At 5’2″ (157.5 cm), Lea Michele has built a varied designer shoe wardrobe around everything from minimalist stilettos and barely-there sandals to platforms and higher-coverage peep-toe styles.
Three appearances from 2016 show that range particularly well, with Michele moving between tonal Tamara Mellon stilettos on the red carpet and two very different pairs of Aquazzura heels for more casual outings.
👠 Jump to a Look:
1. Nude Tamara Mellon Sandals With a Tonal August Getty Dress
On June 2, 2016, Michele attended the Television Academy’s 70th Anniversary Gala in Los Angeles wearing a sculptural beige August Getty Atelier dress with glossy nude Tamara Mellon sandals. The strappy stilettos closely matched the color of her dress, extending the neutral palette from the strapless neckline to her shoes.
Lea Michele wears her hair in a sleek ponytail with a neutral August Getty Atelier look at the Television Academy’s 70th Anniversary Gala (Credit: Charlie Steffens / WENN)
For the gala, the “Scream Queens” star wore a strapless beige cocktail dress by August Getty Atelier, designed with a fitted bodice and a structured, flared skirt.
Lea Michele pairs her structured beige August Getty Atelier dress with coordinating nude Tamara Mellon sandals (Credit: Charlie Steffens / WENN)
The dress featured geometric paneling through the bodice and a pleated skirt that flared away from the waist. Michele kept the jewelry understated with rings by Ileana Makri and Randal Scott Fine Jewelry and earrings by Sylva Cie. She wore her hair pulled back into a long, sleek ponytail, leaving the strapless neckline unobstructed.
The August Getty Atelier dress features a strapless neckline and geometric paneling through the fitted bodice (Credit: Charlie Steffens / WENN)
From the back, Michele’s tonal styling pairs the flared August Getty Atelier dress with nude Tamara Mellon stiletto sandals (Credit: Charlie Steffens / WENN)
Michele completed the tonal look with glossy nude Tamara Mellon sandals. The open-toe style featured multiple slim straps across the foot, a T-strap construction, an adjustable ankle strap, and a slender stiletto heel.
Their neutral shade also minimized the visual break between her legs and feet, illustrating why nude heels are a recurring celebrity choice for creating a longer-looking leg line. Against Michele’s beige August Getty Atelier dress, the sandals also maintained the head-to-toe neutral palette rather than introducing a contrasting color.
A front view of Michele’s glossy nude Tamara Mellon sandals shows the slim toe straps, T-strap construction, and ankle fastening (Credit: Charlie Steffens / WENN)
The minimalist sandal silhouette was a recurring feature of Michele’s 2016 wardrobe. That year, she also wore Brian Atwood Astral pumps at the People’s Choice Awards, showing how easily she moved between delicate sandals and more substantial statement pumps.
From behind, the Tamara Mellon sandals reveal their slim ankle straps, covered heel counters, and high stiletto heels (Credit: Charlie Steffens / WENN)
2. Aquazzura Dasha Sandals With Skinny Jeans in Malibu
Three months later, Michele shifted from tonal red-carpet dressing to denim and another pair of strappy heels. On September 2, 2016, she was photographed leaving a swimsuit photo shoot in Malibu, California, wearing L’Agence skinny jeans, an oversized white jacket, and nude Aquazzura Dasha sandals.
Lea Michele leaves a Malibu photo shoot wearing a white jacket over a Leah Shlaer swimsuit on September 2, 2016 (Credit: WENN)
Michele kept the white Leah Shlaer “Collete” swimsuit as the base of her post-shoot outfit, pairing it with L’Agence “Margot” high-rise skinny jeans and an oversized white Cotton On trucker jacket.
Lea Michele pairs L’Agence skinny jeans and an oversized Cotton On jacket with nude Aquazzura Dasha sandals after her Malibu photo shoot (Credit: WENN)
She accessorized with oversized black sunglasses and an Alexander Wang “Marion” bag, while her nude Aquazzura Dasha sandals introduced another variation on the barely-there heels she wore throughout 2016. The Dasha featured a slim toe strap, delicate wraparound ankle ties, and a high stiletto heel.
Michele clearly felt comfortable in Aquazzura’s ankle-tie silhouettes. Earlier that year, she also stepped out in the brand’s barely-there Linda sandals, a similarly delicate design built around slim straps and ankle ties.
A closer look at Lea Michele’s nude Aquazzura Dasha sandals, featuring slim toe straps, wraparound ankle ties, and stiletto heels (Credit: WENN)
The Dasha was not an isolated Aquazzura appearance. On August 11 of the same year, Michele wore nude suede Aquazzura Austin sandals with a black maxi dress in West Hollywood. The Austin offered a different take on the lace-up sandal, replacing Dasha’s slender stiletto with a sturdier block heel.
