After seeing the shoes of Balenciaga Fall 2012, I’m ready to make a somewhat significant declaration: wearability is, without a doubt, the biggest shoe trend of Fall 2012. We’ll pause for a second while your feet, ankles and calves celebrate in relief.

Balenciaga’s shoes, if anything, are known for being back-breakingly tall. The first pair of heels that made my eyes wide with confusion over how anyone ever walked in them was a pair of pink Balenciagas in the pages of Vogue back when I was in college. This collection, though, is full of heels that, while still in the three-to-four inch rage, are considerably shorter than the five- and six-inchers that the brand is known for. Some of the shorter heels are also basically wedges, which means they’re likely the most comfortable runway heels that Balenciaga has shown since the brand put its spin on Doc Martens. Both Dolce & Gabbana and Christian Louboutin have shown relatively wearable heels so far this season, so I’m ready to call it a full-on trend, and a welcome one at that.

Images via Vogue.com