate nonchalance — and right now, that tension is exactly where personal style lives.

The ugliest shoe in the room often has the most to say — you just have to be confident enough to let it talk.

Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.