Real stories · The flat that finally bends

My pretty flats always felt like walking in trays — these bend where my foot bends

A flat that bends with your foot instead of fighting it — that's what these turned out to be, and it took me until 67 to learn that this is the whole secret. I've owned a dozen pairs of pretty ballet flats over the years, and every one had the same flaw: a sole like a tea tray. Stiff, flat, unyielding — and by the end of a day of errands, my feet had done a round of boxing with them and lost.

I'd started reaching for the ugly trainers instead. Under nice trousers. In winter. It hurt my pride more than the flats hurt my feet.

Then I found the Aurelinya from a British label called York Boutique — a classic black ballerina with a neat little bow at the toe, and the difference is entirely underneath: a soft, genuinely flexible sole that folds and springs back in your hand.

That flexibility is the whole trick. Your foot bends hundreds of times on a walk to the shops, and a sole that bends WITH it stops asking your feet to do the extra work — which is why I came home from a full York Saturday (market, two cafés, the long way round with Winnie) and realised I hadn't thought about my feet once. That never happens in the pretty shoes. That's trainer territory.

A soft sole that folds in your hand and moves with every step — which is why these are the first pretty flats my feet have ever forgotten they were wearing.

They're £29.95 in the sale — half the usual £60 — with a fortnight to send them back and free delivery, which I checked before ordering and then never needed. With tights and trousers they've quietly become the default: smart enough for church, soft enough for the whole day either side of it.

Sandra tried mine on in my hallway — as she does, uninvited — took four steps, and said 'these aren't proper flats, they're slippers in disguise.' She meant it as an accusation. I took it as a review.

If your pretty shoes and your comfortable shoes are still two different pairs, do have a look. The Aurelinya is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 240 women, it comes in four colours, in UK sizes 3.5 to 9 — and at half price the black goes first.