Spring/Summer shoes

The idea of me writing about any kind of fashion or style at the moment is laughable seeing as I have spent the last 6 weeks or so wearing all my warmest clothes at once.

In particular, I have spent the last 3 weeks wearing the same navy Bellerose roll neck as I believe it gives me the Skipper-ish dash of one of Winston Churchill’s civilian fleet at the evacuation of Dunkirk.

(p.s. nobody writes about the dashed hopes, hubris and spoiled dreams of winter dressing better than Leandra Medine.)

But: I do want to draw your attention to 2 pairs of summer shoes I believe will be beneficial to you when it warms up. Unusually for me, these are both heels, which I don’t usually recommend as I work on the principle that I am so tired and partly in physical and/or emotional pain most of the time that the idea of wearing heels is a pipe dream.

What I mean to say is that: these are not capsule by any means. But they are fabulous.

First up: I spent the whole of last summer debating whether or not to buy a pair of Castaner espadrilles, which are those ones all over Instagram last summer with the ribbons that do up round the ankle. I dithered and dithered and didn’t and then bought a pair of rip-off ones from Zara, which were woeful and I cursed myself for the wasted pounds.

My dad always says: “There’s no point in not having the thing that you want.” Ex-Riflers and committed Spikers will be familiar with my Dad and his little aphorisms, but even so this one is particularly opaque.

What does he mean? Does he mean there’s no point in having anything if it’s not what you want? Is there no point in having a Ford Fiesta if what you want is a Jeep? Is there no point in having a house if what you want is a mansion?

No, because you (mostly) NEED a car and you definitely NEED a house. And you have to get the one you can afford.

If it’s a thing you want, there’s no point in having an approximation of it. Get the one you want.

I wanted this pair of Castaners, but I settled for a Zara imitation. Not the first time I have ignored my dad’s advice only to repent at my leisure.

 

 

So I dropped £90 of the family’s hard-earned pounds, (£140 before tax or thereabouts), on a pair of Castaners and I’m afraid that they are sock-you-in-the-eye beautiful, the grosgrain ribbons tipped with leather, in a classy little touch. They actually change via a clever trick of the eye the shape of my stubby little feet and make my not-best-feature legs look better.

These gold strappy beauties from Free People via ASOS.com are also little gems.

Only sizes 3,4 and 6 left in the sale but very good value at 50% off at £48. I have a pair and I can confirm that they are comfortable with not cheese-wire straps; the heels are a modest height, walkable-in, and make you look like you’re about to go on Strictly, in a really good way.

I wore them for one entire evening and at no point wanted to rip them off and take an axe to them, which I did recently with a pair of hell torture devices from bloody Uterque.

Unlike the Castaners, these are not a boast-purchase, just an unexpected bargain found in an unexpected place (although Free People are absolutely everywhere at the moment… are they really nice to Instagrammers, or just really popular with Instagrammers? It’s so impossible to tell sometimes, hence why Mumsnet get so furious about it I suppose).

Despite this, these strappy gold sandals are still The Thing You Want, as opposed to, I don’t know, a pair of FitFlops.

So go on. One or the other. Or I’ll tell my Dad on you.