My sister's search for shoes.

My eldest sister is (also) getting married soon - her dress is a subtle shade of silver, and she's been looking for the right shoes. Firstly she found these, which at the time were only £26 in the January sale. (Now £60). They are gorgeous - very red carpet glamour, which is just right for her dress - but when they arrived:

"they were 1) a lot more mink than the photo (not silver at all) and 2) the 5" heel was a bit optimistic so thought I would get some lower shoes for later".

So she bought pair number two:

"cheap and cheerful and not so stylish lower shoes from BHS - a bargain at £20"

Well, it's a long dress - I suppose they don't have to be completely gorgeous, but then things changed:

"finally saw dress last week and knew minky shoes would not go so found the Lulus on ebay and thought I'd see if they fitted. Bought for opening price £39.99, unworn and much more glittery and vintag-ey than the picture. Also leather soles etc :-)"

and well she might smile - Lulu Guinness, she of the most covetable handbag fame, has produced some beautiful shoe collections, with a retail price in the hundreds for each pair. A bit of canny ebay research, and my sister has found the most perfect designer shoes for her wedding for less than you'd pair for a pair of bog-standard high-street heels. And as she says:

"Total spend £85 with just a couple of shopping errors on the way! Still cheaper than a pair of Choos!"

Although I say that she'd be well advised to get the first two pairs on ebay post haste. Even if they sell for no more than £20 between them, that's still one more bottle of champagne on the hen night!