Finally, sexy heels you can walk in!

Sixties style icons swore by them. Now block heels are back

SO she’s finally admitted it. Victoria Beckham, queen of the towering stiletto, has conceded defeat and admitted what many of us have known all along – that vertiginous heels are simply not compatible with everyday life.

It was — as fashion confessions go — pretty revelatory.

This is, after all, the woman who has worn heels to football matches and playgrounds and who regularly teeters, head-down, collarup, into her cavernous Mayfair store.

so what has changed? Real life it seems. ‘I just can’t do heels any more,’ she recently confided. ‘At least not when I’m working.’

But thankfully, for Posh, and the rest of us, there is now a middle ground between high heels and flats – the low block heel. On spring’s catwalks, these highly desirable (but incredibly practical) shoes abounded.

At Chloe, in an ode to Nineties minimalism, creative director Clare Waight Keller paired everything from diaphanous chiffon gowns and lace mini dresses to athletic side- stripe track pants with low blockheeled strappy sandals.

Meanwhile, with a typically crafty flourish, Domenico Dolce and stefano Gabbana took chunky heels to creative new levels, embellishing pretty silk print Mary- Janes with ornate gold filigree work, painting block heels with folksy flowers and topping straps with clusters of multi-coloured pompoms.

Not only are these shoes beautiful to look at, there are clear foot health benefits too. ‘Lower heels are a kinder option for feet as they offer good support and fit properly,’ says podiatrist Margaret Dabbs. ‘high heels put pressure on the back, and shorten the Achilles tendon which can result in long term feet problems.’

If you’re going to wear heels then the perfect height, says Dabbs, is 1.5in and the sturdier the better. ‘A chunkier heel will distribute the body weight better and will be more comfortable as it assists with balance when walking and offers good support to the soft tissues and the arches of the foot.’

The highest of the new crop of designer block heels — the Gucci loafer, available in lustrous gold, eye popping fuchsia or yellow leather or in black or purple suede — stands at 2in but with a much chunkier heel will also distribute body weight better.

The

beauty of these blissfully comfortable shoes is that they go anywhere — those dreamily embellished shoes from Dolce & Gabbana suddenly transform a lower heel into serious party footwear.

And you can easily give a pair of high street shoes the Dolce treatment — LK Bennett’s gorgeous Aniki print sandals could take a pom pom or golden charm embellishment or two.

stylist Nathalie Riddle, who has worked with actresses from salma hayek to helen Mirren, agrees that block heels are far more versatile. ‘They take you seamlessly from day to night. I love wearing them with my tailored jeans for day, and a tuxedo suit for night,’ she says,

her advice is to avoid floor-sweeping lengths or shapes that are too voluminous as ‘they would overwhelm the shoe’, but almost anything else goes — the shape looks great with swingy sixties dresses (it is the era from which the shoe first emerged after all) as well as with midi-skirts and trousers.

‘We have noticed a huge rise in sales of block heels,’ says Cassie smart, footwear and bags buyer for online boutique matchesfashion. com. ‘It is much more versatile to still have the height of a heel but to be able to run around easily. They make a statement but are also more functional and work well for the office and social occasions.’

The sturdy heel shape is key: ‘It’s a more modern alternative to a skinnier heel which doesn’t now feel as contemporary.’

The block heel can look at its most chic with an about-town look and style muse Alexa Chung gave a perfect demo of how to wear them at Milan Fashion Week as she visited the Italian city in the chunky-heeled Gucci loafers (£495), paired with skinny black jeans and a black fur jacket.

The eagle-eyed may have noticed that the sturdier style is not dissimilar to the perfectly practical pumps that her Majesty has worn for more than 50 years — and it’s exactly this retro charm that feels so right for now. (It’s also testament to it being the perfect heel for long days on one’s feet.)

With so many great high street variations, it’s hard to choose. Miss KG’s mirror silver Audrina MaryJanes ( £ 55) or Asos’s j ewel encrusted sparkle shoes (£40) are a good alternative to Dolce & Gabbana’s metallic pumps.

WhIsTLes

has an elegant, beautifully made Mary- Jane (The Ness, £160). The Dolly court shoe from M&s (£25) comes in a faux black suede with a snake trim while Topshop’s Boutique range has gorgeous suede courts in pale pink or pumpkin (£110).

Designer diffusion lines are worth a look, too, if you want to splash out a little more; Isabel Marant’s etoile collection has leather Mary- Jane pumps with a block heel in black or cream (£230).

Better still is a store that will stock only low heels. Olive Aubrey is the brainchild of fashion executive susan Aubrey and will launch this autumn with a price range from £155 to £185. (A smaller selection of shoes will be available from May).

‘To a business woman working in fashion, the lack of choice in lowheeled shoes struck me as a bitter irony,’ explains Aubrey of her lightbulb moment last year.

‘The internet and high street were awash with shoes — pointy toes, stiletto or kitten spiked heels, or ballerina flats (are we six?) by the thousand — while anything mid or low-heeled was invariably ‘mother of the bride’ circa 1984.’

Aubrey took her cue from the shoes that she loved to wear — block heeled shoes with a sixties flavour that she had picked up in markets in France and Italy, very much like the shoes her mother wore — which is where the website’s name comes from. ‘In the sixties, low-heeled shoes epitomised liberated feminine style and defined the looks of style icons, looks that still work for any age group — Raquel Welch, Jackie Kennedy, Anita Pallenberg, Nina simone, Jane Birkin,’ she says.

It’s why the style has had such longevity — and why low-heeled pumps by Chanel, Ferragamo and Roger Vivier (who designed his trademark buckled pumps, later made famous by Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour, in 1967) are as popular today as when they was first created.

It’s a classic look and one that not only feels very of-the-moment this spring but is timelessly elegant, too.

Invest in a block heel and you’re guaranteed to look effortlessly chic but, better still, you’ll have very happy feet.