My right to Choos

My, my. Longstanding fans of SSS will know my method for owning the tippety-toppermost quality shoes. (If you missed it, read "The Only Way to Buy Shoes" and prepare to get excited). Well this time, I've come up trumps.

My big sister is getting married in May, and I've bought a gorgeous aqua satin dress to wear. But I was somewhat saddened to observe that I already own a pair of Kurt Geiger peep toe mary-janes which match almost perfectly. There was no way I could be considered to 'need' new shoes. Hmm. Unless...

Unless I found a pair of shoes that embodied absolute perfection.

Let me tell you why these shoes are so special.

• The colour is perfect. The photos look a little pallid, but that doesn't matter because it's the colour compared to my skintone that is important, and that looks a bit pasty in these pics too (below). They are a cream colour with a subtle old-gold shimmer. It warms up the cream to skintone levels, which makes my legs look longer, since there's no horizontal colour-change to break up the line. If you want bare legs and you want them to look longer and slimmer, go for a warm version of your skin colour.

• Most shoes of this colour are sandals, or open-toed. Which is fine, except that it can be tricky wearing tights with them. I might not always want to wear tights, but I'd like to have the option.

• The heel is high, but realistic. They are going to hurt, but I can at least walk in them. Why wear a high heel? I was trying to explain this to my boyfriend, but he didn't get it. Essentially, the dress for this occasion is old Hollywood glam. Flat shoes would just look a bit weird. But also high heels make you look thinner. Or your legs, at least.
  

• There's something a bit 1960 about the design. At any rate I wear retro clothes quite often, and these won't look out of place - but then again, they're not so specific to a period that they'll look out of place with a modern outfit.

• Bit of a personal one, this, but I adore the elongated toe. My feet are stupidly stunted. These shoes make them look more elegant.

• Oh, come on... they're Jimmy Choos.

Anyway, these ended up costing me £77 on ebay - about £8 below my maximum bid. They're in mint condition - worn by a bride in 2004 and kept in their dustbag and box ever since. They cost her £400 at the time, which is fair enough if you're the bride. I'm a bride's sister, and having spent only £30 on my frock, I think £77 on the perfect shoes is completely fair enough too.