Trend Alert: Mules are Happening

Do you have heel spurs? Have I got the shoe for you!

Beloved by 18th-century socialites, Marilyn Monroe, '70s free-spirits, '90s grunge kids and now street-style stars, the mule is today's freshest shoe silhouette. They're completely impractical (don't even try to run in them — they'll fly right off), they cut off your feet in a weird spot (the more awkward-looking, the better) and they come in every style imaginable (including fur-lined flats, for that cool-enough-to-wear-slippers-outside look).

I'm game to try most trends, but this is one I'll happily admire from the sidelines. They can look chic when styled right (hint: cropped hemlines and bare ankles are key), but mules make me feel weirdly vulnerable, like I could make one wrong move and wind up shoeless in the street, desperately hailing a cab. Wouldn't be the first time. Zing!