Walter Steiger ‘Flame’ court shoes, £524

Seeing as today is Halloween, I figured I should probably be doing some kind of “spooky shoes” feature or something. The problem with that, however, is that I’ve never been very keen on “themed” footwear, and the selection of “skeleton” and “zombie” shoes out there wasn’t really inspiring me, so I’m hoping that these Walter Steiger pumps will do instead.

These aren’t, technically speaking, “Halloween” shoes: the cut-out details around the heel and vamp are actually supposed to be flames. As soon as I saw them, though, I thought they looked like exactly the kind of thing the well-dressed (and well-OFF) witch might be wearing this season, so here they are. Between the curved heel (A characteristic of Walter Steiger shoes), the long, pointed toe, and the “flame” details, I think these have a spooky kind of elegance to them, and the fact that they manage to achieve this effect without attaching a spider or skeleton to the toe, is another point in their favour. They’re the kind of shoes that would look fantastic paired with a black velvet gown for a bit of Gothic glamour – or, of course, you could simply forget all the spooky stuff, and just look on them as an interesting and unusual take on the classic black court. Up to you.

Buy them here.