Margaret Qualley is letting the dogs out—literally.
The Dog Stars actress made quite the bold fashion choice at the film’s London premiere Aug. 20 by wearing the controversial Chanel barefoot sandals.
The fantastical footwear featured only the heel of a shoe—with the Chanel logo—and a strap that wrapped around Qualley’s foot, only leaving her toes and the balls of her feet exposed. The 31-year-old paired the unconventional accessory with a fringy, v-neck black dress, also from Chanel.
The shoes themselves first landed with a questioning bang in April, when Chanel’s creative director Matthieu Blazy debuted the pieces as part of the resort 2027 collection. They were never made available on the Chanel website, likely meaning that only those anointed by the label have access to the shoes.
Still, despite their designer origins, fans were not feeling toe-tally confident about Qualley’s footwear choice.
“I can't believe someone actually wore these Chanel shoes!” one person wrote on Instagram, with another wondering, “...but what if she has to use a public restroom?!”
And, as one fan joked, “Inflation hit fashion it’s too expensive to make a full shoe.”
But Qualley is no stranger to putting her feet on display, as they were featured prominently during an un-foot-gettable moment in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. In the scene, Qualley’s character Pussycat props up her dirty feet after she’s picked up by stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt).
And while the scene went off boot-ifully, the Emmy nominee was initially nervous about showing off her feet after years as a ballerina.
“I genuinely was like, ‘Quentin, this is a bad idea. I don’t have good feet,’” she told IndieWire in 2019. “I was in pointe shoes for far too long to have toes that can be shown to the world.”
“We had a big debate about it, me, Quentin and Brad, with them trying to be like, ‘You’re fine,’ and me being like, ‘No, guys, really, look, these are not good,'” Qualley recalled. “‘I know that I undermine myself pretty regularly, but I’m genuinely telling you these are not good feet, look at these. I know I’m self-deprecating, but I’m not being in this particular instance.'”
Eventually, she “did the foot thing” and found that left her with newfound respect for her feet.
“I used to actually be pretty mortified with my feet,” she said. “Maybe I can finally just give up that now.”
For a deep dive into more shoes that made the outfit, keep reading.
Summertime Sandals
Reese Witherspoon wearing Christian Louboutin.
Pretty Little Poppies
Kerry Washington wearing Paul Andrew.
Fur Real
Maisie Williams wearing Topshop.
Galactic Gal
Chrissy Teigen wearing Jimmy Choo.
Flower Child
Elizabeth Banks wearing Stuart Weitzman.
Color Me Rainbow
Kiernan Shipka wearing Valentino.
Bow Down!
Maria Sharapova wearing Nicholas Kirkwood.
Put a Pompon On It
Lily James wearing iridescent, pompon-adorned heels.
Gold Rush
Priyanka Chopra wearing Giuseppe Zanotti.
Salmon Pink
January Jones wearing Jimmy Choo.
Fuchsia Forever
Ashley Greene wearing Paul Andrew.
Spike It
Ashley Madekwe wearing Christian Louboutin.
Two-Tone Teal
Zosia Mamet wearing ombré teal heels.
Minions Maven
Sandra Bullock wearing custom Rupert Sanderson.
Sexy Angles
Brittany Snow wearing monochrome pumps.
Primary Colors
Garcelle Beauvais wearing Aquazzura.
Feet Candy
Jessica Alba wearing Casadei.
Fringe Benefits
Rashida Jones wearing Proenza Schouler.
On the Ball
Diane Kruger wearing Nicholas Kirkwood.
Funky Florals
Sophia Bush wearing Christian Louboutin.
Suede Days
Victoria Beckham wearing Manolo Blahnik.
Color Cage
Lady Gaga wearing Pierre Hardy.
Electric Blues
Taylor Swift wearing Pedro García.
On the Fringe
Padma Lakshmi wearing Christian Louboutin.
Red Hots
Darby Stanchfield wearing Marskinryyppy by Nicole Brundage.
Monochromatic
Jamie Chung wearing Sophia Webster.
Sky-Bluesday
Blake Lively wearing Christian Louboutin.
Colorblock Cutie
Sarah Hyland wearing Jimmy Choo.
Ready for Takeoff
Nina Dobrev wearing Sophia Webster.
Lace-Tie Love
Nikki Reed wearing Malone Souliers.