Let clogs put the fun back into your fashion
ThE thing about fashion that people sometimes forget (by ‘people’ I mean women with daughters old enough to pay their own rent) is that it’s meant to be fun.
That’s how it started out back when we saved up our pocket money to buy that first thing of wonder — look down at your leg warmers and know that you are a brilliant female in a world of possibilities! — and then, over time, it got more serious.
Slowly you turn your back on the fun things on the grounds that the sensible things are infinitely more practical. You learn that the orange velvet coat, the stripy lurex top and the star-embroidered trousers may make you feel good, but they’re not the sort of clothes that GWE (Go With Everything), give you VPW (Value Per Wear) and are EDU (Easily Dressed Up).
By the time you get to 45, your wardrobe is 80 per cent useful. By the time you get to 55, it’s 90 per cent wearable in most situations — fit for the purpose of getting through life looking reasonably good and pulled together, but delightful? Not so much.
I get that we all end up taking the safe route more often because we have a limited budget, we have jobs and we need to dress wisely.
But . . . what if we were to go for the fun-factor, joy-sparking, whatever you want to call it with 20 per cent of our look? What if we concede that we don’t want lots of rarely wearable clothes, but we do want the rush from something we’re wearing that you get when you hear the first bars of a favourite dance track?
Which brings me neatly to clogs. The most smile-inducing, youth-recapturing, joysparking footwear on the planet. (Platforms are good, too, but you can’t wear them in almost every situation, unlike the new clogs).
BECaUSE, as you may have gathered, clogs have had a 2022 makeover and become the footwear you can either slop around the house in or wear to a party, depending on where they sit on the clog chic scale. Better still they’re chic in a fun way, which is precisely what we’re after.
You may already own a pair of loafing about clogs. If not, can I point you in the direction of Lotta’s classic in brown-oiled nubuck (£44.50, lottafromstockholm.co.uk) and don’t worry if they feel stiff on first wearing — they’ll soften up. But the pair that will make the difference to your mood, and your look, pack more of a punch.
The clogs I’m lusting after are black with a horsebit buckle and gleaming silver studs, by Penelope Chilvers (£159, irisfashion.co.uk). These have the elevating power of a great pair of designer sunglasses — they look sleek, cool, in the know and at the same time quirky — and will look good with ankle-baring jeans, a dark print midi dress or tailored cropped print trousers.
Buckles and polished studs are what’s giving clogs their new status as the smartest smart-casual footwear. For something in the same vein try Russell & Bromley’s chunky horsebit style (£225, russellandbromley.co.uk).
Otherwise there’s Scholl’s lower key Pescura in all black with silver hardware (£140, gb.scholl-shoes.com) or the taupe style with brass details (£127, gb.scholl-shoes.com).
I’m also tempted by Penelope Chilvers’s shiny patent clogs in dark green (£159, penelope chilvers.com). The great thing with clogs is you can pop them on the bottom of pretty much anything and get away with it; I’d wear these with smart denim or a block colour trouser suit.
Clogs in white or off-white leather are also twice as glamorous and easier to wear than white shoes and there are plenty around for summer: Zara does a good style (£45.99, zara.com) as do Jones (£89, jonesbootmaker.com) or get a classic Swedish pair (£36.50, lottafromstockholm.co.uk).
For me the point of all clogs, however fancy, is their comfort and down-to-earth vibe, so I would stick with the standard 50 mm heel. But if you like a bit more height, then the higher clog is an option. French actress Marion Cotillard (above) wore high, white leather clogs with a floral dress the other day and looked fresh and more youthful than she would have in regular heels; for something similar, try a Swedish Kitty Clog in stone (£129, londonworks.com).
The bliss of clogs is they feel good. Just remember always to wear them barefoot.
You can’t go wrong.