At school I had singing lessons. Not because I was so bad, they had to do something about my out of tune voice, but because I was deemed too petite to manage a sax and my parents vetoed carting a harp about (my first and second instrument choices.) Voice was my plan C. It was a rite of passage to do duets at local singing festivals and everyone ended up performing the ‘Red Shoe Blues’ - a show tune of dubious origin with amended lyrics name checking Topshop, Dotty Ps and Debenhams (Raf Simons eat your heart out.)
Our singing teacher always encouraged us to dress the part when performing. No-one ever rose to the occasion in red shoes (although I did fling a feather boa about during my rendition of Big Spender.) However, had we been transported to Autumn 2017 it would be impossible not to match this song to your shoes, as the catwalk and high street are awash with red. Specifically the red ankle boot is here to add fire to your footwear arsenal and make any outfit look bold and edgy. I particularly love the mid-heel ankle version with cropped boot-cut denim. This combo feels pleasingly Nineties and realistically retro in a way that crop tops and chokers never will, unless you were a Cali-dwelling real life Clueless cast member and - as you can see from the above memoir of my school days - I wasn’t.
Here are the best red ankle boots of the season:
Opener, Marc Jacobs at VeryExclusive.com
Red snake-effect boots, Dolce & Gabbana at TheOutnet.com
Red boots with elephant heel, Dorateymur at Farfetch.com
Red patent boots, Ganni at Net-a-porter.com
Red buckled boots, Kurt Geiger
Red over the knee boots, River Island