Nancy Pelosi returned to Congress after surgery without her signature stilettos – she traded them for a pair of sensible ballet flats.

The 84-year-old San Francisco Democrat, whose second term as speaker ended two years ago, broke her hip in a fall down a marble staircase in mid-December.

Because she was on a trip to Luxembourg with other House members at the time of the accident, Pelosi underwent hip surgery in Germany, where her spokesman said she was “on the mend.”

A photo taken shortly before the fall showed Pelosi in her stilettos clutching the arm of her Republican colleague, Rep. Michael McCaul.

“She likes to wear high heels, very high heels,” he told reporters after the incident The hill. “She was on one of her last steps on this marble staircase that had no railing and lost her footing and fell to the ground.”

However, on Friday, the first day of the new Congress, the heels were nowhere to be seen. Pelosi walked onto the House floor visibly limping and then received a standing ovation from her fellow lawmakers.

On Pelosi’s feet, she wore a pair of muted light blue ballet flats that matched the sweater tied around her neck but contrasted with her bright blue pantsuit.

Pelosi told a Politico reporter on Friday that she was “doing well.”

As a political battle rages to replace Pelosi as speaker and Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, she ran to cast her vote for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries — to continued applause and hugs from her colleagues.

A representative for Pelosi did not immediately respond to a Daily Beast request for comment about her shoe change.

During her more than three decades in Congress, Pelosi was almost always seen in her high heels in the House of Representatives.

In an appearance on comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast, which was recorded before Pelosi’s accident but released shortly after the accident, the former speaker explained the reasons for her choice of shoes.

Pelosi shared this in contrast to Louis-Dreyfus’ character VeepShe doesn’t take off her stilettos as she returns to her private office.

She said she doesn’t find most of her suede heels uncomfortable. “To me they’re like slippers,” she said. “They are very soft.”

“I’m not in my office long enough to take off my shoes,” she added. “You touch base and do whatever it is. And get out the door.”