Sophia Webster ‘Lilico’, $595

I HAD to show you these shoes. HAD to. Oh, I’m not expecting you to actually LIKE them, I hasten to add: shoes like these don’t really tend to go down well around here, I’ve noticed. But honestly, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling a little bit uninspired by some of the recent collections, and as much as I like pointed toe pumps, it’s refreshing to see a shoe that, well, ISN’T one.

These are a far cry from classic court shoes, as you can see. From the Spring 2014 collection, they have “summer” written all over them, courtesy of the floral embellishment on the strap, and the polka dot/stripe combination on the heel. There’s really a lot going on with them, in other words, and although I don’t generally like shoes that are too “busy”, I DO rather like these ones, although I suspect I’d like them better if they were split into two different shoes: the heel belonging to one, the toe to another.

About that heel: I tend to think pattern mixing is vastly over-rated, and often just ends up looking plain messy. Spots and stripes, however, are possibly the only prints I actually like together, and which I think can work wonderfully well, if they’re done right. I think the heel of these sandals is a great example of pattern mixing done right, and the the toe is also amazing. Whether or not those individual elements are amazing TOGETHER, of course, is a matter of opinion. Mine is that these shoes manage to pull it all off, and I have a feeling they’d look even better in person. What’s yours?

Buy them here