What Is the Tip Toeing in My Jordans Meme? Origin Explained
October 18, 2026
If your feed has been full of a tiny man in a velvet suit tip-toeing through straw while a maiden watches, you have met the Tip Toeing in My Jordans meme. Here is where it came from and why it spread.
The original clip
The scene is a retelling of the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. The imp holds a finger to his lips, grins, and creeps across a barn floor with his arms out, then breaks into a little dance. It looks like a scene from an old fantasy film, but it is AI-generated.
The full clip, about 30 seconds long, was posted on Instagram in late August 2026 by AI artist and filmmaker Tatyana Tereshchenko (@stroinaya), in collaboration with the @neuroferma and @anna_glinskaya pages. In the full version he spins straw into gold, and her kiss turns him into a prince.
How it became a meme
In late September 2026 people paired the tip-toe moment with RiFF RAFF's 2014 track "Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz", and the name stuck: tip toeing in my Jordans. Versions spread on TikTok, and in early October a single repost on X passed roughly 10 million views in five days. News outlets, including NBC News, covered how many viewers did not realise it was AI.
Why people put themselves in it
The clip is short, the moves are instantly recognisable, and the barn scene works with almost any face. That made it a perfect template: friends, pets, coworkers and celebrities have all been recast as the dancer, or as the maiden watching from the straw.
Make your own
Upload one photo to play the dancer, or two photos to recast both characters. Our step-by-step guide is here.