Everything worth knowing about Nude Slingback, Comfort Tested is below, starting with the part that changes what you buy. Feet swell through the day, so anything tried on in the morning will feel tighter by evening. Comfort comes from the last shape and the toe box, not from padding added afterwards. Anything over 8cm needs a platform or you are buying a taxi. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is heel height, toe shape and how the weight sits. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: byfar.com's Evelyn Black Nappa Leather Slingback Pump at $258, and Vici's Paris Calling Polka Dot Slingback Kitten Heel at $78. The first is the considered buy; the second is the one to start with. Anything over 8cm needs a platform or you are buying a taxi. A pointed toe adds visual length but takes half a size. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

Match the heel to the hem, then stop thinking about it. From the second group, us.boden.com's Hope Slingback Heels-Wine ($199) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, heels, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 heels here from 11 brands, $40 to $398, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. Detoure's Sam Edelman - Bonnie Slingback Pump Modern Ivory - US7 (Like-New) at $40 is the low-risk way in, and Retrofete's Cindy Slingback Heel at $398 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On nude slingback, comfort tested specifically: the difference between the top and the bottom of this list is real but smaller than the price gap suggests. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: pay for the thing that touches your body and economise on the thing that sits on top of it.