Real stories · Easy summer elegance

The slip-on slides that look smart and take no effort at all

I'm 67, and in the summer I want something I can simply slip on and be out the door — but that still looks smart enough for a lunch or a potter round the shops. Buckles and little straps are a faff when your fingers aren't quite what they were, so more often than not I end up in the same tired old flip-flops.

The trouble is the easy slip-ons all look cheap, and the smart sandals have fiddly fastenings. I wanted effortless and elegant, and I'd rather given up on having both.

Then I found the Adaline slides from a British label called York Boutique — sleek open-toe slides with a low wedge, in the summer sale. I chose the cream, half expecting them to look cheap up close.

They don't at all. It's a lovely clean, minimal design, there's a comfortable low wedge and a cushioned footbed, and you just step straight in — no buckles, no fuss. They look far smarter than they were, and they go with everything from my trousers to a summer dress.

I just step into them and go. Smart, comfy, done.

Slides this smart, I thought, would be sixty pounds. But York Boutique sells direct, so they were £29.95 in the summer sale. I was rather pleased with myself.

My daughter admired them the moment she saw them. They come in five colours — white, rose, blue, yellow and orange — and in sizes 2.5 to 9.

If you'd like easy and elegant for summer, do have a look while the sale's on. The Adaline is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 300 women, it's £29.95 in the summer sale instead of £60 — half price — and the middle sizes always seem to go first.