Maddy Alford
Cosmopolitan’s acting shopping editor
Before studying abroad at Leeds Uni in 2010, I was a squeaky-clean good girl growing up in America. But in Leeds, I started going out “on the lash” (as they said) four nights a week, and needed some dancing shoes, stat. I bought some suede Adidas high tops to wear with ripped tights and denim cut-offs (2010, remember). I instantly felt like a newer, cooler version of myself: someone brave enough to move abroad by herself and make new friends. Those shoes met every single sticky dancefloor in Leeds; I ran all over the city in them, hopping from one club to the next. Back in America, I couldn’t go anywhere without someone asking me where I got “such cool shoes”. A year later, I moved to New York, dyed my hair blue, and kept switching up my look. I credit those trainers with kicking off a decade of fun style exploration.