Real stories · Comfort underfoot

The flats that finally let me be on my feet all day without aching

I'm 67, and for a few years now my feet have made me miserable. They ache, they swell up by teatime, and I'd all but given up on nice shoes. The comfortable ones looked like something you'd get on prescription, and the pretty ones gave me blisters inside an hour. I ended up living in trainers, even for lunch out.

Heels have been out of the question for a long while. All I wanted was something neat I could wear to a family do or into town — something that looked like a proper shoe but was actually kind to my feet. I'd started to think it simply didn't exist.

It was my daughter who spotted the Romy flats from a British label called York Boutique. Little cushioned ballet flats with a soft crossover strap, in the summer sale. I chose the black, not expecting much.

Well. There's a cushioned insole that's soft with every step, a gentle little wedge underneath rather than a hard flat sole, and a stretchy elastic cross-strap that just holds your foot — no bending down, no fiddly buckles. The toe is soft and rounded too, so nothing pinches.

Smart enough for a lunch out, soft enough I forget I'm wearing them.

Two nicely-made shoes like these, I assumed, would be sixty pounds. But York Boutique sells direct, so they were £29.95 in the sale. I was so pleased I ordered the brown as well.

At my grandson's christening lunch a friend asked what they were, and wrote the name on her napkin. They come in four colours — black, brown, red and blue — and in sizes 3 to 9.

If your feet have been holding you back the way mine were, do treat yourself to a look. The Romy is rated 4.6 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.