Real stories · The heel I thought I'd given up

The Heel I Thought I'd Given Up For Good

A proper heel I can walk in all day without my knees presenting the bill — I honestly thought those days were over. Then the Veltrisse arrived.

Somewhere in my early sixties I quietly retired my heels. Not because I'd stopped liking them — because an hour in them meant wobbling on cobbles, aching knees by teatime and that creeping flat-shoes-forever feeling. Flats are sensible. But there are days — a lunch, a service, a birthday — when flats make you feel like you've turned up in your gardening clothes.

The Veltrisse, from York Boutique — a British label I've come to trust — is the first pair in years that gives me the height without the sums. A smart vintage-looking shoe with a wide, low block heel you stand on rather than balance on.

The difference is all in the base. That chunky heel keeps you balanced, which is why you can stand and walk for hours without the calf-cramp ballet of a thin heel — and the inside is soft and cushioned, so your feet don't tire by mid-afternoon. They're surprisingly light too, and they hold your foot properly in line, which my knees and lower back have noticed with approval. Heels that behave like flats, frankly.

Two church services and a birthday lunch in one weekend — and not one complaint from my knees.

I'll be honest: I paused at the price. Then I counted the smart occasions between now and New Year and divided — it came out at pennies per wear, for shoes I'd actually be comfortable in. And I did check before ordering that I could send them back if the fit was off — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free — which rather settled it.

They come in black or coffee, in sizes UK 3 to 8. Mine are the black, and they've gone with everything from trousers to my wool skirt. If you also retired your heels before you were ready to — this is the un-retirement.