The shoes worth wearing are the ones that give an outfit a point of view without asking you to reorganise your day around them. I look for pairs that earn repeat wear, whether that means a precise leather ankle boot, a pump with a sensible heel, or a flat that makes denim look intentional. My rule is simple: choose the shape you will wear most, and let the more theatrical pair justify itself by doing something a plain shoe cannot. A clean design can be the smarter choice when it works hard, while the material and construction should show in how a pair feels and wears. I also want variety in a wardrobe, not eight versions of the same sandal. Start with one pair for walking, one for evenings, and one that changes the proportions of your clothes. The names below cover that useful spread, from a sandal to shoes built around distinctive materials and shapes. I would rather know exactly what role a pair plays than choose it because the photograph is persuasive. Below, the shoes I would put on a shortlist, grouped by type: sandals, heels, mules, flats and loafers, sneakers, boots, and wedges and platforms.

Aeyde is a good place to start, because the Berlin label Luisa Dames founded in 2015 designs in Germany and has every pair made in family-run factories in Italy. Its Ella sandal shows the house point of view: thin straps, no fuss, a shape that looks right with a linen trouser or a slip dress.

From there the group splits in two. The flat ones are Toteme's T-strap, Marni's Fussbett slingback, Loeffler Randall's Karly in light gold, Miista's Koya and the ALOHAS Nalu, all sandals I would wear on a long walking day. The heeled ones are for evenings: Saint Laurent's Ivresse and Jimmy Choo's Coko in satin, Chloé's Matilda and Cleia, and the Emme Parsons Cecilia and Susan. RAYE's Jara and Pilar sit in the middle, low enough for a full day and neat enough for dinner.

Amanu, the label the stylist Anita Patrickson founded in 2018, has its sandals made by hand with artisans in Kenya, and the Alexandria is a slim black gladiator with small gold baubles. Jamie Haller's Toe Thong takes after the Kolhapuri sandal and is stitched to its sole rather than glued. Cult Gaia's Candace is a single swirl of strap on a stiletto, and the Luca sits on a low block heel. Veronica Beard's Maglio is a flat buckled slingback in chestnut suede, the Talon a black suede thong on a mid heel, and St. Agni's tie-up and beaded sandals are the most pared back of the lot.

My test for any strappy sandal is the back strap. Walk ten steps on a hard floor and watch the heel. If it slips or the strap digs, a different pair will serve you better.

What I would skip: a sandal with so many straps that it reads as a cage. One or two good lines do more.

Paris Texas is the name I would look at first here. Annamaria Brivio founded the label in Milan in 2015 and keeps production in Italy, and the Lidia pump in amarena is the house at its most direct: a long point, a slim heel, a color that works like a neutral.

The rest of the group runs from strict to soft. Max Mara's pointed court and ALAÏA's d'Orsay pump are the clean, office-ready shapes. Stuart Weitzman's Stuart Power 100 and the Schutz Lexi are the black pumps I would wear most. For something with more character there is Guizio's Mary Jane, Magda Butrym's crochet pump, Isabel Marant's polka-dot Pristy, Lucasheva's pink Barbara and the Tony Bianco Paris in lapis. RAYE's Noa and Favorite Daughter's Riley are the burgundy pair, and Dear Frances's Topo and the Tony Bianco Ivy slingback keep the line low.

Veronica Beard, the New York label sisters-in-law Veronica Miele Beard and Veronica Swanson Beard started in 2010, makes the Rita, a pointed suede pump on a 2.5-inch heel that I would wear to work. Cult Gaia's Calla in winter plum is the sculptural one, a slingback with a calla lily shaped at the toe. St. Agni's Cylinder Pump puts a square toe on a tubular block heel, and Aeyde's Catrina is a black pointed slingback on a kitten heel. STAUD's Faye is a pointed mule on a low kitten heel, for the days you want a heel without a closed back.

Try a pump in the afternoon, when your feet are at their largest, and check whether the topline gapes when you rise onto the ball of the foot. A pump that gapes will rub by the second hour.

What I would skip: a stiletto taller than the one you already wear comfortably. Height you avoid wearing is wasted.

Bottega Veneta's woven leather mules carry the house signature. The brand was founded in Vicenza in 1966, and its intrecciato weave, introduced in 1975, still does the work a logo would do anywhere else. On a mule it also means the upper gives a little with the foot.

Around them sits a mix of heel heights. Dries Van Noten's snake mules and Magda Butrym's flower-trimmed satin pair are the evening ones. JUDE's Cave, Tory Burch's Pierced mule, Lucasheva's Giorgia and Duha's Palmira are cleaner, the kind I would wear with a straight trouser. Givenchy's fringed raffia mule and Herbert Levine's lace-up Sitting Pretty are the playful picks. RAYE's Sydney, Hana and Rajesh, Tony Bianco's Malibu and FEMME LA's Janis cover the middle, while the Seychelles Wendy Darling and Fear of God Essentials' California slide are flat enough for errands.

