It is one of my mum’s favourite sayings, and my own love of beautiful shoes definitely comes from the woman who would don five-inch stilettos to pick me up from school.
For me, the right shoes tend to be a bit more eye-catching than most and usually come from one brand – Irregular Choice (IC).
IC was founded in 1999 by designer Dan Sullivan, who noticed that footwear was becoming neutral and mundane at the same time that people were searching for something unique that they could wear with pride. He now creates up to 600 new designs every year, each known by a different name and each reflecting his ethos of originality.
My own love of IC began when I spotted a pair in a shoe shop window in my teens. They were unlike anything I had seen before and from the second I slipped my feet into them I knew I had found my new obsession. Over the last decade my collection has expanded from that first pair to 15 pairs, a relatively modest hoard compared to many of the avid collectors who have in excess of 300 sets of beauties.
I’m a member of a Facebook group with more than 48,000 other like-minded fans from across the globe where we sell and swap our shoes and share photos of our collections and favourite pairs. I can quite often be found dotting round the newsroom in my black and silver stripe Penny Dropped brogues or my Miaow boots, complete with cat buckle. IC has even been with me on some of the biggest days of my life – I wore my rose gold Delores Divas for graduation, and my wedding shoes were Rosy Posy featuring a six inch heel with a heart cut out and platform sole.
Wearing IC allows me to show off a little bit of my personality in any outfit, and I get a little extra burst of confidence when I walk down the street and see people staring at my feet. And although I can just as easily be found in a par of comfy old trainers, I definitely walk a little taller and smile a little wider in my weird, wacky and wonderful ICs.
