This is the summer of ballet flats for men Did we trigger you already?

If you read "men's ballet flats" in the title and felt a flush of indignation ignite your temples, relax. No one is going to tell you to wear the classic pink satin ballet flats that are often unflattering even on women. No less, over the past season, some trendsetter brands have come up with a type of men's footwear for summer that is not quite a sabot, nor quite a loafer, nor quite an espadrille - it is something like a slipper, very low, which we could call discreet if it were not that precisely its hyper-functional shape and its black leather construction (there are other variations but the black leather one seems to be the favorite) makes it similar to the dreaded ballet flat. A common trait of many models is the space they give to the instep of the foot, similar to the classic and somewhat invisible friulana, but with an edginess that has nothing to do with sugary velvets, various frills, or excessive formal delicacy. The men's ballerina is flat and practical, and the designers who have reinterpreted it (including the master of classicism, Giorgio Armani) have made it, some more, some less, a shoe devoid of any particular whimsy or delicacy but rather practical and minimalist. Rather, the new men's ballerina maintains a sense of simple grace, perhaps a bit awkward, but nonetheless aristocratic in its total nonchalance that seems reminiscent of those dandies of Saint Tropez who, as early as the 1950s and 1960s, clearly perceived the distinction between city and resort, between seashore and metropolitan sidewalk.

It goes without saying that such a shoe requires well-thought-out styling: loose pants, off-the-shoulder shirts, and loose, cool T-shirts strictly in solids, even suits when they are oversized and composed of summer fabrics, jeans when placed in ensembles endowed with coolness and sprezzatura. Never mix it with classic sportswear or formalwear since you would simply look like you are in slippers and especially never think you can add such a "strong" shoe in basic outfits of dark slim-fit jeans and blue polo shirts or anything that might resemble even from a distance the business casual outfit of a good family man. There is something decidedly indolent and languid about this shoe that cannot be tacked onto every outfit (imagine the American "college bros" with their outfits of salmon pink shirts, cargo shorts, and boat shoes that ended up at the center of so many memes and parodies) and rather deserves to be the literal and metaphorical foundation of a specifically designed summer look. We are not, of course, talking about eccentricity at any cost-just taste, and boldness, i.e., the ingredients of any good look.