Queen Letizia wears Adolfo Domínguez dress to Madrid Book Fair

Queen Letizia made a very strong case for the espadrille in Madrid, stepping out in a lavender pair with a lightweight Adolfo Domínguez dress for the inauguration of the 85th Madrid Book Fair in El Retiro Park. It was the kind of look that makes summer dressing look solved: polished, breathable, and distinctly Spanish without trying too hard.

The dress did a lot of the work. Letizia wore a pleated halter-neck Adolfo Domínguez design in blue and lavender tones, finished with a chalk-effect print and grosgrain ribbons that wrapped around the waist. She first wore the same dress in summer 2020, which is exactly why the outfit lands now. It does not read as a one-off royal costume piece. It reads as a working wardrobe staple, the kind of dress that can survive several summers because the cut is sharp enough to keep it from feeling fussy.

The shoes are what give the outfit its momentum. In one account, Letizia’s pair was identified as SarahWorld’s Mayte espadrilles, a closed-toe style in suede with ankle-wrap ties. That detail matters. Closed-toe espadrilles feel more refined than the flimsy, beach-only versions people usually associate with the category, and the ankle ties bring a little structure to a shoe that is otherwise all ease. On Letizia, the effect was not rustic or precious. It was crisp, practical, and fully in step with Mediterranean dressing at its best.

That is why espadrilles are resurfacing now. Summer footwear has been dominated for too long by the same obvious options, from overexposed flat sandals to sneakers that can feel too heavy for real heat. Espadrilles offer a cleaner answer. They work with dresses, trousers, and the kind of outdoor cultural events Letizia favors, especially when the setting is as unfussy and high-traffic as a book fair. Madrid’s annual gathering, which runs from May 29 to June 14 and centers on humor this year, fills El Retiro with more than 300 booths, authors, booksellers, and readers. Letizia’s look matched that atmosphere perfectly.

It also fit her wider style pattern. She regularly returns to Spanish labels like Adolfo Domínguez for public appearances, and espadrilles have long been one of her seasonal signatures. At a moment when summer dressing can feel either too polished or too disposable, she showed the appeal of a shoe that sits right in the middle: lightweight, good-looking, and impossible to separate from Spanish warm-weather style.