So, earlier this year, I won a competition (I know!) and the prize was a Karen Millen gift card. Which I still haven’t used, because, in keeping with the premise behind my Shoe Challenge, and also a similar kind of wardrobe challenge I’ve been doing for the past few months, I thought the sensible thing to do would be to resist the lure of the beautiful eveningwear currently available on the website, and wait until something came along that I’d actually get the chance to wear.

Then this dress appeared:

This dress was hard to resist. It was very, very hard. I may even have wept, a little. But, “Shoeper,” I told myself, “Be strong! Resist the lure of the dress, because you know perfectly well that unless your life changes dramatically at some point in the next few months, and you suddenly become the kind of person who goes to glamorous parties every night of the week, you will never, ever wear it. And even although it wouldn’t actually cost you anything, it would still be a waste. Also: as soon as you spend the credit on a dress you’ll never wear, you just KNOW a dress you WOULD wear will come along, and you won’t be able to afford it because you used up your gift card. So step away from the screen, and leave the poor thing alone.”

So I did. And then, two days later? Along came the matching shoes. Oh, THE SHOES! So pretty! So sparkly! So totally the kind of thing I love! But… navy. And also: dressy. So very, very dressy. Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE navy. For day wear, I’m obsessed with navy. I’d be obsessed with it for evening wear too, except I never buy evening wear any more, on account of the whole “never wearing it” scenario outlined above. And as gorgeous as they are, the dressy nature of these shoes would make them really difficult for me to incorporate into the challenge, sadly, which means one of you guys will have to step up to the plate and buy them, just so I can enjoy them vicariously through you. Any volunteers?

Karen Millen sequin bow shoes, £130