It’s often said that you can tell a lot about a person from their shoes. There’s some truth to this: we get indications of the kind of work they do – or don’t; lifestyle; music tastes; whether they subscribe to passing trends, are indifferent, or even consider themselves above it all.
Your choice of footwear can also reveal which part of the UK you’re from. It makes sense: people living in colder, wetter and windier parts of the country (we see you, Scotland) will rely on all-weather boots for a greater portion of the year than those in London. No wonder the Danner Mountain Light boot is a year-round bestseller at the Epitome boutique in Edinburgh, while Phase Eight says slingbacks sell better in the south than they do in the north.
“Typically there is a north-south split in our orders, with boots and chunkier styles selling well further north, versus more formal styles in the south,” says Lizzie Darby of Made the Edit, a London boutique with an e-commerce arm that ships nationwide. “However, we are seeing an increase in more dressy styles in the north, although the colours are more practical than in London and the south.”
Regional culture and industry shapes our choices too, and nobody understands that better than those who do the buying at the stores which populate our local high streets. Just ask Justine Mills, owner of Liverpool high-fashion favourite Cricket, which has become famous for outfitting footballers’ wives. Her stock will look quite different from an equally high-end boutique in the south-east, because she’s so attuned to what her most loyal customers, among them Coleen Rooney, will buy.
Of course you can’t generalise completely when there are such diverse factors at play, and there are styles which sell well everywhere – flat Mary Janes, fashion trainers, anything and everything silver. LK Bennett reports a shift across the board to block heels. The bestselling shoes in different parts of the country makes for intriguing reading all the same.
So does your footwear collection match local trends? Scroll on to find out…