Metallic menswear took the lead in Hilary Swank’s look at the Connecticut Children’s Gala on Saturday, where she traded standard evening heels for a pair of mirrored gold oxford shoes — the most traditional dress-shoe silhouette to surface in the menswear-inspired shoe trend cycle dominating celebrity women’s wardrobes this fall.
The shoes follow a straight oxford build: five eyelets, black laces, a rounded toe and a low stacked heel with the brown outsole still visible at the edge. No brogueing, no cap toe, nothing decorative — just a mirrored gold upper that turns a standard dress shoe into the focal point. The silhouette stays flat and traditional, especially compared to the lace-up pumps and lug-sole loafers that have been circulating this fall.
Swank wore the metallic dress shoes with a burgundy puff-sleeve maxi dress cut with a V-neck and a structured waist. The unadorned fabric featured a matte finish, which left the shoes as the only high-shine part of the look.
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Her choice lands further along the menswear spectrum than the loafers and lace-up pumps that have been driving the trend across celebrity shoe wardrobes this season. In late October, Amanda Seyfried wore Miu Miu’s brushed-leather penny loafers with a gold coin detail and gray ribbed socks at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, leaning into a school-uniform take on the look. Earlier in the month, Julia Roberts opted for patent lace-up pumps at the BFI London Film Festival — a pointed mule-heel hybrid with a three-eyelet front and stiletto base. Katie Holmes has circled the category too, appearing in tortoiseshell patent loafers from Franco Sarto during a New York outing, complete with a lug sole and metal bit detail.
Those shoes — loafers with hardware, lace-ups on heels, platform variations — all keep one foot in traditional womenswear silhouettes. Swank’s version drops the hybrid approach and goes straight to the source, using a textbook oxford shape and swapping only the color, not the form.
The Connecticut Children’s Gala took place Nov. 8 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, bringing together donors, hospital partners and special guests for a fundraising program supporting pediatric care across the state.
