5272 Sandal by Vic Matie

The Best of Both Worlds: Vic Matie's 5272 makes the most of sandals and booties.

Hybrids. We love them on the road (Hi, Prius!), we love them in the grocery (tangelos, anyone?) and we especially love them as pets (poodle + well, anything). So why not on our feet? That is what we imagine the big brains at Vic Matie were pondering when they engineered the 5272.

Clunky name aside, this sandal is pure sophisticate. The three-inch heel height is perfect for walking the city (and reducing your carbon footprint – très chic). It comes in black, but we're really responding to the taupe, which is very warm, almost a dusky lavender. The stacked leather heel has a sleek swooping line arcing from heel to ground – a study in motion. This contrasts nicely with the unstructured upper which bells and folds at a whim and is kept in check by crossed straps that buckle in the back.

The ultimate detail of this shoe, however, is the leather. It's not merely quality, it's, like, way quality. In the vein of a physical pinstripe or a horizontal corduroy, the upper has been sliced with razors for an amazing, louvered texture that looks like slubbed, roughed suede or canvas but feels like pure heaven.

We're bandying about ideas for outfits. It's hard. It's an unseasonable eighty degrees in Chicago, so our tendancy is to wear as little as possible. Then maybe a little less. A word does recur. We keep stopping on "flowy." Regardless of whether that is an actual word, we're sure you get the gist. High-waisted or short-shorts underneath a flowing, lightweight cotton or linen top. You can even put it over skinny jeans for a transitional outfit. This plays up the un/structure of the 5272 sandal and lends you a balanced look that's part structure, part organic flow and all very, very appealing. Now that's a hybrid we can mix it with.