You can’t look at a news website, gossip magazine or fashion blog these days without receiving an play by play of every sartorial choice Michelle Obama makes while in Europe. I’m talking about updates when she takes her coat off, and fashion face-offs with all the other women she meets. A lover of both fashion and politics, I am certainly not complaining. And while I won’t post my own fashion face-off here, I’d like to switch over to the French first lady for a moment, and her penchant for flats. Ah, a girl after my own heart. While I may swoon over the amazing stiletto heels and platform pumps in editorials and on Jak & Jil, when it comes to my own feet, they are almost always clad in flats. I often glance at the ladies around me- at work, in my social circle, walking down the street- and vow to become more of a heels person when I see how chic and slimming they are. However, the uber-chic Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy has given me a new confidence in my shoe collection:

What I love is that she doesn’t just pull out the flats for casual events- she wears them with ball gowns and to meet the Queen- and they don’t seem at all out-of-place. I need to carry a picture of Mrs. Bruni- Sarkozy in my purse to remind myself that comfort and style aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.

The zebra print and teal details on these Luichiny flats give them a playful twist.