Mad about stilettos

I am rather mad about stiletto shoes. I always feel happy when I climb into a pair and strut off somewhere.

It all goes back to childhood. Back then my lovely mum, in a waft of Chanel No.5 and Revlon face products, would regale us with stories of life “in the sixties” before we were born. When everyone wore stilettos.

Here’s me, my sister and my mum

I loved hearing about what happened “in the sixties”. Mum was an air hostess, which was a rather glamorous profession back then.

Here she is in her full flight regalia including towering stilettos.

Apologies for the state of the image, but the photo had to be rescued from a fire. It was knocked off the mantel into the fireplace by an out of control, rogue snake, speeding around in the lounge room. (I kid you not.)

Mum was based in Melbourne back then and would jetset around, living on cups of tea and fun times. It was an era of pillbox hats, shirtmaker dresses and Mary Quant. And of course, spitefully-heeled stilettos. Even my dad was quite cool “in the sixties”, hooning about in his little red covertible sports car in his button-down shirts and neat side-parted hair.

I like to think that those days were rather like this.

Mum loves to tell a tale and, by golly, there were some very funny stories, most told with tongue firmly planted in cheek. My favourites were the ones that involved quirky but glamorous fashion victories or faux pas.

On one occasion, on a fierce retail safari between flights, mum pranced onto the escalator in David Jones, Sydney. Suddenly she realised she was stuck, her brutally super-fine stiletto heel steadfastly lodged. As she fast approached the danger zone at the end of the escalator, the nerves started to jangle. But then, thinking fast, she skyrocketed barefoot to safety, leaving her shoes to fend for themselves. Sadly they didn’t make it. They were horrifically mangled, the escalator broke down and generally much havoc was wreaked.

Another time, mum was in the air and the turbulence was so bad, she was flung sky-high and landed back on her stiletto with a crunch. One heel snapped in half, the other shoe basically cracked in the middle. But of course she had work to do and continued on, limping proudly down the aisle like nothing had happened.

Today, I’m giving a shout out to my beautiful mum for her ability to never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

And to celebrate her very funny stiletto mishaps, here are my three favourite stiletto looks right now. Thanks for the love of the stiletto, Ma!

And finally, if you want to buy, here are some ideas.

From top:

Christian Louboutin Pigalle; Jimmy Choo Abel in Neon Flame; Top Shop Golden Mid Heel; Zomp White Pump