ANYTHING BUT HEELS
Samantha Murray Greenway has the ultimate styling trick for when you want to feel partyready, but don’t want to wear heels.
Getting dressed-up for an evening out can require a healthy dose of inspiration, especially in winter, when the wind’s blowing a gale and the rain is tipping down. or years a pair of out-there heels has been my favourite pick-me-up. I’ve used them to elevate both mood and outfit; to gussy-up denim or lend edge to more reserved tailoring. ut what about those days when you just don’t want to teeter hen putting on heels feels like a step too far I’ll admit it’s happening to me more and more, and I’m going to put it down to the weather and the fact that I like to stride, rather than go anywhere near the idea that age is making me sensible.
I’ve discovered the answer. hen you want to feel party-ready but don’t want to wear heels you simply channel what I’ve heard called, in not particularly flattering fashion slang, trash-chic. It’s been all over the catwalk but this is one trend that lends itself to real life, too. ecause the concept is simple: the amped-up party shoe has simply broadened to involve over-the-top accessories. ick just one (the more punchy and eccentric, the better) and put it with something altogether more low-key. The effect should be an effortless mash-up of the absurd and the understated. hen you’re feeling a bit drab, or when you’re just craving comfort, it works surprisingly well. The other evening I wore my favourite, all-encompassing, bottle green shirt (part floaty top, part security blanket), over my stalwart faded black jeans and flat boots – so far, so comfortable. To rev it all up, I carried a bag I’d bought to placate my inner magpie: it’s gaudy gold, crackled leather with the same high-shine quality as the inside of a crisp packet. It had the desired effect, drawing the eye away from some fairly standard clothes and garnering a few compliments into the bargain.
It’s a style gesture that works because the addition of something jarring brings the unexpected: some all-important pep. As is so often the way with style, the fashion editor’s fashion editor, iana Vreeland, put it best when she said, A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika.
It’s very of the moment. At Louis Vuitton gaudy floral ties added the required fillip to camel tailoring. At Gucci, off-kilter accents were all over the place, an exuberant bow on a jacket here, a pair of zingy yellow leather fingerless gloves worn with a long red dress, there. And then there were the hats at arni. They ranged from a devilish doll draped over the crown to twine tiaras and colourful knit headwrappings – each adding its own twist of unexpected curiosity. ut perhaps the most inspiring wild-accessory pairing I’ve seen so far, were the exceptional moulded sunglasses that icole idman wore while running around aris before her alenciaga catwalk debut. o strikingly atman was the style, that one ritish newspaper mistook the eyewear (sure to be the most copied accessory of the season) for a mask. idman wore a fairly unremarkable pair of baggy jeans and a ineties scoop-neck black bodysuit with them, letting her eyewear do the talking. The effect was ridiculously cool with apparently very little effort. As we know, one of the most perplexing things about cool, is that making too much of an effort can kill it stone dead. hich makes this an easy win. earing one utterly quirky accessory allows the best of all worlds: you can indulge in the outrageous without sacrificing your comfort or, apparently, losing your cool. hatever treasure you alight on – a loud purse, a huge gee-gaw of a brooch, a bejewelled scarf, some crazy eyewear or a nutso hat that simply sparks some joy – think of it as a fashionable distraction. And if in any doubt about the style outcome, bear in mind Vreeland’s words: Too much good taste can be boring.