Daft shoes

Okay, a little break from seriousness today. I want to talk about daft shoes. And ask ... what are the daftest shoes you ever owned? I'm not really talking about fads for daft stuff like trainers that light up at the back - I'm more talking about shoes or boots that seemed fashionable/ stylish at the time, but now make you chortle at the very idea of wearing them.

So, did you rock a a particularly egregious cuban heel? Did you sport a laughable cowboy boot? Or did you ever wear platforms so high that you got a touch of vertigo...?

Ok before y'all email me with your funny stories here's my fess-up. Winklepickers. When I was in my mid teens. It was a pair of these, black skintight jeans and a Meteors t-shirt, thank you very much.

Evening wear - dress for leisure success

Evening wear is on a different level from other apparel - practicality isn't the watchword here, it's all about looking your best in the evening light, individuality mixed with mystique, and a timeless look, the one that shines in photographs and films of great events over the years. The red carpets, restaurants and exclusive gatherings are a catwalk for the evening look. It's a celebration of life, of style and of the evening itself, a magical time of dreams and hopefully a glass of champagne or two.

Evening dresses online and evening shoes may change their styles over time, but the common thread is understated glamour. Choosing well doesn't mean spending a lot of money - most catwalk superstar items have an equally eye-catching but affordable equivalent available to buy from retail stores that cater for your pocket as well as your look.

Fitting room - virtual space

Now that buying clothes is much more common online, how has your balance of purchases changed from buying at bricks'n' mortar stores v online stores?

The one difference is of course that with online you can't try it on before you buy. You can of course try it on and return it for another size if it doesn't fit, but it's still a significant difference. Many moons ago and in a different internet era, there was of course boo.com and their pseudo 3d online display thingy. Not the future.

I've been lucky buying online so far - only once did I buy shoes not knowing they were a different width fitting from my usual, but they were fine. And despite my reservations when i found out about the width fitting, they don't look like boats.

All in all I'd say internet shoe retailing has been a massive success, and even if you don't end up clicking and buying at your laptop, internet window shopping means that you've got an entire world's shoe offerings to browse for inspiration.

Online clothes stores also do shoes as well as specialist retailers, and many a bargain can be found. And with Amazon now selling food, could the day arrive when we never leave the house?

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Air Wair

Let's hear it for Docs.

I haven't actually worn a pair since I was about 12, but I think the time has returned for wearing this iconic Germany-originated classic.

Don't think there'll be many wearing these boots with tie-dyed Levi jeans and MA-1 bomber jackets this time round though. Could be time for a return of the snorkel jacket and maybe Levi's brown cords though? ... watch this space!

The only thing that's kind of holding me back a little bit is the price. £110 seems a bit steep, but then in my experience these boots do last a long time. And they are classics, so it's case of buy them anyway, I think ;-)

Trainers

It's best to have more than one pair of trainers. In fact the optimum number of pairs is probably about five or six. But it's not as TrainerTrainspotter as it sounds. If you break down your, ahem, trainer estate into these handy categories, it all makes sense.

Your RETRO TRAINIES
This category is for the real cool stuff. It might be a prized antique pair of Nike Air "Strike" II hi-tops. It might be a brand new pair of retrostyled Adidas Chile 62s (above). This is probably the category you've spent the most money on...





Next it's the WACKY TRAINIES
These are the sports shoes that you bought because you loved the offbeam design, the mad colours, or the fact that they're designed for a sport you've no chance of ever taking part in. We're talking Formula One racing boots, or trainers with an inflatable insole or just some mad graffiti logo. The wacky trainies are pictured below: the appalingly named but brilliantly designed Soap Shoes' Scab.Then of course we have the SENSIBLE TRAINIES. No need for a pic. These are the ones you wear day to day. The shoes you put on when you get home from the office, the shoes you walk the dog in. Category four is reserved for your CANVAS TRAINIES - you know the ones, your Converse or equivalent. Depending on your indie factor, number of extant pairs could be high.

& the fifth and final category, this one's for your running shoes, squash shoes, your actual bought-for-purpose training shoes. The Hi-Tec squash is the classic of this category. A shoe so squash-dedicated that few folk, if any, ever wore a pair down the pub!

Bargain vibe

Now that it's mid-season, it's definitely a good time to be getting online and seeing what's available in the world of sale shoes.

Type into Google the name of any high street shoe retailer and you'll be bound to find a bargain or two. Or three. Or four. Or, well... you get the idea!

There are some tasty deals available at Clarks, (the half-price Wallabees have sadly already done the hot-cake routine and flown clean off the shelves, sadly, but still plenty other lines to peruse...)

For those of you with some summer money to spend on the more upmarket end of the shoe sales, Kurt Geiger has an excellent selection online.

And then there's plenty on offer from online clothes stores that aren't just dedicated to your foot fashion, means you can fill your basket with a few extra clothes at great sale prices!