Short skirts are back, and shorts are being promoted as a cool, stylish alternative to skirts and slacks for women this summer. Anklets, in the sense of short, lightweight socks worn with sandals or shoes, are back, too. These styles are not for everyone, to be sure. The focus of these styles is on beautiful legs and graceful ankles. The inevitable next step is, of course, to find ways to adorn those features with jewelry.

A popular style of shoes this season incorporates ankle straps made to resemble ankle bracelets-that is, bracelets worn around the ankles. Essentially, jewelry is being incorporated into the shoes. While ankle bracelets themselves, on their own, are a perennial favorite in beach locations, they have not been consistently popular in high fashion. This season, their presence in the April 2010 issue of Elle magazine suggests that they have become more widely accepted.

The notable difference between ankle bracelets and ankle bracelet shoes (which Elle calls “anklet heels”) is that traditionally it is not common for a woman to wear an ankle bracelet on both ankles, nor is it common to see chunky chains worn as decoration around the ankles. It seems that the door is open for jewelers to develop much more substantial styles of jewelry to wear around the ankles than the delicate versions shown in Elle. Notice, by the way, that Elle calls these pieces of jewelry “anklets.” Just as the ankle bracelet shoes have been inspired by jewelry, jewelry might be inspired by ankle bracelet shoes.

Elle also displays on the page a number of chunky chain link bracelets. Note to the clever fashionista: One bracelet might be linked to another in order to achieve the chunky chain link bracelet look around the ankles in the length you require. If the length of two bracelets isn’t quite right, your jeweler likely can assist in removing the extra links. Wear these with your wardrobe of pumps to create your own stylish version of anklet heels.

JCK