I first spotted these truly beautiful shoes in the window of high-street retailer Schuh, and was instantly smitten by the glamourous and opulent design, especially as the ones that caught my eye were an intense fuschia colour, and appealed to my suppressed girlie side.

The problem was that in reality I am much more of a practical person, and a mumsy sort who lives in comfortable boots and pumps, anything in fact that is safely lacking in the heel department.

So I put these pretty shoes to the back of my mind. Ok well if I'm honest they went on my fantasy shopping list of things I would buy if I had more disposable income, and an exciting event to dress up for.

So when my social whirlwind of a single friend announced her engagement and forthcoming hen night, my mind returned once more to these amazing court shoes, and in an uncharacteristic display of impulse buying I snapped them up online.

While waiting eagerly for them to arrive, I spent much time planning the rest of my outfit around them and when they came a few days later I was dying to try them on and prance about the house in them.

On first impression they almost took my breath away with their stunning design. The upper is made with a beautiful, tactile velvet in a sumptuous hot pink, almost purple colour, and the oversized rosette is a mix of burnished golds and purple, complimenting the shoe perfectly. There is also gold piping along the top edge of the shoe, making the whole effect really pretty.

But unfortunately when I tried them on it all went downhill a bit. As a size 7, that's what I bought but they were too tight everywhere. My foot felt as if it was forced indignantly into the shoe and I was unable to walk in them. Now I am not great in heels at the best of times and rarely wear them, but these ones just did not fit the shape of my foot, regardless of the sizing. I tried on an 8 instore and while they fitted, I had the same problem.

It is very difficult to describe what went wrong, but it felt as though the arch in the shoe was too high up, and therefore did not match, or fit to the natural arch in my foot. As a result my whole foot was forced into an uncomfortable position, meaning I got shooting pains in my legs as soon as I tried to move about in these. I was gutted to say the least as I had truly fallen in love with the Antique Rose shoe.

It certainly gave me an appreciation of the indignity and pain women have suffered throughout history for the sake of fashion!

The heel is 9.5cm and in that respect alone these shoes are quite conservative for Irregular Choice, who specialise in wacky, off the wall designs, most of which I would never wear in a million years even if the opportunity arose. This design is quite classic but still steals the show due to the well-placed and eye-catching flower feature.

They cost around about the £60 mark and have received excellent reviews elsewhere, so I have to admit defeat here and state that it may just be down to my dodgy, clumpy feet that these failed to live up to my expectation (ie a shoe you can actually walk in!)

Sadly these were returned to the store and I have since given up my fantasy shoe shopping, and instead settled for my trusty, reliable and comfy old boots instead. No glamour here after all...

I have given these a rating based on both their aesthetic appeal and my own experience of them, because while they didn't do it for me I still adore their design and they obviously work for other people.