Jennifer Lopez is hauling her “Hustlers” heels out of storage this summer.
Over the past several months, the sexy multi-hyphenate has stepped out no fewer than five times wearing a pair of towering, transparent Valentino platform pumps featuring 6-inch see-through heels.
The sky-high shoes could’ve been plucked from the closet of Ramona Vega — the savvy dancer-turned-delinquent Lopez portrayed to Golden Globe-nominated effect in the 2022 crime dramedy – but J.Lo wore them while strolling the streets of NYC and Beverly Hills, not twirling around a pole.
And while the average pair of Pleasers (the brand of choice for actual strippers) will set you back around $100, Valentino’s version retails for $1,790.
Lopez isn’t the only major name making a case for the clear platform outside of the strip club right now; Megan Fox was spotted hoofing it around LA with fiancé Machine Gun Kelly last month in a set of see-through sandals equipped with 7.5-inch stilettos.
And over the weekend, Kate Beckinsale celebrated her 50th birthday by kicking up her heels — a PVC pair near-identical to Fox’s, to be precise — with some of her nearest and dearest.
With some of Hollywood’s hottest footwear designers, like Amina Muaddi and Larroudé, offering their own takes on the quintessential stripper shoe, it’s clear (pun intended) the style’s having a moment in the spotlight. But why now?
Tully Walter, a trend forecaster and consumer expert at Soon Future Studies, says the heel’s popularity is part and parcel with the push to redefine bimboism in a post-#MeToo and –Dobbs v. Jackson world.
“Both the once-derogatory, misogynistic ‘bimbo’ label and the hyper-feminine aesthetic the stripper heel embodies are being reclaimed by a new era of feminism,” Walter tells Pvnew Style, pointing to the rise of Barbiecore as another example of how the movement has materialized via fashion.
“By reclaiming and celebrating the tropes that have historically been used to dehumanize or belittle people, it rewrites the connotations. What might have been deemed ‘tacky’ or ‘bimbo’ is reframed as fierce and fabulous.”
Chelsea Davignon, a senior strategist at global trend forecasting company Fashion Snoops, agrees that stomping around in stripper heels is a way for women to rewrite the “caricatures of femininity and sexuality that society has placed on them for decades.
However, she adds, it’s “vital” for those trying out these dancer-loved styles to acknowledge their origins.
“Sex workers still face harmful stereotyping and dangerous realities while celebs and influencers often get to keep their safety and status while testing out passing trends,” Davignon tell us.
And as anyone who’s spent a day strutting in a pole dancer’s platforms can attest, it’s no walk in the park.
“What’s particularly pertinent about the stripper heel is the bodacious strength and athleticism that they also represent,” Walter says.
“From the elevated height to the elite strength required to master the pole, these shoes evoke a powerful energy.”
