A letter from a reader

At 62, I had given up on a bit of height. Flats made me feel dumpy and heels left me wincing.

I almost did not write this down, because it is only a pair of sandals and I am not the sort of woman who gets excited about that sort of thing any more. But three different women stopped to ask me about them at a garden lunch on Saturday, and when that happens at 62 you start to think there might be something in it.

For a long time I had made my peace with flat shoes. The trouble was they left me feeling a little dumpy and shapeless, especially in a summer dress. But the moment I tried anything with a heel my feet would start to ache and I would feel unsteady on them, forever watching the pavement, and by lunchtime I only wanted to take them off. So I had two choices, comfortable and flat, or a bit of height and miserable, and neither was much of a choice.

I had decided that a little bit of height and a comfortable pair of shoes were two different things entirely.

So I stayed in my flats, and quietly minded that I did.

Then I saw them on a friend

A friend of mine had a pair on at a coffee morning and I noticed at once she looked that bit taller and more put together, and then she told me she had been on her feet all morning without a grumble. They are from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly looking after women our age for a few years, and they had their summer sale on. They are called the Estella, a soft navy blue pair, and they come in four colours. I ordered mine that same evening before I could talk myself out of it.

What happened at the lunch

I wore them to a garden lunch on the first really warm day, half braced for the usual aching and wobbling. Instead I stood about quite happily and felt that bit taller in my dress, and three separate women came over to ask me where they were from. Three. My friend Sue said I looked like I had made an effort, which coming from Sue I have decided to take as a compliment.

That was the moment it clicked for me. I had spent years believing I had to choose between comfort and a bit of height, and here was one pair that quietly did both.

Three things I have learned since

One. The wedge is a kind one. It gives me a little height and a longer line, but it is a gentle cushioned wedge rather than a spindly heel, so I feel steady as anything and never find myself watching the pavement.

Two. There is proper support underneath. The footbed is contoured and cushioned with a bit of arch support, so a long day on my feet no longer ends with me longing to sit down. Comfortable from the very first wear, no breaking in.

Three. They just slip on. No buckles, no bending down and fiddling, and being open at the toe they are lovely and cool when it is warm. They have quietly become the thing I reach for all summer.

About the price

I will be honest, when I saw the price in the sale I was a bit suspicious. Sandals that give you a bit of height and feel this steady and comfortable usually cost a great deal more, and it turns out they usually do.

The Estella is £24.95. It was £50.00.

There was no catch. They arrived quickly, they were comfortable from the very first day with no breaking in, and they looked exactly like the picture, which we all know is not always the way.

I did go and read the reviews before I ordered a second pair in the brown. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars. Not the suspiciously perfect five you see on some sites, which if I am honest made me trust it more. One woman had written, "A little bit of height at last, and I can walk in them all day without a single ache." That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you and I were sat in the garden and you asked me, this is what I would say.

If you have given up on a bit of height because flats feel dumpy and every heel leaves you wobbling and wincing by lunchtime, then it is worth ten minutes of your evening to go and have a look.

Not because a pair of sandals will change your life. They will not. But there is something in standing that bit taller in your summer dress and still walking about in comfort all day, that I had quietly given up on, and I would rather you did not give up on it too.

Two practical things. The sale is on at the moment, half of what they were, and the middle sizes go first, which I found out because the size I wanted had nearly sold out by the time I went back for a second colour. And once the summer stock has sold through, that is it until next year.

I stand that bit taller now, and my feet have not once complained.

Caroline