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For you, dear reader, I have put my feet on the line in a quest to discover what may be the chicest yet most comfortable pair of heels for the summer party season.
Emmy London’s shoes come Kate Middleton-approved, after the Princess Of Wales was spotted wearing several pairs of the brand’s heels, and toting a clutch or two from its line as well.
And it seems she knows what’s up, as when I got my hands on a pair of the Harriet shoe, these did appear to be heels fit for a (future) queen.
The Harriet comes with several different straps, meaning you’re kind of getting three different shoes for the price of one (and I should note, the price is hefty…), with a thin leather strap, a thin suede diamante strap, and a silk sash option arriving in the box.
Luckily enough for me and for the world of content, I had a glitzy awards bash the evening after and knew the ultimate test for any good heel was its longevity on a night out.
To really test the boundaries, I decided to wear them all day in the office, too, because as someone who hardly wears heels I’m apparently a sucker for throwing myself in the deep end.
8am-5pm
8am was time to lace up. After commuting into the office in sandals, I switched to heels as I logged on for the day. Giving the heels a warm up run to the office canteen, they felt a little wobbly at first, but I put it down to first wear jitters.
I opted for the silk sash, which I felt gave me more support than the thinner straps.
After nine hours in the office, I’d walked up and down stairs, across carpet, wooden floors, and concrete and, despite having a wider foot, felt pretty sturdy on the thinner heel.
Plus, a lovely side effect was the compliments from colleagues. Suppose these shoes are a little more formal than my usual office fare on a Friday…
But the true test came after hours.
5-6pm
The shoes stuck with me as I navigated the standing-room-only Circle and then Hammersmith and City London Underground lines for 40 minutes and made light work of the cobbled footpaths of London’s East.
So far, so good.
I stood around in queues for entry, as well as for bag check and for coat check; I walked around in circles trying to find my table. I waited around for colleagues to join and to get wristbands. The padding of these shoes really were doing God’s work in shielding the balls of my feet by this time. Still, hardly breaking a sweat.
10pm
AKA my undoing – I was far too comfortable, so I took a load off. For several hours. I didn’t heed the rule of wearing heels that ‘once you sit down, you better not be planning to stand back up for any extended period of time’ as sitting down for dinner over several hours meant when my feet were called back to attention in these heels around 11pm, life was a little harder.
11pm
Ok, now we’re starting to realise we’re wearing heels. And heels of a thin heeled-nature. Why didn’t I go for a block heel? However, the night was young(ish) and I needed to take these beauties for a spin on the dancefloor to really test their might.
I lasted one song before I realised the ankle sash had become loose and that may have been causing some discomfort. A quick re-tie saw the shoes stablise my feet once more to the point I felt prepared to head back out onto the cobbles.
1am
It’s time to call it a night. And, in absolutely stunning scenes, I shirk the sandals in my bag I’ve since checked out of the cloakroom and continue down a London street into my cab. Perhaps my late-night confidence was due to the fact I knew I would be home soon and barefoot once more.
The next day verdict
While it’s no surprising feat of mine to wake up after a night of heel-wearing with red, throbbing feet and swear off precarious kicks for good, all I had to show for my previous night’s footwear was a small blister on the side of my big toe due to a little rubbing action. I call that a successful evening, if I’m being honest.
Kate would be proud.
The Harriet is available here for £435.
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Happy shopping (and dancing)!
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