Yes, one could argue that there are a plethora of shoe styles that go with white dresses, but if you want to look especially in-the-know and up on the latest trends, take a cue from the shoes that Katie Holmes just wore with a white dress. While attending the American Ballet Theatre Spring Gala this week, where she was an honoree, Holmes wore a long peplum-style white dress that was worthy of the special occasion. I was intrigued to see that she went with extremely trend-forward footwear—high-heel thong sandals in versatile tan suede—instead of, say, strappy metallic heels.

The shoes add a bit of ruggedness to white dresses of any style, which is incredibly cool and a bit unexpected. Her choice to pair stiletto-heel Herbert Levine (buzzy brand alert) flip-flops with eveningwear was inspired and about as fashion person coded as it gets.