Style trend: Too mule for school

After seasons - nay, years in the fashion wilderness, the mule has made a noisy (in all senses of the term) return to the style forum.

Last seen clacking down the catwalks back in the Nineties, the backless slip-on has been kicking its heels waiting for another moment in the spotlight. And what a gigantic spotlight spring/summer 2012 has turned out to be.

Becoming the shoe everyone wanted after making its debut on Louis Vuitton's carousel catwalk (1), and spotted on the runways of Miu Miu, Fendi, Oscar de la Renta and Rochas, as far as hot shoe trends go, if it's backless, noisy when you wear it and impossibly impractical (2), your footwear is as fashion-forward as could possibly could be.

The perfect foil to the season's Fifties fixation (3), if you're loving the look, book in for a pedi (cracked heels are a no-no), buy the prettiest pair you can find and practice walking round the house in them before trawling the mall to minimise any potential mule-related mishaps. Looking like a donkey as you fall out of your new shoes on the dance floor is so not a good look.

Footnotes

(1) Pointed, silver and strappy, Louis Vuitton mules have slipped onto the tootsies of half of Hollywood, with everyone from Elle Fanning to Sarah Jessica Parker the lucky owners of the most coveted shoes of the season. 

(2) Mules are notoriously difficult to walk in, and make running for a taxi an impossibility. Want to wear them anyway? Take a tip from the catwalk models and attach toupee tape to the inside of the shoe, where the ball of the foot should go to stop your feet from slipping out. 

(3) Perfect a Marilyn Monroe-esque wiggle in your mules - tricky to master at the best of times, but a vampy, backless shoe gives you an extra edge in the silver-screen movie star style stakes.

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