A Rainbow of Colourful Summer Shoes

Sandals in different colours owned by blogger Gail Hanlon from Is This Mutton

I only got the idea for this post yesterday. Most weeks I know exactly what I'm going to cover and take pics over the weekend. This week I was dithering. I have a new pair of trousers/pants (bright pink) but I wasn't inspired. I was also thinking about writing about lockdown benefits, or England's chances, but vetoed those because they're of little interest to countries outside England (football) and overdone (lockdown). So shoes it is!

Regular readers will know I love ankle boots and have a varied and colourful collection. I also adore summer sandals, although I don't wear them as often as I did. Most of the delightful pairs in the photo above are best used for dinner or other occasions where there isn't the need to walk very far.

The type of sandals that I wear to death on beach holidays are sparkly flat ones - top left. They look so pretty on tanned feet with a pedicure, and so easy to slip on with any type of outfit.

It is possible to combine style with comfort, and the gunmetal wedges, top, third from left, are so spongy and soft, I could easily wear them all day. They're by Vionic, podiatrist-designed footwear with special footbeds, and I've featured them many times before. Here's my first ever post on them, in 2017.

I've bought two new pairs this year. I wanted denim blue wedges to go with a denim skirt but couldn't find what I was looking for. I ended up with pale blue low wedges from Amazon (bottom row, third from left). I also wanted purple sandals, and when I started searching a couple of months ago, I could only find vertiginously high shoes in purple, until I stumbled across these on eBay (bottom row, second from left). I fancy they're not very robust and probably intended for bridesmaids.

My favourite pairs are the black ones (top, far right) and the pink (bottom, far left). The black sandals came from Dune: they have a lovely jewelled heel, and they're just the right height to be wearable all day. The pink ones came from Topshop and they have a silver mirrored heel. I've worn them so much since I got them.

Summer holiday outfits and sandals from over the years from the Is This Mutton archives

I then started looking for pictures of shoes featuring in holiday outfits. This was surprisingly challenging. Most of my holiday shots seem to be head and shoulders, sitting in a restaurant! Things improved once I started Is This Mutton in 2013 and became more aware of the need for full-length pictures.

Top left dates from 2005 when we went to Hawaii - J was running the Hawaii Marathon. This was a trip to Pearl Harbour and I'm wearing black Birkenstocks. When I lived in Germany, in 2000/1, everyone wore Birkies but they were definitely not fashionable anywhere else at that time. I had to laugh when suddenly they were all the rage a few years later.

Top row, second from left: I don't remember that pretty skirt, which I must have given away. The sandals, or flip flops, are jewelled, the type I mentioned I always wear on holiday. Third from left: my first pair of sequinned silver sneakers. I always have a pair like this - so useful! This photo is quite unique in that I'm holding Molly the cat. She doesn't like being picked up. The fourth picture, from 2007, is another pair of jewelled sandals.

Bottom row: now we're into the blonde years. Left: pictured with my mum in 2012. I loved the skirt, from Next, so much that I still look for it on eBay. The bright pink metallic shoes from Asos were probably my all-time favourite pair. They had a low chunky heel. Eventually the metallic finish simply wore away, and I couldn't find another pair. Second from left: a pair of Scholl-style sandals, silver sequinned, from 2016. Next to that, I'm wearing another pair of Vionic wedges - this time gold - which are still going strong. We were at the wedding of John's niece. The shoes look a bit clompy if I'm honest, but at least my feet didn't hurt that day. Finally, 2015, and a pair of low white sandals and nautical looking skirt from Boden which didn't survive past that year.

Gail Hanlon in Skiathos overlooking Vasilias beach, wearing a red and white poppy skirt, red top with statement sleeves and gold mules

This picture is from 2017 and the last time we went to the wonderful Greek island of Skiathos. Gold mules from M&S are making their debut. I still wear them a lot. I gave the skirt away, never really liked it (probably because the frill and print fight with my minimalist tendencies!). But I have the top which was an amazing bargain from Tesco.

Is This Mutton blogger Gail Hanlon was not exactly dressed for a February Ireland wedding in 2009 in sandals and no tights

In this 2009 picture from a friend's wedding, I had gone mad in that I wore sandals to a February wedding in Ireland. Yes, it was cold, which somehow surprised me. The only jacket I had was the wrong colour and not warm enough. I must have only worn those sandals once because I don't remember them. They're a bit frou-frou for my taste.

These days I'm more likely to wear white trainers (sneakers) with skirts and dresses, although I still like a sandal for special occasions.

That's my look down Sandal Memory Lane. Love to hear your memories of favourite summer shoes.