A is for ankles. 
Or more precisely, ankle straps and ankle boots.  Nothing is sexier than a flattering ankle strap, or more stylish than medium to high heeled ankle boots.  The key to successfully carrying off footwear that highlights the ankle, is moderation.  Ankle straps should never be too thick, as they will make your lower legs look chunky, and ankle boots tend to look their best when they are fairly fine.

B is for boots. 
The boot is a true fashion perennial. Whether you favour a sassy little ankle boot, a more autumnal mid-calf length, or the absolute apex of Winter footwear style, knee length boot, a well-fitted, well looked after boot will have you striding forth confidently, like no other footwear can.

B is also for Bally.
Carl Franz Bally is considered by many to be the grandfather of modern shoe manufacturing.  The company that he started 155 years ago, has been responsible for many innovations in shoemaking, as well as some of the most beautiful shoes that you’ll ever see in your life.  Check out www.bally.com to see some gorgeous examples of shoes through the past 150 years.

And finally, B is also for ballerina flats. 
These comfortable slipper-style shoes, designed to resemble ballet slippers, enjoyed a fashionable heyday in the fifties, again in the eighties, and now in the noughties we’re coming to love them again.  A word to the wise though – the currently fashionable style of ballerina flat sometimes features ribbons that cross and tie above the ankle, just like the ballet slippers that they are emulating – don’t be too quick to purchase! This look can shorten your calves and thicken your ankles quicker than you can say ‘tutu’, so take a hard, honest look before you buy.

C is for cleavage.  Toe cleavage, that is.  When buying standard court or pump style shoes that have a low scooped upper, the golden rule is this: If you can see the beginnings of the gaps between your toes, then don’t buy the shoes.  Generally, where there is toe cleavage, there is a shoe that looks gorgeous on the shelf, but not on your feet.

C is also for canvas shoes.
Also known as boat shoes, deck shoes or gym shoes, depending on the style.  Boat or deck shoes are generally slip-ons with a rubber sole and natural or coloured canvas upper, designed with the purpose of (you guessed it!) wearing on the decks of boats.  Canvas gym shoes are also rubber soled, but are more like lace-up boots.  They have been popular for decades with basketball players, but were also the height of fashion for a period in the mid-eighties, when Converse made a killing selling its gym shoes to every teenager in the free world.  Seriously fashionable types would actually buy two pairs in different colours, and wear them as an odd match, frequently wearing opposite coloured socks as well.  Today, canvas gym shoes tend to feature heavily in the lexicon of stylish streetwear, and come in a range or colours and prints, including tartan, camouflage, flame, bubbles, Astroboy and almost anything else you can think of.

C also stands for clogs.
Originally Scandinavian footwear, these traditional shoes were originally carved completely out of wood, and featured a distinctive turned-up toe and a platform base.  Clogs enjoyed a fashionable resurgence in the seventies, retaining the wooden or occasionally cork base, but now featuring a leather upper.  In the 1990’s the clog reappeared in the form of Birkenstocks (www.birkenstock.com.au) and is now also generally the chef’s shoe of choice.

Another important C is Camper. 
This Spanish company originally started making practical, stylish shoes that were based on the styles worn by baseball players and tenpin bowlers.  This style of shoe became known as ‘Campers’ or ‘saddle shoes’ and is now enjoying a vogue as a popular men’s smart-casual wardrobe item.  The company itself has a very interesting history and philosophy, and even owns and operated a hotel – the Casa Camper – in Barcelona.  Check out www.camper.es

And let’s not forget that C is for the all-important cobbler. 
Originally, cobblers were the people who made shoes by hand, but with the advent of modern shoe manufacturing techniques (see Bally), the cobbler of today is more likely to be an expert shoe repairer, specialising in resoling, re-stitching and repairing your footwear, though there are still cobblers who will happily make made-to-measure shoes. (see ‘getting a pair of shoes made’)

D is for dangerous, and also don’t!
Shoes with wobbly heels, stilettos that you can’t walk safely on pavements in, or soles that are completely worn down in one spot, need to be fixed or turfed.  So, if they’re dangerous, don’t wear them!

E is for espadrilles. 
Traditionally jute or rope soled, and often with a canvas or fabric upper, these traditionally nautical shoes have enjoyed many fashionable incarnations.  Available in more casual, closed in styles, or in a strappier seventies sandal style, with a higher platform heel, these shoes just whisper ‘Summer’.

F is for fit. 
We’ve all fallen victim to the siren song of a pair of absolutely-perfect-but just-half-a-size-too-small dream shoes.  We fondly imagine that if we can just try not to walk too far in them, or somehow manage to only wear them in the earlier part of the day, it will be a partnership made in heaven.  Or else, the shoes are just a touch too big, and we know that we can get some insoles, and maybe a pair of slip stoppers, and all out troubles will be over.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  Unless you are truly comfortable with the idea that your fabulous footwear will only ever be ornamental, do not buy shoes that will crowd or blister your feet, slip every time you take a step, or leave you feeling like you’re being tortured. (See also ‘leather’)

F is also for flip-flops, which is the old American term for thongs. 
What makes flip-flops a little different to thongs, is what they’re made of and decorated with.  The modern flip-flop is redolent of the thong style footwear that has been popular in India and the Orient for centuries.  Coming in a range of colours and styles, and often featuring sequins, flowers or beading, these exceedingly comfortable footwear items will add a dash or glam and sparkle to most outfits.  (See also  ‘thongs’.)

Watchout for Part 2 of the A-Z of shoes coming soon.