Freaky shoe lovers, rise up.

Hybrid designs, cloven toes, chunky platforms, furry and embellished creations are trending on TikTok. And the credit for the latest footwear obsession on social media goes to Mandy Lee, the fashion writer and analyst, also known as @oldloserinbrooklyn.

Beyond engagement with her freaky shoe content on platforms like TikTok, the concept has taken off to the point that The RealReal tapped Lee to curate an edit of freaky shoes — think feathery Valentino boots, zebra-print Gucci platforms with a tail and the like.

“I’ve always been a shoe and coat girl; they are my two favorite categories to collect, so it’s been a lifelong passion,” Lee explained to FN, WWD’s sibling publication, via email about how she got into freaky shoes.


Mandy Lee during NYFW spring 2026 on Sept. 14 in New York City. Getty Images

Lee has cultivated an exciting collection of unusual footwear, which she shares with her following. Take, for instance, the shoes she wore during this past New York Fashion Week: Marni loafers with hoop piercings, Maison Margiela Tabi shoes with an open toe and Tory Burch Pierced pumps, among others.

Contemplating which is the freakiest of all her shoes, Lee said, “Depends on your freak barometer. Some might say Vivienne Westwood animal paw boots from the ’90s, others would say brown leather and leopard fur Marni pierced loafers.”

When it comes to styling freaky shoes, Lee offered sage wisdom: “My advice would be to have conviction in your taste. If you like a shoe, there’s no right or wrong way to style them.”

Those interested in exploring the strange footwear market can find inspiration from recently unveiled spring 2026 collections. Lee made a video about the clear-shoe trend, adopted by the likes of Simone Rocha and Loewe for spring 2026; Loewe layered socks of different colors with transparent kitten heels.

Lee had a backstage look at Tory Burch spring 2026 shoes, which include a spin on a peep-toe with a thin slit and a new take on the brand’s pierced embellishment, shoes with intricate, colorful beading and styles with a unique chain embellishment draped at the vamp.

The options seem endless when it comes to unconventional shoes. Sharing her favorite genre of freaky shoe, Lee named a trendy style that she saw coming years ago: “Ballet sneaker hybrids for sure. Ballet sneakers were one of my first trend predictions that went viral on TikTok in 2021 and when I started getting really into hybrid shoes. They will always be a signature style in my closet.”

Backstage at the Tory Burch fashion show as part of spring 2026 New York Fashion Week. Weston Wells/WWD

Certain brands stand out to Lee when it comes to making out-of-the-box footwear: “Sandy Liang and Tory Burch. Simone Rocha is thee underappreciated OG of feminine-leaning hybrid footwear and she deserves her flowers. There’s never been this much variety and weird options on a mainstream level.”

Lee’s content has shown her love for the collaborative relationship between Simone Rocha and Crocs; the brands dropped their spring 2026 collection this month.

As for what she attributes the popularity of freaky shoes to, Lee joked, “Me,” then added, “On a real note, I think fashion causing shock and awe is more or less a thing of the past. The bar for what disturbs and moves us as humans has been raised so high that brands don’t really have a choice other than experimentation to stand out.”

The writer and analyst added, “There’s also this demand for personal style ‘authenticity’ in fashion spaces, which I believe gets misconstrued for uniqueness. You can be authentic and boring, you can be authentic and weird, you can be inauthentic and boring, you can be inauthentic and weird. It’s a great time to play and have fun but it’s also a time where trying too hard is more obvious than ever.…Vibrams come to mind. The freak shoe series was born out of a love for collecting, curating and sharing my style with my audience and it’s evolved into a world of its own.”