Christian Louboutin Luciana 120 cutout leather pumps

Christian Louboutin Luciana 120 cutout leather pumps, £595

Proving once again that black pumps don’t always have to be the boring, sensible option, here’s Christian Louboutin’s ‘Luciana’, with a 120mm heel.

These shoes are anything BUT boring and sensible. I don’t think a heel that high could EVER really be described as “sensible”, but even taking the height out of the occasion, these are black pumps with a difference. As with some of the other new season styles I’ve featured here, these have that interesting cut-in detail on the heel, which has the effect of making it look even higher and narrower than it is. I love that Louboutin has used this detail on so many of the autumn/winter styles, and the red of the sole contrasts wonderfully against the black leather upper on these.

Speaking of the upper, it, too, is a little more special than you might assume at first glance. The caged-effect leather straps go all the way down to the tip of the toe, meaning that the top of the shoe is almost completely open. That’ll create some serious toe cleavage if you’re wearing these with bare feet, but should also make for an interesting effect with tights. I’ve never been a huge fan of coloured tights, but think these could look quite nice with a flash of colour underneath that vamp: it’s designed to be made a feature off, after all, so it would be a shame for it to just blend into a pair of black opaques!

Buy them here