5 Most Expensive Shoes Ever Made
Written by
Stacy Sare Cohen
Edited by
Gary Dudak
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For some, a love of shoes means a well-stocked closet. For others, (think Imelda Marcos with her 3,000 pairs, or “Sex and the City’s” Carrie Bradshaw with her Manolos), it’s an outright obsession. But even the most devoted footwear enthusiasts might be stunned by how high the price tag for shoes can climb.
We don’t mean a few thousand dollars for red-soled chandelier heels or limited-edition sneakers. Some shoes are made with rare metals, gemstones and meticulous craftsmanship — or have celebrity status that elevates their value into the millions.
With diamonds and other precious materials holding their value during market fluctuations, much of this fancy footwear is viewed less as luxury fashion items and more as a long-term financial assets. Here are the five most expensive shoes ever made — and why they’re worth so much.
Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers From ‘The Wizard of Oz’ — $32.5 Million
Referred to as the stolen pair, these famous shoes from the iconic yellow brick road were one of four remaining pairs of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 production of “The Wizard of Oz.” They earned their nickname after being lifted from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota in 2005 and were finally recovered during an FBI sting 13 years later.
Designed by MGM Studios’ chief costume designer and dug out of MGM storage years later, the slippers were sold by Heritage Auction House for $32.5 million in December 2024, breaking footwear and movie memorabilia sale records. Ironically, the ruby red slippers are mismatched. The identical pair is rumored to be on display at the Smithsonian.
Moon Star Shoes — $19.9 Million
Displaying gold heels, 30-carat diamonds and a fragment of a meteorite found in Argentina in 1576, these platform sandals sculpted in the shape of the famous Dubai Burj Khalifa skyscraper debuted during the 2019 MIDE Fashion Week in Dubai. The creation, priced at $19.9 million in 2019 and designed by Antonio Vietri, was like nothing the world of luxury footwear fashion had ever seen.
Passion Diamond Shoes — $17 Million
These towering stilettos glitter with rare D flawless diamonds, gold and silk, featuring two massive 15-carat stones on the upper part of the shoe along with hundreds of carats throughout.
Created in partnership between Jada Dubai and Passion Jewellers, the Passion Diamond Shoes that took nine months to produce were unveiled in 2018 at the United Arab Emirates’ only seven-star hotel, the Burj Al Arab. The names of the collaborating designers are engraved in gold on the insoles. The shoes sold for $17 million.
Debbie Wingham Heels — $15.1 Million
As part of her “most expensive things” collection, which included a multi-million dollar dress, accessories, a cake and heels, British designer Debbie Wingham crafted these stilettos valued at $15.1 million. The footwear was commissioned as a birthday gift, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
The sandals boast rare large pink and blue diamonds, four flawless three-carat white diamonds, and 1,000-point diamonds. The upper part of the sandal is painted with 24-carat gold and stitched with an 18-carat gold thread.
Ducati 271 ‘Bush Shoe’ — $10 Million
When an irate Iraqi journalist, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, hurled his size 10 pair of Ducati shoes past President George Bush’s head at a Baghdad press conference in 2008, the original Ducati 271s suddenly became a piece of history.
A Saudi Arabian customer offered Turkish cobbler Ramazan Baydan, the maker of the thick, brown-soled shoes, $10 million for the original pair. Still, Baydan said he plans to “enshrine them forever.” He told Business Insider he’s been selling the shoes for years, but “thanks to Bush, orders are flying in like crazy.”
The bestseller that retailed for $40 at the time was renamed as “The Bush Shoe” with advertisements reading, “Goodbye Bush, Welcome Democracy,” Business Insider added.
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