Mary Jane shoes are closed toe and low-cut, with one or more straps across the instep. The classic Mary Jane came in black (sometimes patent) leather and became the quintessential shoe to wear with your school uniform — the Mary Jane can be traced as far back as King Henry VIII. Since then, Mary Jane has left the school yard and a symbol of girlhood; both naughty and nice.

For women all over the world, Mary Jane is perhaps the first shoe we came across. Its simple design makes them a go-to choice for many parents when buying shoes for their children, and the instep design made it easy for children to move around. Some of us were introduced to the shoe by Alice in Wonderland, Sex and the City, Clueless (depending on our age), most of our impression for Mary Jane is its closed toe and straps across the instep, but Mary Jane has become so much more throughout the history.

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Though versions of Mary Jane had been around for some time, the name comes from the shoes worn by Mary Jane, a character from the Buster Brown comic strip (drawn by R F Outcault) One of his characters was named Mary Jane; (Mary Jane and Buster Brown both wore the shoe) the style came to bear her name in popular culture. In the 1950s Mary Jane became a popular shoe for school kids, so it can also be said that Mary Jane is the evolution from children's shoes.

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In the 1920s, Mary Jane were Flapper Girls fav, it immediately became the “IT’ shoes for clubbing, at that time Mary Jane were sophisticated, glamorous, and full of silk, Flapper Girls bring their spirit into Mary Jane, independent, short cut hair and love Jazz better than classical music, all of the freedom has influence. Until the 1934s, Shirley Temple wore a white version in the 1934 film 'Baby Take a Bow,' Mary Jane were favored all throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and we saw major fashion players such as Twiggy, and it was official, Mary Jane had made her way into Fashion.

While Mary Jane is mostly worn by women, but it’s actually also came from men(From Buster Brown to King Henry VIII),the early variations were more singular, but now Mary Jane is no longer just for women, it has been worn by celebrities like Harry Style, Tyler the creator, just to named a few, which means that the flow of Mary Jane belongs to everyone, and it can represent individuality, spirituality and gender flow.

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The high peak of Mary Jane is definitely in the 90s, when Courtney Love rocked out the personality of Mary Jane,subverting the look of the 60s and making a plea for self and gender equality.

In the decades that followed, Mary Jane received fairly consistent pop culture shout-outs—from that scene in Sex and the City when Carrie found a pair of Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane in Vogue headquarter, to Cher wearing Mary Jane in Clueless, her confident stride also represents the influence Mary Jane has brought to us. Over the past 30 years, Mary Jane has gone through wave after wave, from the Queen of England to Beyonce, and while its look has changed, the name has remained forever, showing her charm through different shapes and ages.