This Casually Cool Shoe Trend Is the It Girl Secret to Styling Tank Tops This Fall

As much as I adore fall fashion, with its moody color palette and cozy sweaters, I can't ditch my summer staples for cold-weather counterparts just yet. My solution? A shoe trend that's autumnal enough to transform my well-loved tank top from a summer to fall fixture. The look isn't as unconventional as it seems: It already earned Dakota Johnson's endorsement.

Despite the heatwaves in our zip codes, Johnson and I started September in the same tank-and-flats formula, down to the seasonal sheen on our ballerinas. The Materialists actor wore a white square-neck top with baggy black bottoms, a leather tote bag, and slipper-style ballet flats from The Row. Her sleeveless shirt seems to be the Leset Nando Tank she wore with jeans and high-vamp flats in late July.

Dakota Johnson styled a summer-to-fall white tank top with the ballet flats trend — Dakota Johnson was spotted in her signature tank top for summer—plus, perfect-for-fall ballet flats. (Image credit: Backgrid)

Leset

Nando Square Neck Tank

The velvet finish of the bow-topped ballerinas helped Johnson switch to fall-tested textures. You may recognize their elasticized sidewalls from some of her late-spring looks: Back in April, the $850 slippers joined the A-lister's black Agolde denim and barn jacket by The Row for a stroll around New York City.

The Row

Velvet Ballerina Flats

Johnson and I aren't alone in our affinities for ballet-flat-and-tank-top outfits. In fact, most style setters didn't wait for September to make the unlikely duo a mainstay in their regular rotation.

Early in the summer, Sarah Pidgeon paired an almost identical tank with suede heeled ballet flats, courtesy of Kaia Gerber's spring collaboration with Repetto. Soon after, Zendaya was photographed in between The Odyssey events in NYC, her white tank top and velvet Maison Margiela Tabi Flats. As recently as the 2026 Venice Film Festival on Sept. 2, Kendall Jenner styled a more structured tank with black ballerinas.

See? Not only did the cool-girl combination play a part in celebrities' warm-weather wardrobes, but it's also sticking around for another season. I'll be living in ballet flats and tanks for the foreseeable future, but what about you? Once October rolls around, maybe we can consider switching to cardigans. For now, stick to the season-defying styles below.