Cobblers!

If you've ever thought you love shoes so much you'd like to be a shoemaker, then this video is for you. It looks like pretty hard work though, and highly skilled. An art, in fact.

Boots for the new New Romantic

The world of women's shoes moves at a fair old pace - probably because on average a woman owns 76 times as many pairs of shoes as a man does (I made that up, actually).

These Ladies Wanstead lace up boots are pretty cool. There seems to be a wider trend at the moment that has a kind of new romantic look to it. These boots wouldn't look out of place in a Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran or Simple Minds video remake.

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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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