Safety pins
No need to cry over spilt milk – buttons do pop at the most inappropriate moments, so come prepared. The complimentary sewing kits you get in hotels are perfect for this kind of emergency.
Compact
If you leave the house without your powder and mirror, go back. There’s nothing worse than a shiny face, or having no mirror in which to check discreetly all is where it should be. Also, ‘I’m just going to powder my nose’ is an excellent code for ‘I need to escape’ so you need to have your alibi with you.
Roadmap/A–Z
Optional if getting cabs, but essential if driving, as, unless you are a black cab, there will always be diversions that appear simply to bamboozle you. If offering a lift to passengers get them to sign a backseat driver’s rights agreement. You drive – you decide. They are (preferably) silent and grateful.
Big bag address book
With all the numbers of those you would call in an emergency, for work, for pleasure, for romance, for practical assistance. If trying to save on space, these could be written into your notebook, but really essential ones should be committed to memory, or on speed dial in your mobile.
Diary
For all your important meetings and future dates.
Business cards
A good way to give out your details without appearing too forward/desperate.
Spare pair of shoes and plasters
This is clearly bag-size permitting, and plastic carrier bags (especially the supermarket brands) are to be avoided at all costs. But, sacrilegious as it sounds, something comfortable to accommodate any brushes with public transport or prolonged periods of walking, which ideally will have been discussed in advance, are a good idea. A new pair of shoes will always produce a blister somewhere. So think ahead.
An evening bag can accommodate a fraction of the all-purpose, so go with the three essentials: lipstick, mobile and keys.
Comb
Tissues
Aspirin
Mints
How to Walk in High Heels
‘I don’t know who invented the high heel but all women owe him a lot’
Marilyn Monroe
How to select the heel
Rumour has it that the heel was invented by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519). But rumour has it he invented most things. Throughout history the heel has been enjoyed, by men and women, for its coquettish charm, as well as its height-helping inches. ‘High heels put your ass on a pedestal, where it belongs,’ says leggy supermodel Veronica Webb.
A good heel is like a flash car, or an incredible work of art. You don’t
need
it, you covet it, savour it, worship it, and
have
to have it. A really good heel has been constructed to tilt you at the most flattering angle possible. Why go under the knife, or to the gym? A stiletto is the most effective instant slimmer.
Admittedly there is a certain level of discomfort to be endured, but they do hurt less the more you wear them. The only thing worse than a girl in cheap, chunky heels is a girl who can’t walk in them. President Roosevelt coined the phrase, ‘You have to spend money to make money.’ Invest in a pair of Manolo Blahniks, the only stilettos that offer comfort on 10cm, and watch the cocktails and dinner invitations come flooding in.
Before you even go near a shoe store ensure that your feet are freshly pedicured and painted; yes, even if they’ll be hidden in a closed toe. (See How to give yourself a pedicure). It is NOT advisable ever to send loved ones to buy your heels. Size can vary according to cut, shape and slant of heel – therefore you have to be prepared to try everything on before you purchase. Heels are tricky enough to master at the best of times, why add to your problems by having a pair that doesn’t fit? All you will be able to use them for is as lethal weapons.
The thicker the heel the larger the surface area your weight has to spread over. The more wobbly you feel, the more millimetres you should add to the width. Wedges and platforms are excellent ways to achieve instant height and thinner thighs, but try to select a style that is reminiscent of Betty Boo not Scary Spice.
It is worth bearing in mind that you assume different characters in different heights. Heights go from (yawn) 5cm: practically flat; 7cm: day heel; 9cm: foxy heel; 10.5cm: the true pro aesthetic.
Walking in heels is like riding a bike – once you know how, you’ll never forget. But just like a bike, the first time you ride without stabilisers can be very precarious. Get the arches of your feet flexed and ready for some high heel hints.
Who is Manolo Blahnik?
Let’s assume you didn’t ask this, as
anyone
with
any
style will know WHO Manolo Blahnik is. But just in case . . .
