Ankle Boots - Five Perfect Pairs

If you're anything like me you already have an ankle-boot 'wardrobe'. Come winter, and when I'm travelling up and down to and from London by train and tube, the best footwear by far for pavement pounding and lunchtime chic is a great pair of ankle boots.

For me to welcome a new pair into my collection, they have to be comfortable, look smart and have a 'je ne sais quoi' factor that takes them into the realm of sexy and/or interesting combined with wearable and longevity. Quite a big task,I know.

Because I'm always on the look-out (!) five pairs this season have caught my eye along with those leopard print Louboutins, and Balmain zipped up masterpieces (bet they're heavy though) that are - sob, sniff - totally out of my price range. Incidentally the Louboutins seem to have sold out everywhere which either means that each store only bought one pair or that, having been soooo much in the glossies, lots of people shelled out that £700+ for them. I suspect it was a combination of the two.

The ones here are reasonably priced, some of them extremely so, and each has it's own identity. I'd like to own them all. Do I? Not yet.

Incidentally, for anyone who's moaning 'but where are the platforms, where are the six inch heels?' I just have to say there are plenty of those around, you can find them yourselves, and they would not take me from train to tube to pavement pounding and on to lunch. So they're not here, because they don't fit into my wearability rule book. So sorry.

Also the pair just above on the right are from the US. Two of my favourite brands are there and quite hard to get hold of here; Stuart Weitzman and La Canadienne, both of whose collections include boots that are wonderfuly water-resistant, as well as wonderfully smart. Wonderfully expensive? No not quite. Mid price range I'd say. You can order them now from a new service that's launching over here in a week or two, so get signed up at http://www.usunlocked.com/ and you can find out how.

Daily Update: As there was quite a bit of interest in my 'radio interview from the train' mention, I'll tell you another silly/sad story about my broadcasting endeavours. Asked, a short while ago, to be interviewed on BBC Breakfast to talk about online shopping (surprise surprise) I was collected and driven up to the studio, to find that the main A40 traffic lights had gone down just before our turn off. So we waited for around 45 minutes, me getting more and more agitated and also needing the loo.

Finally we arrived and I was met by a man with a walkie-talkie who stripped me of my coat and bag on the way up and practically threw me onto the set. Forget hair, make-up and toilette time - that was it, I was on.

After the usual short interview I hurtled out of the studio and into the loo. It wasn't until I was coming out I realised that I'd gone at high speed into the gents. Luckily (really luckily) there wasn't anyone in there. I did however get some extremely strange looks when I emerged.

Check out the new Prizes (note the plural) in our Christmas Prize Draw Hamper at http://www.thesiteguide.com/ - they're fab, and they're going up today. Make sure you're signed up at thesiteguide.com to enter.