Karen Millen pleated satin peep toes, £125

Bright red may not be the first colour you’d reach for when you’re buying evening shoes: even I have a tendency to go for something like nude or black, that will blend in with my dress rather than competing with it. If you like to stick to the good ol’ little black dress – or even a navy or grey one, say – then a brightly coloured shoe can be a really easy way to give the look a bit of a twist, by adding a shot of colour. And you all know by now that when it comes to bright colours, red is The One for me.  (Or for my shoes, rather: I very rarely wear red clothes, because they don’t really suit me, so my love for the colour is mostly channelled into my shoe collection.)

These Karen Millen peep toes will definitely do that: they’re the brightest of bright reds, and have a gorgeous pleated detail at the front, which makes them that little bit different. Although satin uppers always give shoes a “dressy” feel, however, these aren’t so dressy that they could only be worn with the fanciest of outfits, or to the most elegant of occasions. The closed heel and small peep toe, plus the lack of other embellishments, will make it fairly easy to dress these down just a little. They could look good with dark denim jeans if you’re headed out for drinks, for instance, or with something like this silk bird-print dress for a more formal event:

What to wear with red satin peep toes:

dress // clutch // ring // bracelet

I really love this Nina Ricci dress, but I definitely don’t love the price tag, so I’m hoping the high street will come up with a suitable alternative. I may just get my wish on that one: bird print is always popular, especially in spring, so hopefully my wish will be granted sooner or later. Of course, then I’ll need the shoes…