Topshop ‘Surrender’ suede bow platforms

Topshop ‘Surrender’ suede bow platforms, £68

A few weeks ago, Topshop made some small but important changes to their website, and one of them was the use of real models rather than mannequins to display the clothes. Unlike some retailers, who use models for the clothes, but photograph the shoes on their own, however, Topshop took things one step further, and are also showing models wearing the shoes, too. This is a great move, as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you all that sometimes seeing the shoes on an actual person can make a huge difference to what you think of them: and, sometimes, of course, it can simply help confirm what you’d already suspected.

The shoes above, for instance, fall into the latter category. When I saw the product shots, I thought they were loads of fun, and l liked many of the individual elements, but I suspected they’d be far too chunky on the foot for my taste, especially given my current preference for non-platform styles. A quick look at the model shots on;y serves to confirm that impression for me:

(These photos also confirm my hatred for a) acid wash denim and b) skirts that are mostly see-through, but that’s no surprise either…)

Now, granted, the styling of these shots does a lot to put me off, but looking past that, I actually decided I liked the shoes much more than I did in the product shot, but that I probably wouldn’t wear them if I owned them, because they ARE very chunky. If I did attempt to wear them, I’d want to balance out the size of the shoe with a full-skirted silhoette, as opposed to a skinny leg pant, which just makes the shoes look even larger, and a bit out-of-proportion: so something similar to the top photo, in other words, but without the see-through element of the skirt.

How would you style these?

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