Ever since I gave my gold Miu Miu going-out shoes to my niece in Australia I have been yearning for a beautiful and affordable replacement.

It’s not that I spend every weekend tripping out to the sort of parties that necessitate sparkly shoes, as I’ve mentioned before.

The fact that I hardly ever even get invited to parties doesn’t even come into it.

No, it’s more about the idea than the reality.

Without a pair of party shoes in my wardrobe, I sort of feel that my partying days might be over for good.

Whereas, with some suitably glamorous footwear stashed in my boudoir, I can imagine all those parties I’m not going to, feeling that somehow, they are a possibility in which I simply choose not to indulge.

There are literally millions of party shoes in the shops. Generally they are aimed at leggy youngsters with much better balance than I (I can’t manage heels).

They’re not for me.

So once again I turn to vintage and that era of a certain je ne sais quoi, the 1960s.

Shoes from the sixties are pretty but have more sensible heels. They go with the sort of frocks I wear.

I hanker for a pair.

It’s a bit of a gamble buying shoes over the internet.

But it costs nothing to browse.

And it’s nice to dream until my perfect footwear option comes along.

All of the vintage lovelies above were found on Etsy. As ever, you can hover over each photo to find out more and click to be taken to the item in the seller’s shop.