For 2021, I’m bringing back my 12 Days of Shoes mini series in the run up to Christmas. I have hesitated, because I have mainly been wearing slippers, trainers and warm, comfy boots for the past 18 months. As a result, I haven’t been buying new shoes so I don’t have lots of glamorous new acquisitions to showcase. Last year I diverted my efforts into the much more serious ‘12 Days of Books’. However, in the end I decided to go for it this year, because, hey, it’s fun, and we all need a bit of frivolity in our lives sometimes. (Plus I don’t have time to read 12 books right now!)

Many of you will know that for the last two years I’ve been studying for a Masters in positive psychology – hang in there, this is relevant to shoes! One of the things we’ve learned a lot about on the course is ‘positive psychology interventions’. This sounds very dry and technical, but in essence, it’s about regularly doing things that boost our mood and make us feel good. So it might be keeping a journal of things we’re grateful for, or of three good things that happen each day. It may be taking a photo every day of something that catches our interest, perhaps something that represents wellness or joy or meaning. My research project for my degree is exploring exactly this. So, it suddenly struck me: why not shoes?! Writing about shoes, taking pictures of them, sharing them online is a silly thing that makes me smile. Another thing I’ve become interested in through the course of my studies is self-compassion, so I’m seeing this as a small way of being kind to myself. If it makes someone else smile too, that would be fantastic.

Anyway, enough pseudo-academic justification: here’s the first pair! As regular readers will know, I wear a lot of boots. This Victorian-style black leather lace up pair with a neat heel are fabulous, at least partly because they remind me of some grey suede boots I had in a similar style as a teenager. I adored them! Wearing them made me feel so sophisticated, so confident. Today I have an appointment with my dentist for some root canal treatment, so instead of retreating to the security blanket of cosy, sensible shoes, I’m going to tough it out in style with this pert little pair.