The Most Expensive Shoes Celebs Stepped Onto Red Carpets With

Major red carpet events like the Academy Awards regularly see unbelievably lavish outfits. Typically, their obscene price tags come from over-the-top bling — like the $40 million necklace that led to Lady Gaga having the priciest red carpet look of all time in 2019. For some celebs, however, they chose to go all-out on shoes instead. We all know that proper footwear can make or break an outfit, and the designer heels that most women in Hollywood reach for can influence fashion at large in significant ways (like Lena Dunham's 2026 Met Gala look that predicted the return of Valentino's Rockstud pumps). 

As you can imagine, celebrities have worn some incredibly expensive shoes on the red carpet, especially to the Oscars and the Met Gala. Though the priciest of these typically range between $1,500 and $5,000 (a relatively attainable yearly splurge for the average person), some have taken "expensive" to its absolute extreme, rocking shoes that cost over $1 million for their star-studded evenings. Whether moderately luxe or exorbitantly overpriced, all of these heels have one thing in common: sparkle, and plenty of it. In fact, some of the aforementioned attendees even had to be flanked by security guards due to the priceless gems at the center of their heels. Today, we're taking a look at some of the most unbelievably expensive shoes worn by celebrities like Regina King and Laura Harring on the red carpet over the years.

Manolo Blahnik is one of the go-to shoe brands for formal events among celebrities. One of the most beloved Manolo Blahnik styles is the iconic Hangisi pump, which typically ranges between $1,400 and $1,500 at the time of writing. These classic shoes will never go out of style; their satin finish and signature square crystal buckle make them a glamorous footwear option. "Access Hollywood" co-host Zuri Hall stunned at the 2026 Met Gala in a pale-yellow ruffled gown and matching yellow Hangisi pumps. 

Blue Ivy Carter, just 14, looked more stylish than her mother Beyoncé at the 2026 Met Gala, which is something we thought would be impossible. While Beyoncé sparkled down the Met Gala steps in a dazzling custom gown and headdress created by Olivier Rousteing, Blue Ivy matched her mother in a more low-key way — with $4,900 crystal-covered pumps from Jimmy Choo. The Cinderella-inspired shoes included a modest stiletto heel (about 3.3 inches tall), hundreds of sparkling crystals, and one large crystal embellishment on each toe.

"Dreamgirls" star Anika Noni Rose attended the 2007 Academy Awards in designer Stuart Weitzman's $500,000 Diamond Dream sandals. While not as pricey as other shoes from his collection, these heels were stunning in their own respect (and still rank on the list of the world's most expensive shoes). Rose's silver stilettos caught the light spectacularly, thanks to 30 carats of 1,420 individual brilliant-cut Kwiat diamonds. The shoes complemented Rose's silver dress, which featured a split that showed off the glitzy footwear.

Actor Regina King wore a gold pair of Stuart Weitzman's million-dollar heels to the 2005 Academy Awards. The sandals' high price point comes from a more subtle aspect of their flashy decoration: a pair of Marilyn Monroe's diamond earrings placed into the center of the shoes' flower appliqué. That's one way to incorporate Marilyn Monroe's iconic style into your 2026 'fits! Weitzman even reportedly had to take out a $1 million insurance policy to ship Monroe's earrings from their collector's home to his studio. 

The first woman to wear shoes from Stuart Weitzman's collection of million-dollar shoes was "Mulholland Drive" actor Laura Harring. Harring appeared at the 2002 Oscars wearing Weitzman's $1 million Platinum Guild Stilettos which featured multiple straps decorated with over 460 diamonds. Harring was flanked by four security guards as she walked across the red carpet, not only due to Weitzman's insanely expensive shoes, but also to protect her $25 million diamond necklace. 

Like Laura Harring, singer Alison Krauss also employed a bodyguard to ensure the safety of her blinged-out Stuart Weitzman heels. Krauss attended the 2004 Academy Awards in strappy sandals that were priced at a whopping $2 million. The shoes were made from Italian leather, hundreds of Kwiat diamonds, and featured a rare diamond worth over $1 million on the right toe. The shoes were inspired by Cinderella, with clear stiletto heels and silver details. 

The most expensive shoes ever to grace the red carpet (so far) were worn by singer-songwriter Kathleen York. York, who received an Oscar nomination that year for best original song, attended the 2006 Academy Awards wearing Stuart Weitzman heels valued at $3 million. Like Regina King's "Marilyn Monroe" shoes, York's heels featured the earrings of an iconic Hollywood actor: Rita Hayworth, who was a fan of Old Hollywood beauty "secrets" that would never fly today. Weitzman incorporated a pair of Hayworth's earrings into York's heels, the former of which featured 200 rubies, 200 sapphires, and 48 diamonds.