Hello Kitty

After years in the fashion doldrums, the kitten heel is officially back. Kitten heels were seen all over the Autumn/Winter 2010 catwalks: at Stella McCartney, at Valentino and at Isabel Marant to name a few, and they were recently given a stylish seal of approval by Alexa Chung at Paris Fashion Week, which will undoubtedly launch thousands of copycats, or copy kittens if you will. (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Yet despite all of this, kitten heels continue to divide opinion amongst women. Are they elegant, or are they a little bit twee? Are they dainty and demure, or are they sickly goody too shoes? There can be no doubt that kitten heels are the Audrey, not the Marilyn, of the footwear universe. I can certainly see their appeal from a practical point of view, in that you can be 'wearing heels' yet still run around the perilous cobbled streets of London in a degree of comfort, and they don't turn you into a towering giant, which is certainly an advantage for a girl who is taller than 5"10.

However, it is the very word 'practical' that trips me up and has prevented me so far from purchasing a pair. It reeks of that other word that just doesn't sit terribly comfortably within a stylish vocabulary: sensible. I am on the fence for now (or maybe until I turn into Carla Bruni and marry a French statesman). However if you do insist on wearing them, pair with rolled up slim fitting trousers and channel rockabilly-irony as seen at Isabel Marant (pictured).

Less is More

Fashion, to a degree follows 20 year cycles (although some would say that as designers produce more and more collections such as cruise and resort, this vintage is decreasing). Nonetheless, this has made it inevitable that designers have been referencing the 90s for the past couple of seasons. As well as the grunge look that characterised Britpop and that was made famous by Marc Jacobs, the other seminal look of the decade was pared down minimalism, courtesy of Helmut Lang. This season sees the return of the cigarette pant: a slim, tapered cut which ends just at the ankle: a look made famous by Uma Thurman in 1994's Pulp Fiction. To make this work, think androgyny: so clean lines, and a masculine silhouette. During the day, wear with a super sharp (almost stiff, straightjacket material) white shirt and flat brogues in a completely monochrome palette, or pair with heels and a sheer vest top for a cocktail party alternative.

(Pictured: Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction; Stella McCartney Fall RTW)