Crystals, pearls, sparkle – the way to wear party shoes

The party shoes of the season are not for the faint-hearted. Adorned with oversized bows in mirrored silver leather, Loewe’s four-inch high strappy stiletto sandals demand robust soles and an immaculate pedicure, and that’s before you even consider. And yet, they are so joy-inducing, they are of different i sizes, Most of these shoes are of crystal designs . Dazzling ‘Double Bow’ styles are in vogue.They are made by two, relatively young, designer shoe brands that somehow thrived during the pandemic Their success is proof that when it comes to party footwear in 2023, more is most definitely more.

Shoes, this festive season, are so embellished, so glittering, so iridescent, they might as well be jewellery. Whether it’s in the form of crystals, strands of pearls draped across the arch of the foot, a shimmery metallic finish, or all of the above, if your shoes aren’t competing for attention with your chandelier earrings, you’re doing it wrong.

I The benefit of sparkly shoes are that, like your favourite gold necklace or silver cuff bracelet, they go with virtually everything: a little black dress, a velvet suit, a needlecord midi dress polka dot tights Eye-catching footwear is the 2023 way to raise your style game.

It doesn’t require a psychologist to connect the dots here. History has long linked periods of recession to style statements. Leonard Lauder (American billionaire and heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics empire) described the increased sales of cheering small luxuries in the early 2000s recession as the ‘lipstick index’. It was later also applied to bright nail polish. So is now the moment for the ‘sparkly shoes index’?

There’s also an element of making up for lost time. Deprived of the chance to party for two years, many of us are craving the opportunity to go all-out. Hollie Harding, buying manager at a leading store said “We have expanded our party shoes offering in line with our customers’ desire to dress up again,” she says. “This season’s footwear is even more glamped a up and over-the-top, with designers going that extra mile by adding crystal embellishments, bejewelled details and metallic shimmers.”

The good news is that dazzling shoes don’t need to be expensive or uncomfortable. The high street has been quick to get in on the ‘jewellery shoes’ act, and the gamut spans from Boden’s flat satin slingbacks with a Manolo-esque brooch, to Massimo Dutti’s black suede shoes with a versatile, removable rhinestone fringe.But for the truly thrifty, there is nothing stopping you from customising a pair of old heels with a haberdashery shop haul. I’ve been experimenting with an oversized bow, a la Loewe.