Fashion

Be fiercely cool with style editor Charlie Dawson

1 new trend in 60 seconds…
THE GLADIATOR SANDAL
Choo choo! All aboard the trend train for another trip on the “summer sell-by date” express. This season there is one wardrobe addition we will be wearing until our ankles bleed, then banishing to the dress-up box, ready for a Christmas theme party – the gladiator sandal.

It’s fitting in these hard financial times that we dress for battle. From Balmain to Balenciaga, Michael Kors to Miu Miu, designers have been leading the catwalk charge with these calf-splicing stompers. Yes, it’s time to pair with a white, cotton dress or roll up your teeny denim shorts, stride into the middle of the office and declare: “I am Spartacus!”

There are so many to choose from you won’t have to wage a war with your best friend to look original – from flat and strappy, studded and colour-embellished to knee-high bondage. Dark leather is best avoided on pasty pins, metallic and wedged elongates a leg, and don’t over bind your ties at the ankle or your calf will look like a chicken drumstick. Do not be afraid of silver and gold, style warrior, they can be used like black and brown.

In a recent Guardian interview, French Vogue editor, Carine Roitfeld, said: “Fashion is not about clothes, it is about a look… the way you roll up the sleeves of a shirt, the way you handle a bag, the way you cross your legs…” Indeed. Though you may have rocked your gladiator sandal, avoid crossing your legs like a soldier on leave. Demurely tucked under your bottom looks much less intimidating.

And the celebrities joining the Colosseum of hotly-clad contenders? Mary-Kate Olsen, Jennifer Connelly, Peaches Geldof, Lindsay Lohan, Sienna Miller and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Fierce.

WE LOVE
€33 WWW.URBANOUTFITTERS.CO.UK
Try these twisted and studded sandals with zip-up backs from Urban Outfitters.

€103 WWW.DUNE.CO.UK
Gladiator platform with a mirrored heel, so your fashion victim can see their face as you “walk all over them”.

€82 WWW.OFFICE.CO.UK
Lead the charge in these tan leather knee-highs with antique-inspired buckle and zip.

WILL IT TRAVEL?

YES
PILAR CANAS, 39, GALICIA, SPAIN
“Normally no, but this summer they’ve really taken off. Team some tanned legs with silver/gold straps and it’s suddenly ‘which way to the Colosseum?’"

NO
JEAN-PAUL SANCHEZ, 38, REVOLVER BOUTIQUE, IBIZA, SPAIN
“The Romans left Ibiza a long time ago and they should have taken their sandals with them!” WWW.REVOLVERIBIZA.COM