At just 5′2½″ (158.8 cm), Natalie Portman has long gravitated toward heels that add height without visually overwhelming her frame.
She wore that approach at the Queen Slim premiere during AFI Fest on November 14, 2019, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, where she joined Zendaya, who took the opposite footwear approach in matching Imane Ayissi x Goya Paris knee-high boots.
Portman paired a customized Christian Dior Spring 2020 dress with black Stuart Weitzman Nudist sandals, combining dark, heavily worked fabric with one of Hollywood’s simplest evening-shoe silhouettes. The sandals’ narrow toe strap and slim ankle strap left much of the foot exposed, showing off her pale pink pedicure while creating a clean line beneath the knee-length hem.
Natalie Portman wears a customized Christian Dior Spring 2020 dress with black Stuart Weitzman Nudist sandals at the Queen Slim premiere during AFI Fest at the TCL Chinese Theatre on November 14, 2019, in Hollywood, California (Credit: Instar / WENN)
The grey-and-black Dior dress was adapted from Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Spring 2020 ready-to-wear collection. Its vertical paneling mixed woven cotton with metallic lace embroidery, while sheer fabric across the shoulders, sleeves, and upper chest kept the high-neck silhouette from feeling too heavy.
Dior shortened the original runway version to the knee and added a dark lining beneath the skirt, turning the longer, more transparent design into a sharper cocktail-length look.
The customization also fit Portman’s long-standing relationship with Dior. YNS has documented her repeatedly wearing the house on the red carpet, including occasions when she has paired its dresses with delicate Dior ankle-strap heels that she later re-wore. Rather than introducing another decorative element, her footwear again served as a quiet counterpoint to a more detailed dress.
Natalie Portman’s pale pink pedicure in black Stuart Weitzman Nudist sandals
Why Stuart Weitzman’s Nudist Sandals Became a Red-Carpet Staple
The Stuart Weitzman Nudist, introduced in 2013, is built around little more than a narrow band across the toes, a slim ankle strap, and a high stiletto heel.
That barely-there construction became a familiar red-carpet formula: with an embellished or strongly shaped dress, the Nudist could add height while leaving the clothing visually uninterrupted. Portman’s pairing was one variation on a shoe that celebrities have worn with everything from graphic cocktail dresses to sequined jumpsuits and couture gowns.
👠 Explore Stuart Weitzman’s Iconic Nudist Sandals on the Red Carpet:
- ✨ See how Stuart Weitzman’s Nudist became a Hollywood favorite, with its barely-there straps appearing on stars in everything from Balenciaga and Ralph Russo to Maticevski and Oscar de la Renta.
- 🖤 Chloë Grace Moretz paired black Nudist sandals with a graphic Christopher Kane dress, using the minimalist heel to balance the stronger print and architectural shape.
- 👗 Kendall Jenner made the Nudist a recurring part of her red-carpet wardrobe, wearing the streamlined sandal with Calvin Klein, Alexandre Vauthier, and Chanel.
- 🌸 Sophia Bush wore the Nudist three times in less than two weeks, demonstrating how easily the same barely-there silhouette could move between floral eveningwear and more polished daytime dressing.
- ✨ Sandra Bullock paired Nudist sandals with a sequined Zuhair Murad jumpsuit for the London premiere of Ocean’s 8, letting the simple shoe sit quietly beneath heavily embellished eveningwear.
- 💛 Blake Lively wore pastel Nudist sandals beneath her canary-yellow Retrofête gown at the Pokémon Detective Pikachu premiere, where she also revealed her pregnancy.
- 💙 Victoria Justice added metallic-blue Nudist sandals to a white cutout mini dress, showing how the famously understated silhouette can become the color accent rather than disappear into an outfit.
- ✨ Willow Shields grounded an experimental Alfredo Villalba dress with gold Nudist sandals at the Cinderella premiere, pairing a directional dress with clean, uncomplicated footwear.
- ❤️ Jamie Chung teamed shimmering Nudist sandals with a vivid red wrap dress, a classic example of the shoe providing a delicate finish without interrupting the dress’s clean lines.
- 🔥 Heidi Klum used vivid geranium Nudist sandals to sharpen an Atelier Versace look, turning the minimalist design into a deliberate shot of color rather than a neutral supporting shoe.
Stuart Weitzman Nudist II: How the 100 and 75 Update the Original
The Nudist has since evolved rather than disappearing from Stuart Weitzman’s lineup. The Nudist II updates the original barely-there formula with a lighter, re-engineered stiletto heel, added cushioning, a modernized round toe, a higher arched front strap, and a deeper, curved back counter. The proportions remain deliberately minimal, but the construction improves fit and wearability.
The updated sandal is offered in multiple heel heights, including the approximately 100 mm Nudist II Sandal 100 and the lower 75 mm Nudist II Sandal 75. As of September 2026, Nordstrom offers versions of the Nudist II, giving the red-carpet silhouette Portman wore in 2019 a current successor with a choice of heel heights.
Comparison of Stuart Weitzman Nudist II sandals showing the higher 100 mm version in black and nude alongside the lower 75 mm version in nude, platinum glitter, and silver
Why Barely-There Sandals Work So Well for Natalie Portman
Portman’s choice also fits a pattern in her own red-carpet wardrobe. She has paired similarly minimalist black ankle-strap sandals with a vintage Mugler dress, and just weeks before this AFI Fest appearance, she wore another pair of black ankle-strap heels with a sharply tailored Givenchy look at the Lucy in the Sky premiere.
Across different designers, the proportions remain remarkably consistent: a high heel, exposed foot, and slender straps that lengthen the leg without competing with the clothes.
Against the dark grey-and-black palette of her Dior dress, the Nudist sandals kept the lower half of the look light and uncluttered. What could have felt severe with a heavier shoe instead came across as controlled and understated, with the texture concentrated in the dress and the footwear doing little more than finishing the silhouette.