Manolo Blahnik is the patron saint of the stiletto, favoured by the most important women in fashion, starting at the top with American
Vogue
’s Anna Wintour, a legend, as well as Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) in
Sex and the City
, Nicole Kidman, Amanda Harlech, Tina Chow, Paloma Picasso, and just about any stylish female you can think of, who has worn shoes, in the past three decades.
There are other shoe designers who are very successful, but this is my book, and therefore my bias. And my bias is Manolo Blahnik.
Born on 27 November 1942, in Santa Cruz de la Palma, Manolo Blahnik should be described as half sculptor and painter, half engineer. A combination of Picasso and Einstein, he’s a magician and inventor.
The label started in 1971, after the then doyenne of American
Vogue
, Diana Vreeland, decreed: ‘Young man, do shoes.’ And so it was simple, he did. Since then he has collaborated with Ossie Clark, John Galliano and Azzedine Alaïa, amongst other names that would make you go weak at the knees. He personally carves, cuts and sands his lasts by hand until he gets the precise shape he desires. His aesthetic and aerodynamics are such that his heels, though toweringly high, are perversely comfortable. Thus proving irresistible.
In 2003 the Design Museum celebrated thirty years of his London shop with an exhibition of his work. But really, for further information on Manolo Blahnik, the best thing to do is go and experience the shoes, by trying them on at his shop, 49–51 Old Church Street, London (020 7352 3863). Or, if that sounds too scary, there is the Colin McDowell book, or his self-titled book of drawings, to help you build up to the Cinderella moment.
Should you wish to stray into the realms of other ‘name’ high-end shoe designers look out for: red-soled Christian Louboutins, Jimmy Choo and Gina. Hot on their heels are new younger designers including Olivia Morris, Pierre Hardy, or Georgina Goodman, who was actually taught by Mr Blahnik. Other good names to consider for footwear come marching up the runways from the leading fashion brands, but these vary from season to season. The best ones to look at are Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Prada, YSL, Dior, Galliano, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
For more information on the history of the stiletto see
Shoes: Fashion and Fantasy
by Colin McDowell (Thames and Hudson, 1994).
Shoes, Shoes, Shoes
by Andy Warhol (Bulfinch, 1997).
A Lexicon of Style
by Valerie Steele (Rizzoli International, 1999).
Manolo Blahnik
by Colin McDowell (HarperCollins, 2000).
Manolo Blahnik Drawings
(Thames and Hudson, 2003).
Stiletto
by Caroline Cox (Mitchell Beazley, 2004).
How to pick a shoe
by Manolo Blahnik, shoe designer
A good heel picks you. Don’t follow trends – follow yourself, you have to stand tall and proud. Always go with your first choice, your gut reaction. This is what your soul says. You have to pick something that will make you look even more exciting, and feel even more adventurous than you did before.
My shoes are not fashion – they are moods and moments that want to come out to play. Every shoe must excite me, which is why I see every pair, every last, so if it doesn’t delight me, it doesn’t go through. I spend most of my time in the factory; working. Don’t let yourself get distracted by fashion; if you did you would have to change your wardrobe every four months and where’s the sense in that? It would make your style schizophrenic. Be original, look at vintage, but do not copy for the sake of copying, have some of your own ideas. Right now, good lord, every day, everywhere I look I am blown away by something inspiring. I always have had an incredible appetite for luxury, and Russia. At the moment I am so excited by Russia, and have just been to Moscow. I had never been, apart from in books, through Tolstoy and the Three Sisters. I say always go to the source, always travel to find your inspiration, that’s what all the great artists and romantics do.
I was always making shoes . . . even when it was subconscious. I know that sounds like a cliché but it’s true, even the lizards and dogs in the garden didn’t escape when I was a child – I would take the Cadbury’s chocolate bonbon wrappers and make them little shoes. I was always twisting and shaping forms for the feet. I suppose the moment I really knew shoes were my destiny was when I moved to London. Of course there is the fairy tale about how I went to New York and met Mrs Vreeland, you know all of that, but it was when I hit London that I think I decided in my heart I would make a go of this.
