Reese Witherspoon never really said goodbye to Elle Woods. The Legally Blonde character's ultra-girly, California-chic closet is alive and well in her on-screen counterpart's closet.
On June 20, Witherspoon styled white jeans with summer's leading toe-ring sandal trend, a look Elle would be proud of. What, like it's hard to pull off freaky It shoes?
Witherspoon spent the weekend in New York City celebrating the 25th anniversary of Legally Blonde. She dressed the part, of course—even before the official "Elle World" event on June 20. The Oscar winner was unmissable in SoHo, wearing toe-ring sandals worthy of Elle Woods's modern-day shoe rack.
Witherspoon coordinated her chestnut brown Loewe bag to the super strappy flats, which featured crisscross vamps, leather soles, and singular bands around each big toe.
Much like the styling on Celine, Calvin Klein, and Tory Burch's spring runways, toe-ring sandals became Witherspoon's leading accessory. Her flats traded leather big-toe loops for yellow gold pendants, which begged the question, "Is she wearing toe rings, or toe-ring sandals?" Both would've been an on-brand homage to Elle's early-aughts closet.
Witherspoon's otherwise understated basics—a white tank top and matching, straight-leg jeans—let her toe-ring sandals shine. But it wouldn't be a proper Elle-inspired outfit without at least a splash of pink. So, the Big Little Lies star traded jacket trends for a Barbie pink cardigan. Even her take on the beaded necklace revival seemed to be peony-tinted.
Toe-ring sandals only joined Jennifer Lawrence, Kendall Jenner, and Emma Stone's everyday rotations last summer. Selena Gomez sampled the style much later in March 2026. But Reese Witherspoon has been pro-toe-rings for over a decade. She wore Loeffler Randall's take on the silhouette as early as June 2015 in the Bahamas.
Elle Woods never wore toe-ring sandals on screen, but her metallic, heart-shaped wedges were just as nostalgic. Since Legally Blonde took place in 2001, there might've been toe rings somewhere in her decked-out dorm room. Maybe Lexi Minetree, who plays Elle in the Prime Video prequel series, will follow Witherspoon's toe-ring lead on the press tour. She's already channeled her twin in archival Dolce & Gabbana and Witherspoon's Legally Blonde premiere dress by Marc Jacobs.
Shop the Toe-Ring Sandal Trend Inspired by Reese Witherspoon
