Gladiator Sandals- are they still going to be in fashion next Spring/ Summer?

[aliveandkickingme]

I have just bought a pair of gladiator sandals in the sale but am now wondering whether to return them as I am a bit worried that the trend for them may have died by next year.
What do you think? I would love to hear from anyone with knowledge of fashion trends, etc.

Good god I hope not. I loathe them, they make me look like, well, a gladiator.

No, seriously, I think they're still ok for Summer 2011 but the fashion industry has been trying to make them the 'it' shoe since 2006 with little success. I think they've had their peak and by Summer 2012 will be on the down.

If you actually like them then does it really matter? They won't get any prettier/uglier/more or less flattering between now and next summer.

(I don't like them very much so wouldn't buy them)

Hmm, I have a pair from two years ago, they were expensive at the time but I'm not wearing them much this summer. They just feel wrong. I think the era of the gladiator might be over.

But if you really like them, I'd say you'd get away with another year or so.

I think they are past their peak and on their way out. They are pretty demanding shoes, as you need to be perfectly tanned, tall and lithe to look even half decent in them. Mediterranean and Latin American women can wear them with flair but I think they should be banned in Northern Europe.

The same is true for flipflops. (I love them, have several treasured pairs of customized Havaianas from Brazil, but fewer and fewer people are wearing them out and about. Even their manufacturer branched out in tennis shoes, doesn't that say something.)