A slingback is a type of woman's footwear characterized by an ankle strap that crosses only around the back and sides of the

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular ...

and heel, whereas a typical strap completely encircles the ankle all the way around it. It typically has a low vamp front similar to that of classic full shoe heels. Slingbacks can be considered a type of

sandal Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can so ...

and come in a wide variety of styles from casual to dressy, with heel heights ranging from flat to medium and sometimes high, heel types ranging from as thin as a

stiletto A stiletto () is a knife or dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, primarily intended as a stabbing weapon.Limburg, Peter R., ''What's In The Names Of Antique Weapons'', Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, , (1973), pp. 77-78 The sti ...

to as thick as

wedges A wedge is a triangular shaped tool, and is a portable inclined plane, and one of the six simple machines. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place. It functions by conv ...

and they can be both closed or open-toe. Slingback straps are usually adjustable through a

buckle The buckle or clasp is a device used for fastening two loose ends, with one end attached to it and the other held by a catch in a secure but adjustable manner. Often taken for granted, the invention of the buckle was indispensable in securing tw ...

or an elastic segment, allowing the wearer to slip their foot into the sandal easily without the need to make further (or any) manual adjustment to the strap or buckle, while still holding the foot in the sandal relatively securely. The buckle can be made of metal, plastic, or even sometimes stone. Classic designs include

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel i ...

's two-tone slingback, introduced in 1957 and relaunched in 2015 by designer

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 u ...

References

Sandals {{shoe-stub