I haven’t really fallen in love with shoes since this glorious pair of Roksanda heels I bought in July: either I’m becoming more restrained or this was simply a very tough act to follow. I’m willing to bet it’s the latter, I don’t really see that restraint thing happening to me. But as is often the case in life: you think you need nothing, you go to Spain, you fall in love.

I found these blue velvet shoes by accident in Sevilla, when looking for something to wear for the Halloween dinner my daughter insisted on having. Blue velvet – that alone would have made me to consider a purchase, as colourful shoes that are actually of a beautiful colour are surprisingly difficult to come by (also: VELVET). But there’s the shape, too.

Deep in my heart, I am a stiletto person. I do like classic shoes a la Manolo or Louboutin or Paul Andrew and will probably never stop wearing them. The problem is that fashion has moved on and stilettos just don’t look right with most of the things I want to wear now. A slender heel is great with a shift dress for work or rolled-up slouchy jeans, but a pleated midi skirt? An A-line mini? Or even worse, wide trousers or flares? No, no, no. There is a reason why trends tend to coalesce into full looks – in the end, you need to wear several pieces together and they have to form a coherent – if not necessarily matching – whole. For the clothes above, flats are one option, but sometimes I just crave the height and this is where the new shoe comes in (apologies for the fashion singular, but this is a fashion post).

The new shoe is not classically elegant, it’s quite blocky and much more substantial than the long-reigning stiletto. There’s also the dreaded platform that I swore never to wear again; that’s why the shape of the heel is so important: platform + spindly heel = instant early 2000s. That you suddenly see that new type of shoe everywhere (Topshop is only one example) is mostly the fault of Hedi Slimane and Alessandro Michele, who between themselves are responsible for something like half of the recent mainstream trends. Saint Laurent showed the shape very similar to my shoes already for Spring/Summer 2015 and while Gucci’s latest offerings have a slightly narrower heel, the platform is even higher.

My high-street version of the trend (worn in yesterday’s post) comes from Zara, who often do great shoes and bags. These are not the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn, but I’m not willing to spend big on the new shoe, yet. I need to make sure that I’ll not run crying back to the stilettos.