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The Jewish Chronicle

Have you put spring in your step yet?

Wedges and platforms are having another fashion moment.

March 25, 2010 10:48
Gold platforms, Christian Louboutin, £1,050, Browns, 59 Brook Street, W1

ByJan Shure, Jan Shure

3 min read

It would be mildly tragic and certainly ironic if Victoria Beckham, one half of Brand Beckham, former Spice Girl and recently reinvented as a designer of unexpectedly fabulous frocks, should be remembered for, er, bunions.

Yet the revelation that VB has experienced a podiatric meltdown as a result of years of wearing absurd, sky-scraper heels ensured that a debate about style versus comfort - or, more accurately, style versus borderline wearability, since "comfort" is an imprecise concept on planet fashion - got the profile it deserved.

And the timing was immaculate: just at the moment when pictures of VB's feet began to surface, the spring shoe collections, featuring lots of flat and low- to mid-heel shoes, started to trickle into the shops. It meant that, for the first time in several seasons, it was perfectly possible to look fashion forward while actually being able to walk. Maybe not such an imperative if it is just five yards from car or cab to dining/party destination, but considerably inconvenient if you actually have to walk from, say, underground to office.

Of course, the most desirable and fabulous shoes are still those with heels high enough to require the wearer to strap on oxygen. Despite their vertiginous height, the divine patent pumps with heart peep-toe by Alexander McQueen (£375 at Browns) are still achingly covetable, as are a made-to-order navy patent pair from Rupert Sanderson's collection for Karl Lagerfeld (33 Bruton Place, 2A Hans Road), and the nude suede platform with cross-over straps by Pour la Victoire (£200 at Harvey Nichols). Meanwhile, Christian Louboutin's gold, tubular-strap, wedge-heel sandals with tribal-pattern suede are so exquisite they are worth risking an evening of excruciating immobility (to say nothing of penury: they cost a ruinous £1,050).