Head Over HeelsIt’s love at first sight for women and shoes. Seeking out the best, Patricia Caliskan guides her sixes around Liverpool…
Hidden in teetering stacks of shoeboxes throughout the country are £637 million worth of unworn heels. Either their owners have heard of eBay, or some shoes are just too beautiful to wear and tear.
The cult of I-need-those-heels is something most women can relate to, but few can explain. Perhaps it’s down to those glass slipper fairytales. Shoes have become our way of expressing who we are, and most importantly, who we want to be. And whiles some designer outfits require effort on our behalf to look as good on us as on the models in the magazines, shoes offer instant gratification.
Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, our chosen ruby slippers can make us look and feel the part by simply stepping into them. Then there’s the added appeal of walking taller, looking slimmer, longer legs, and having our bottoms lifted by 25 per cent, depending on our style of choice. So there’s another good reason for walking to the boutique instead of trampling the treadmill.
Plus, while most of us spend the majority of our time wearing styles for work or comfort, a killer heel suggests we’re not in a rush to go anywhere except where we want to be. We may work long and hard, but girls about town know how to step into the style stakes at the end of the day. Or, as Ginger Rogers once famously put it, “I do everything that Fred Astaire does. Except backwards, and in high heels.”
Drome Women. For beautiful boys on a budget, try the Unze range, from £70. If you deserve a retail reward, Cavalli’s gold wedges are Drome’s most expensive heels at £265. Also worth a pedicure are designs by D&G or Roberto Botelli. (4 cavern Designer Shopping Centre, Mathew Street, 0151 709 1441).
Paloma. Founded by Philip Armstrong and Anthony Burke in response to demand for shoes to accessorise their couture collections. Spanish label Pedro Garcia’s sequinned stilettos, £170, are the city’s biggest sky-scrapers with five inch heels designed to disco. Meanwhile Cavalli’s platform cork, £450, was made for stepping into the limelight. (2 Cavern Designer Shopping Centre, Mathew Street, palomafootwear.com).
Vivienne Westwood. A designer who literally puts women on a pedestal. Her latest offerings include the Mock Crock Bondage Boot, £285, or kick your heels up in Westwood’s Angel Sandals, £210, current best-sellers in the Liverpool store. (8 Mathew Street, 0151 227 2700, hervia.com).
Kurt Geiger. Resident at Liverpool’s Metquarter, this new arrival is a long-anticipated addition to local shoe stalkers shopping lists. You’ll find a legion of luscious labels, but to add a bit of sass to the daily commute or accepting post-work invitations, try the Happy heels, £60. (Whitechapel, kurtgeiger.com).