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As sweet as a Wimbledon serving of strawberries and cream, a great summer dress and the perfect ballet pumps is an enduring summer pairing. More polished than trainers and more prim than sandals, the right pair of ballet pumps can work with a wardrobe's worth of summer dresses to take you from beach to pool to office to pub during the warmer months.
Finding the right ballet pump to pair with your favourite summer dress is as much colour palette as it is about anything else. Pumps are a great way to play with colour to inject clashing brights to a simple dress or to discretely sit in matchy-matchy harmony. It's a choice that comes with great sartorial pay off either way. Consider rosy pink with acid green or neon pink with grungy khaki. And nothing looks chicer, even in a heatwave, than a black dress worn with black shoes.
As ballet pumps have chasséd out of the dance studio and now prove just as popular on the pavement, the styles available to shop have vastly expanded, too. Dare we say that ballet pumps can be edgy? Maybe even subversive now. Choose to wear styles with punkish hardware or in obscure colours to best capture the new mood and remain, I'm sorry, en pointe.
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This Margiela dress, in its saccharine palette, will work best with a khaki pump like the below from Miu Miu. The surprising colour also helps the surprising pairing of a sheer and lace tea dress with a flat shoe.
Chopova Lowena Floral Dress
Allow the dress to take centre stage with a classic pair of pale pink pumps. The pairing leans into the fairycore trend and softens the dress' toughness.
Ganni Multicolour Crochet Halterneck Dress
This is how you do a dress and ballet pumps for the beach.
Toteme Embroidered Maxi Dress
A maxi dress and a flat ballet pump is an alluring formal formula. Shop embellishments that'll dazzle into the night.
Tory Burch Crystal Ballet Pumps
This sleek pairing is pure nostalgia, while remaining prim in its execution to avoid any retro accusations.
Black, white and red are destined for La Dolce Vita. Wear red pumps with this great polka dot dress to break up the print in style.
Don't disregard black this summer. When worn top to toe, it looks impossibly chic while also hiding a multitude of sins.
Sandy Liang Cotton Mini Dress
A white cotton dress is a ballet pump's best friend. Silver makes for a contemporary edition and few beat Chanel's signature style.
Lean into the flouncy proportions of this pink and red dress by injecting a third colour: chartreuse. The acid green colour is a perfect pairing to bring life to this look.
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