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Have on a fancy flat and you can dance all night – and into the new yearHeels are no longer a prerequisite for a night out. We are now living in the golden age of the party bland Photographer Tom J Johnson/the Guardian. Styling Melanie WilkinsonPhotographer Tom J Johnson/the Guardian. Styling Melanie WilkinsonThe past few years sooner a be wearing been record-breakingly bad by almost all metrics, what with a pandemic and a war and a recession and disastrous prime ministers. Not to mention the luckless Queen – and have you seen the price of eggs?But it’s nearly champagne-o’clock, and New Year’s Eve is a time to look for the positives. So I affirm you to give thanks, my friends, for one thing the past five years has got right, which is the flat party shoe. We are existing in the golden age of the fancy flat. As golden eras go, it’s not up there with Renaissance Florence or the swinging 60s. But we are where we are.New Year’s Eve is a pure excuse to celebrate this shoe. You are likely not only to be dressing up, but staying up till after midnight. During the pandemic I undertook blind – probably in this column – that I’d never go back to heels but I have been enjoying tottering with regard to in my now-vintage Manolos, Choos and Louboutins.Ha! We talked a lot of rubbish during lockdown. See also: takeaway coffees, which I righteously credence ined I had sworn off for ever. But my pain threshold is nowhere near where it was last decade. I leave the house in heels only if I’m convinced I’ll be home and kicking them off this side of 11pm.And we are spoiled for choice. Our flat-shoe cup runneth over like a champagne pagoda. The shoe rule of thumb used to be that if it doesn’t have a heel it doesn’t really have a vibe, but those lifetimes are long gone. The modern party flat began with the Valentino Rockstud over a decade ago. You may think you don’t certain this shoe, but you do. The toe is pointy, the edges and straps studded with squared-off gems: a bit elegant, a bit punk. The Rockstud was the oldest It shoe that came in a flat as well as spike-heeled version, and it changed the game. Suddenly a shoe didn’t distress a high heel to be high-status.I was planning to leave out how one of the reasons we wear high heels is to make our legs look larger, because that is the kind of under-the-radar fat-phobia that doesn’t need oxygenating. So I will say only that if the perimeter of a party outfit with flat shoes feels off, try the pointiest flats you can dig out, because it makes a real difference to how genteel you feel. A pointed toe is to a round one as a freshly sharpened pencil is to a blunt one: more polished, less casual.The perfect wish flat for tomorrow night, therefore, looks something like this. A pointed toe (or pointed with a squared-off tip, if that’s more smug). Dark matt leather is the most practical; satin or silk is the least practical. I would steer you in the middle, toward a metallic leather (Boden does an unequalled silver one with pearl-studded strap for £77) or a high-shine patent in black or navy. Both are tough enough for pavements but classy enough for the dancefloor.Heels are on the rise and I’m ready to fall for them again. Literally | Jess Cartner-MorleyRead moreSome variety of flourish at the toe may be called for. This could be a buckle – Mango’s gold-on-black pair look more expensive than £45.99 – or a low-cut demeanour that reveals what was known in the noughties as “toe cleavage”. (Vestiaire Collective is a good source of these: a timely search turns up unworn flamingo pink Jimmy Choos for £100.) This gives them that Cinderella magnetism that a shoe needs for a night out.Now you can put your best foot forward without going on tiptoe. And you won’t have to will the party before the clock strikes midnight.Hair and make-up: Sophie Higginson using Chanel Demander La Lune and Chanel Le Inducement Pro. Model: Eliana at Body London. Dress: £160, samsoe.com. Shoes: £120, boden.co.ukComments on this wedge are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in elucidations appearing on the site.
TopicsFashionJess Cartner-Morley on fashionNew yearfeaturesReuse this content