I think you must always show some toe cleavage. Toe cleavage is very important as it gives sexuality to the shoe. But careful you only show the first two cracks, you don’t want to give too much away, you’re not that type of girl . . . As for the heel, honey, it’s got to be high. The transformation is INSTANT. It’s a coup de théâtre. The height of a heel should depend on how dangerous you are feeling. High high high higher, I say! I am into comfort now: wear nothing less than 90mm. For me, the ultimate shoe would be a wonderful high court, in Spanish Red patent. Something dangerous and provocative.
When you have heels you only need to pack two black dresses, and fill the case with twenty pairs of shoes. Let the heels do all the talking, and you’ll be ready for anything.
I hope my shoes are comfortable. I have been working with craftsmen who have been studying traditions that go back for two hundred or so years and after all the time I have been doing it I have learnt a few tricks too. I don’t wear them myself, I am not so into the cross-men-dressing – no that is not for me – but I like to work on each creation so it is as comfortable as can be. My shoes are for dancing, for living, for moving; you can’t wear things that make you feel crippled, get them off! I don’t think you have to be perfect when you are walking in your heels, there is something charming about it being chaotic and precarious. I remember when I first noticed the blonde with big eyes, who I later came to know was Camilla. I loved the way she walked in heels. I loved it when she tumbled and wobbled, and tried to climb up ladders and over the bad streets in her heels. But now she is quite good, she doesn’t really wobble so. She has character, and I think that is what you have to aim for. You can’t just be a conveyor belt, you have to be individual.
Now, I am going all bourgeois: crocodile, luxury, expensive. But still the girls and even the granddaughters come – can you imagine? So cute, I love that the little children want to wear my shoes, as I love what I do, I don’t change, and I don’t look back and neither should you. Be fearless and always put your best foot forward.
How to know when to wear a heel
High heels are NOT just for eveningwear. They work just as well with trousers, jeans, denim skirts, mini skirts, pyjamas. You need to be adventurous.
Any aspiring Imelda Marcos needs to consider multiple locations and situations in order to ensure maximum and successful heel-wearing pleasure.
The weather
Suede, satins and pale colours are OUT if there is the slightest hint of rain. No rain protector is worth the risk of losing a key shoe.
How deep is the carpet?
Dense shag pile = poor gripability. Heel height and width should vary accordingly.
Can you get from A to B? Taxi? Car? Escort?
Hitchhiking is out.
Hazards
Check for cobblestones, grass, grids and grates. Also do you spy any toddling children? If there are stairs with no banister don’t even attempt it. When going up stairs you should travel on the balls of the feet, when going down sidestep slowly.
Dress codes
Dress codes are only for people who don’t know what to wear or how to be chic. Remember: you can never be too glamorous or have too many heels. Every girl must have at least ten varieties of heel on hand at all times.
Short arse
If your escort is shorter than you in your highest heels dump him immediately. Pointless. A pair of Manolos lasts a lifetime, and you shouldn’t compromise style for love.
Hang the kittens
Don’t let anyone, particularly not a ‘him’, persuade you kitten heels are sexy. They equal chubby thighs and thick ankles if the truth were told. They are day shoes, they are practical, and they are a cop out. Also, they are actually far more uncomfortable and quicker to cause pain to lower back and arches than a proper pair of heels.
Know your realistic time limit
This can affect height and choice of style. Occasion and venue knowledge are essential for heel selection. For example, slingbacks are good for dinner parties, but dancing requires straps of some sort.
Hitting the jackpot
A heel can make or break an outfit. High street becomes designer if dressed with good heels. Dress heels up and down.
Dress to impress
Bondage stilettos and skyscraper spikes are OUT for first meeting of prospective in-laws or vicars.
Always have a taxi number in your mobile