It wasn’t until 1904 that the colloquially known Mary Jane shoe got its name. Hot off the popularity of the Buster Brown comic series, the Brown Shoe Company licensed the name Mary Jane (Buster’s little sister) and created a shoe in her honor. While I don’t often derive fashion inspiration from cartoons, it would be negligent to say that the entire category lacks panache. I have an eight-year-old son, thus cartoons are the background soundtrack of my daily life. And I’ll be darned if there aren’t some fabulously chic cartoon characters that catch my eye from time to time. I’m talking about you Jane Jetson, Daphne of Scoobie Doo and Jem and the Holograms! And just look at this coat on Elesa the Pokémon trainer! I could go on. Now, I’m not implying that we base our daily outfit selections on the wardrobe of artfully created cartoons, but I’m also not saying we shouldn’t! Style trends come and go, but the Mary Jane has stuck around for more than a century.

I’m loving the ballet flat Mary Jane hybrid in stores now and will be pairing them with maxi skirts and tapered pants this fall. Here are my current favorites: