My Ingenious Cobbler Says These Are the Best Shoes on the High Street

You'd be surprised by how many times I visit my neighbourhood cobbler in any given month. I've finally discovered, as a self-confessed shoe addict, that looking after your footwear is essential if you don't want your collection to be a revolving door of broken soles and shattered style dreams. True, it's an added expense to an already expensive hobby, but, if it means I get an extra year out of some favourite heels, it's far more economical and earth-friendly than just buying a new pair for the sake of it.

So, this means I've managed to find a cobbler skilled enough that I trust with Prada and Topshop alike, and that I spend a lot of time talking to him. He loves to chat and our average conversation lasts about 45 minutes. He's fairly disappointed in me most of the time: Sometimes I don't bring my shoes before I wear them (bad behaviour strike #1); I have a penchant for coloured suede (apparently this is not conducive to a long shelf-life—strike #2); and, in his opinion, I'm a pretty frivolous fashion editor (strike #3). His take is that I should be investing in sensible black leather brogues; I beg to differ.

Recently, upon taking in a couple of knackered pairs of Office kitten-heel slingbacks, I was amazed to see his enthusiasm. I voiced that I had considered chucking them out—at only around £60 a pop, I'd had quite a few seasons' out of them and thought their game was probably up. How wrong I was. My local shoe guru informed me that Office shoes are some of the very best on the high street: well-made and well-balanced, and often with lined in leather (you don't know how rare that is at this price point), you can start to see why he'd say so. They were worth fixing, and I believe him.

To celebrate my old shoes' new lease of life—and a start to a potentially fruitful footwear relationship for you—here are the new styles I'd buy in Office today!