High time

The man I chased down on Monday gave me a time and place for today's protest, but the activists failed to appear. I'm in a tetchy mood now after getting up early on three hours' sleep, in vain and with not enough caffeine in my system, so I'll vent some steam by gushing about shoes.

Flicking through the ELLE Runway Edition (and by "flicking through" I mean absorbing and committing instantly to memory every s/s 2011 collection there is), I noticed that there were a lot more flat heels gracing the catwalk than usual. Mostly in the form of gladiator sandals, models for Lanvin, Donna Karan and Louis Vuitton - to name a few - were complimenting long, flowing skirts and short, snappy skirts alike with less than an inch-high sole.

And whilst normally I wouldn't get behind this, in the past year or so I've begun ditching my own heels and getting by without. What was simply an experimentation with ballerina pumps and flat-heeled boots blossomed into a love of the understated flat heel. I used to wear heeled boots on an almost daily basis and wouldn't be seen dead out of a pair of stilettos when dressing up. And alright, now I'm shorter and my legs don't look as great, but I've found I can walk faster and, contrary to my former belief, painful feet everyday needn't be a way of life.

However, sadly now whenever I go back to my heels for a night out, I've found I don't have the natural ability to walk in them with the grace I once did (which was minimal to begin with), and go hobbling back to my cutesy, less sexy ballet pumps.

So will it soon become fashionable to actually wear flat heels for a night on the tiles, so I don't feel alone in my heel hiatus? I hope Lanvin, Donna et al will answer my prayers.

Xx