Shoe of the Day | ZARA black embellished court shoes

Zara black embellished court shoes, £49.99

Studded pumps are one of those shoe styles that can be a really useful addition to your shoe closet at this time of year: especially if you have any of those “tricky to dress for” holiday events on your social calendar.

I’m sure you all know the kind of thing I’m talking about: it’s those parties that aren’t-really-parties – the gatherings and get-togethers that aren’t exactly “dressy”, but which you don’t want to turn up looking like you haven’t made an effort at all to, either. Then there are those events which you just have NO IDEA how people will dress for AT ALL. You walk in, knowing everyone could be in jeans, or everyone could be in cocktail attire – and there’s no real way of knowing which it’ll be.

For some reason, the majority of my socialising seems to involve “difficult to dress for” situations, so I spend a lot of time standing in my closet, wondering what on earth I can wear that won’t make me feel ridiculously over-dressed (if the event turns out to be super-casual), but won’t make you feel like a total slob if everyone else is dressed up.

Enter the studded black pump.

COAT // SKIRT // CARDIGAN

These shoes are the perfect mix of ‘simple’ and ‘special’. They have the shape of a classic pump, but a satin upper, sprinkled with studs – they’re just enough to make your look polished, without taking it way over the top. Wear with black opaque tights or a pair of trousers/jeans if you want to dress them down, or with a dress and nude hose/bare legs for a more dressed-up feel.

I also have a feeling these are the kind of shoes that will look better in ‘real life’ than they do in the photos: and they look pretty good in the photos, so that’s a very good sign indeed!