It took me about 27 years to see any point in flat shoes. I know that some women feel awkward and self-conscious in heels, but I don’t remember ever feeling that way. Quite the opposite, I felt insecure in flats – it seemed to me that as soon as I removed my heeled footwear, my legs became short and stubby and deeply unattractive. Not that I found this too distressing, I treated it as a simple fact of life and couldn’t see any reason to be without my heels. Ever.

So I became one of those girls who went everywhere in heels – football matches, garden parties, parks, beaches, forests. I don’t regret a minute of it, as I mostly felt fabulous. And tall. And leggy. But ultimately things changed, I gained the necessary confidence and was OK with having normal-length legs. I didn’t stop loving high heels, but I started loving flats, too.

The joy of walking in heels is greatest at high impact short distances: arriving at a party, stepping in a taxi, getting your coffee at work. For longer distances, flats are superior. If you haven’t worn them for a long time and are comfortable in heels, you can almost forget how easy and liberating it is to walk without heels. Unless of course you’ve stumbled upon a pair of uncomfortable flats, the most pointless category of shoes. There is a special hell reserved for people who design those.

Flats have, quite surprisingly, also received a boost from fashion. There have been many silhouettes and proportions in recent years that only really work with flats and an evening gown with no heels has almost become a cliche. You have the mannish flats and the sporty flats, the ugly shoe of the season, the white sneaker and the pretty flat, take your pick. If ever there was a time to be converted, it is now.

I admit it doesn’t really make sense that with all this choice, I’ve been wearing my Converse Allstars almost every day for a year now. They are certainly flat and comfortable, but also entirely unglamorous and the dirtiest pair of Converse in the universe, as I cannot wash them – they are needed every day! To make it look like a strategy rather than a failing, I’m telling everyone that I don’t trust people whose Converse are in pristine condition. Which is true. Scary people.

I do in fact own a pair of beautiful, pointed powder blue flats by Nicholas Kirkwood and keep telling myself I’ll retire my Converse soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Pictured: dress by Karolin Kuusik, shoes by Converse and Nicholas Kirkwood