Well I think that these “pony effect” leather court shoes from River Island are just marvellous. I ordered them for a shoot and when they arrived I was actually quite taken aback at how great the quality was; lovely leather, a sturdily attached heel and neat finishing at the seams. I also loved the black lining and the contrast leather on the toe and the heel height was ideal – sexy enough, but not “break your neck” high.

Can you sense that there’s a “but” here? Because there is! I ordered a UK6, my usual size, and when the pony shoes came they were absolutely tiny! I couldn’t actually get my feet into them. They were so small that when I re-ordered, I went for a UK8. The UK8 arrived and they were just a smidgen too big, but I love these shoes so much that I have ordered them again in a size 7! (Trial and error, friends, trial and error.)

These faux pony shoes look loads more expensive than they actually are and will look brilliant with anything from a sexy LBD to jeans and a t-shirt, so they were well worth the extra effort in terms of sizing. If you want to find them online, they have all the sizes at ASOS (£55) or sizes 3-6 at River Island  – reduced to the sale price of £30.

(The shoe in the background is from Dune; wasn’t so keen on that style, and again it seemed to come up quite small. Sudden panicked thought: I hope my feet aren’t just randomly growing! I don’t think so, though, because all of my own shoes fit…)