Lea Michele shared a behind-the-scenes look at the Malibu shoot, posing in the white swimsuit worn beneath her street-style outfit (Credit: Lea Michele’s Instagram)
3. Black Aquazzura Ami Slingbacks With Cuffed Jeans
Only two weeks after the Malibu appearance, Michele chose Aquazzura again but with a completely different silhouette. On September 16, 2016, she stepped out for lunch and shopping with former “Glee” co-star Becca Tobin in West Hollywood, pairing cuffed jeans with black Aquazzura Ami suede peep-toe slingbacks.
Michele accessorizes her casual West Hollywood look with a Brixton Tara fedora, Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, and layered necklaces (Credit: oohsnap / WENN)
Michele paired a black L’Agence “Margaret” shirt with cuffed “Mon Jules” jeans, then accessorized with a Brixton Tara fedora, Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, and a Donatienne “Valentina” crossbody bag.
Her black Aquazzura “Ami” suede slingbacks offered considerably more coverage than the Dasha. The peep-toe heels combined a high-cut suede vamp with open sides, a slingback strap, and a slim heel.
A closer look at Michele’s black Aquazzura Ami heels, featuring suede uppers, peep toes, high-cut vamps, and slingback straps (Credit: oohsnap / WENN)
The combination also echoed one of Michele’s earlier off-duty outfits. In July 2014, she wore cuffed boyfriend jeans, aviator sunglasses, and a black fedora with black Pedro Garcia Sofia peep-toe booties. In both outfits, the cuffed denim left the higher-cut footwear fully visible.
Michele was joined in West Hollywood by Becca Tobin, who played Kitty Wilde on “Glee.”
Lea Michele pairs cuffed jeans with black Aquazzura heels while out with former “Glee” co-star Becca Tobin (Credit: oohsnap / WENN)
Across the three looks, Michele used neutral and black heels in distinctly different ways: Tamara Mellon T-straps extended the monochromatic palette of her August Getty Atelier dress, Aquazzura Dasha sandals added delicate ankle ties to skinny denim, and the Ami slingbacks brought a heavier suede silhouette to cuffed jeans. Together, the appearances capture the range of strappy sandals and peep-toe heels that defined a notable stretch of her 2016 shoe wardrobe.
How Lea Michele Uses Heels and Proportion With Her 5’2″ Frame
Standing at 5’2″ (157.5 cm) and wearing a US shoe size 8, Lea Michele has built a varied footwear wardrobe around her petite frame. Her shoe choices range from barely-there sandals and pointed pumps to substantial platforms, showing that there is no single formula for petite dressing.
The three 2016 looks above illustrate that range particularly well. Her nude Tamara Mellon sandals reduced the color contrast between foot and leg, while the slim straps left much of the foot exposed. The Aquazzura Dasha used similarly delicate straps but added ankle ties, while the black Ami slingbacks created a stronger visual break and more coverage. Rather than avoiding ankle straps altogether, Michele has repeatedly shown how different strap placements, heel heights, colors, and toe shapes can work with a petite frame.
More broadly, footwear can change perceived proportions in several ways: pointed toes extend the visual line of the foot, skin-toned shoes reduce contrast, minimalist sandals show more skin, and platforms add actual height. Clothing can contribute too, with high-waisted cuts, shorter hemlines, high slits, and uninterrupted color palettes creating different vertical proportions.
👠 Petite Style Inspiration: Shoes Proportion on the Red Carpet:
- 📏 See how 35 celebrities 5’2″ and under approach petite dressing with pointed pumps, barely-there sandals, nude heels, platforms, high-waisted silhouettes, shorter hemlines, and monochromatic looks.
- 👡 See why nude heels can create a longer-looking leg line by reducing the visual contrast between the shoe and skin — the same principle illustrated by Michele’s neutral Tamara Mellon sandals.
- ✨ Jenna Coleman uses towering Jimmy Choo platforms with her 5’2″ frame, showing how a platform can add substantial physical height while balancing the proportions of a statement dress.
- 👗 Vanessa Hudgens pairs her 5’1″ frame with everything from platforms to strappy stilettos, demonstrating how dramatically different shoe silhouettes can work within a petite wardrobe.
- 🌹 Madelaine Petsch plays with platforms, short hemlines, monochromatic dressing, and strappy heels, offering another look at how footwear and clothing proportions can work together.