Elle Talent!

British Elle is a truly fantastic magazine and definitely one of my favourites! One of the main reasons I love it so much is that they provide a great opportunity for young writers to break into the fashion industry with their annual Elle Talent Contest. This is the first time I have entered the contest but I have really enjoyed putting together this piece for my entry. Winning is more than unlikely but I felt that I would really regret not entering. Especially with such a great topic as "Do you really need another pair of shoes?"..

Do you really need another pair of shoes?

Need? No. But do we really need the majority of things that we own? Come on, fashion is a trade based not upon necessity but upon desire and longing and shoes are the delightful, gleaming cherry on top of this flirt with the frivolous.

For years and years, our mothers and grandmothers have enforced upon us the importance of the “sensible shoe”- one that'll serve for day and night, for "work and play". But in recent years, thank Manolo, this has become obsolete and rightly so! Nothing can make a girl feel more of a woman than a pair of glossy, sumptuous high heels. So, although they may not be practical for hobbling along cobbled streets or running for the bus they can bring us all a joy and confidence almost unrivaled.

So what is so irresistible about shoes? Ask any woman and the answer could go on for days! They are just oh-so pretty and buying them is such a treat, it always comes down to one ultimate thing though- anyone can wear them! You don't need the model body or the enviably long, lithe legs. You don't need the catwalk-ready outfit. You just need the shoes. The shoes you could just gaze at all day. The shoes which sing that satisfying clip-clop rhythm as you walk. The shoes that turn heads.

My first recollection of my adoration of shoes came as I walked back from primary school when I was just seven or eight. There was a little shop opposite the school selling an array of miscellaneous goodies. There were the gooey, slimy “aliens” that drew crowds of us in awe and there were the novelty photo frames and feather-topped pens that scattered the dull shelves. But in the corner stood a big, black shoe with steps leading down. On each of these steps a little, delicate china shoe was placed. There was a miniature glittering gold stiletto, a midnight blue and black pump gleaming with sapphire-like gems and a glossy black ankle boot with a red velvet lining. At the bottom sat a lilac and cream shoe with a buckle encasing miniscule clear crystals for which I shunned my usual mood-rings and bath bombs to buy. I can still remember standing outside the shop with my mum- examining the shoe- her explaining it was probably based on an Edwardian shoe, me envisaging where to put this little wonder so it could always be pride of place in my room.

Looking at the footwear embellishing the shops for Winter my heart starts to race just like it did for the ones all that time ago. The clompy, edgy wooden soled boots, the viciously pointed toes, the shearling trimmed Burberry hikers, the delicious jewel tones and the discreetly charming leopard prints. My imagination starts to run wild- the leopard print with the camel coat! The pointed toes with the cropped leathers! The hiker boots with the chunky knitwear! Shoes can enliven an outfit with more drama than a handbag and more edge than jewellery. You can take your jumper and jeans to dizzying heights, to enviable chic and extreme fashion kudos- just by slipping your foot into something a little more wild than your ballet pumps.

Footwear has gone from being a core necessity to being a blank canvas for the abstract and the extreme. I think one of the most stylish looks to adopt can be something plain with wild shoes- it requires minimal thought and effort but holds huge impact. So if you really think about it, we don’t actually need a whole new Winter wardrobe. We just need a couple of basic items and then a new sugary selection of shoes to enliven our new look.

This season’s shoes are perfect to cheer us up. The dazzling sun breaking through the trees has moved to peeking behind heavy grey clouds and the casual warmth that washed briefly over the country is a now mere memory. So what better to cheer us up than that thrill of new shoes? Lifting open the box, that heady breath of leather, the scrunching of the tissues. So just lace up your wedged ankle boots and prepare to brave the gloomy chills of winter with shoes fit for a catwalk.

When it comes down to it, comfort is grossly overrated. High heels impart power, a sense of command and an attraction that every woman needs to experience. Why shy away in whispering loafers when you can rule a room just with that hypnotic clicking of stilettos? Heels are an quite an essential part of being a woman.

And this is what it all comes down to, why do we need another pair of shoes? A love of shoes is so distinctly female- in a world where “man-bags” are standard and male bronzer is a new essential we need to hold on to that one thing that is really, truly exclusive to woman- a love for shoes. So, come on, just one more pair can’t hurt?

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