50% of the population will look at these and swoon while the other half will look at them and promptly vomit.

I straddled that line for about an hour before I asked my friend Zoë what she thought. It was clear that she also had some trepidation before realizing – yes, they are awesome. And I like them. A lot…?

MIA Athens Gladiator Sandal in Black

Gladiator sandals make me instantly jump back to the mid-2000s, when “gladiator _____” was the flavor of the year, and you couldn’t escape its marketing reach. They were so prevalent that I got sick of looking at them – especially those ghastly flat sandals with gladiator lattice up to the knee.

…Which is basically what I’m showing you right now – do you see my conundrum? But I like these. A lot! In fact, I like them in every color.

They’re so… easily wearable. I can see them meshing with everything. Am I hypnotized? Are these Jedi gladiator sandals? Would Jedi gladiators take over the world, if they were a thing?

Okay, musings aside – I do not know why these are on such a sale. I have lots of experience with MIA shoes and for a long stretch of years, they were my favorite shoe brand because they always felt sturdy and I’ve never had a pair fall apart on me (save for one pair of wedges that slightly came apart from the upper, but I feel like that was a lemon).

The nitty gritty: these are $9.99 marked down from $69.95.

Well, some of them are. (Thanks, Amazon.) Other pairs are marked down to an also affordable $20.99. Those of you who are lucky enough to want the color/size combination that prices these are less than $10 – today is definitely your lucky day.

Check it out!: MIA Athens Gladiator Sandals, $9.99-$20.99 (were $69.95) at Amazon

Probably watching Netflix.