A ballet flat is a deliberately quiet shoe, which is exactly why colour has such an outsized effect on it. In black it disappears. In red it becomes the reason the outfit works. Red ballet flats have been a recurring shorthand for a certain kind of Parisian dressing for decades, largely because a flat red shoe reads as considered without reading as effortful. The current appetite for them sits alongside the wider return of the flat, but red specifically has never really gone away, and that longevity is worth something.

The red here is not one colour and the difference is significant. Scarlet, on the Sam Edelman Alie, is the brightest and the most classic. Crimson, on the Vince Olivette, is deeper and slightly blue-toned, which flatters more skin tones. Wine, on the AGL Monika cap toe, is the most muted and the closest to a neutral. Dark red, on the Bernardo Meredith and the Calvin Klein Cyrie, sits between the two. The Tory Burch Reva Travel is the packable option, designed to fold. Rothy's The Daily in Showstopper is knitted from recycled material and is machine washable, which nothing else here is. The rag and bone Poppi uses a lava mesh, which is the most breathable and the most summer-specific.

If you take one thing away, choose the shade to match how often you want to wear them. A wine or dark red will slot into an existing wardrobe almost like a brown shoe. A true scarlet is a decision every time you put it on, and a very good one. Leather flats will stretch about a half size with wear, so buy them snug, while the knit and mesh options will not stretch at all. Cap toes visually shorten the foot and bows add volume at the front, which are real considerations rather than styling notes. Machine-washable knit flats are the most practical thing in this group by some distance and the least luxurious to look at.