A few of my favourite things No2 - My ugly beauties

A conversation with lovely fireandfelt.com founder Louise Pearce introduced me to the concept of the house clog. I’ve never even seen myself as a slipper kind of woman, let alone someone who’d take a step towards a house clog, but light shone from her eyes and angels soared around her head as she extolled the virtues of the humble felt ‘house shoe’. All the rage forever in Europe, apparently they are manufactured in the Austrian mountains by a third generation family business. Or fairies. Anyway, I duly selected my Stegmann house clogs from the vast array on her lovely website, with Louise’s advice that if I like a Birkenstock (I do) then I should chose a Stegmann (I did). I cannot lie, they are not pretty. My daughter says they give me ‘cankles’. But, as with any new relationship, not everyone has to approve. Quite simply, I’ve fallen in love with them, they are unbelievably comfortable, so practical for nipping into the garden with the dog (paired with pyjamas) that I know we are going to be together for a very long time. The thing is, they are not pretending to be the next ugly fashion craze (Crocs anyone?) they are just their glorious, unpretentious selves and they have form, function and delicious comfort. After a busy day in heels there is nothing better than slipping my feet into their felty space and sighing with relief. One of the great freedoms of getting a bit older is the joy of doing and wearing just what you like and in this case, no maribou trimmed pink slippers for me, it’s my ‘graphite grey’ Steggers. Jayne