St. Agni began in Byron Bay in 2014, when Lara and Matt Fells launched a small selection of minimal bags, and its Suede Mule in rock and Opanka slide in papyrus keep that pared-back line. Cult Gaia's Jasmin is a pointed babouche covered in silver studs on a low heel, and Veronica Beard's Rochelle is the dressier mule, chestnut suede with a cabochon stone on the vamp.

A mule lives or dies on the vamp. If your foot slides forward when you walk downhill, the vamp is too low or too wide for you, and no insole will fix it.

What I would skip: a backless shoe with a very high, thin heel for any day that involves stairs.

Flattered began in Stockholm in 2013 with one idea from founders Hanna and Gustav: an indoor ballet flat for women, since the Scandinavian habit of taking shoes off at the door had only produced good slippers for men. Its Bon Bon loafer is the outdoor descendant, and it shows how much a flat can carry.

This is the biggest group, because flats get worn the most. The ballet flats are Mansur Gavriel's ruched ballerina, Loeffler Randall's crystal Emery, Cult Gaia's Beckett, Magda Butrym's mesh pair, Maison Margiela's satin Tabi, Dolce Vita's Mikel and ANINE BING's Ana. The boat shoes are the season's real story: Miu Miu's suede and lace-up pairs, Christian Louboutin's Chambeliboat, Gianvito Rossi's Vandée, JW Anderson's, and Roger Vivier's Viv Rangers with the buckle the house made famous on Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour in 1967. Prada's shearling driving shoe, Valentino's Plaster Caster, Tod's suede loafer, The Row's Novus derby and loafers from Dries Van Noten, Schutz, Vagabond, Coach, AllSaints and Rag & Bone round it out. Black Suede Studio's Arrow loafer, Tory Burch's tassel loafer, Simone Rocha's Mary Jane ballerina and Reformation's cobalt Blaine flat add a little more personality.

Repetto made the Cendrillon in 1956 for Brigitte Bardot, who wore it in And God Created Woman, nine years after Rose Repetto started making ballet shoes in Paris for her son, the choreographer Roland Petit. It is still the ballet flat the others get measured against. Cult Gaia's Fiore is a square-toe leather loafer with brass hardware, Veronica Beard's Bancroft turns a high-vamp patent flat into a double-strap Mary Jane, and St. Agni's Ballerina Flat crosses two straps over the foot and buckles at the side.

Hold a flat by the heel and toe and bend it. If it barely flexes, it will fight your foot all day.

What I would skip: a paper-thin sole for a commute. Save it for the office.

The Puma Speedcat began in 1999 as a racing shoe built with Formula 1 in mind, and its thin sole is the reason it now looks right with a skirt. Camper's Pelotas, launched in 1995, makes the opposite case: a softer, rounder shoe on a sole of 87 rubber balls. Between the two you have most of what a sneaker can do now.

The slim, low ones are the Speedcat in snake, adidas's Superstar Vintage in maroon, Tory Burch's Hank ballet sneaker, the Dries Van Noten embroidered ballerina sneaker and the ALOHAS Tb.304 in green. Tory Burch's Tory sneaker, Veronica Beard's Penrose and Favorite Daughter's Sophia are the polished retro runners. For more volume there is the Nike V2K Run, the Air Jordan 4 RM and the Air Jordan 1 Brooklyn Low, the Y-3 Field and Isabel Marant's Balskee. The Birkenstock Bend in silver and the fuzzy ALOHAS Tb.56 are the fun ones.

Veronica Beard launched in 2010 with its dickey jacket, and its sneakers carry the interlocking V that nods to the logo. The Valentina is the black and white runner on a one-inch lift, the Natalia a slim quilted suede slip-on, the Riviera an off-white leather low-top, and the Truett puts sand suede on a 1.75-inch platform.

Match the sneaker to the hem. A thin sole suits a skirt or a cropped trouser, while a chunky one needs a wider leg to balance it.

What I would skip: a bulky runner under a slim ankle-length trouser. It shortens everything.

Western boots have moved into the city, and Ariat is the real thing in this group. Beth Cross and Pam Parker founded it in 1993 to bring athletic-shoe technology into riding boots, and named it for Secretariat. The Round Up square-toe boot is a working boot that happens to look good with a midi skirt.

The other western picks are softer. Ganni's embroidered boot, Free People's Cat Nap, Seychelles's Go West and Sam Edelman's Wyatt, which comes in a wide calf. For a city ankle boot, Paris Texas's Lavinia, Miista's Inaya, Flattered's Xena, Dolce Vita's Tomara, Black Suede Studio's Harlow 50 and Balenciaga's Venom bootie cover pointed and round toes. Maison Margiela's Tabi boot, which first appeared in the house's debut collection in 1988, is the one that will start a conversation. Khaite's Andee and Valerie and Schutz's Parker Up are the tall boots, Intentionally Blank's Josephine has the harness strap, Free People's Sway Low slouches, and UGG's Ultra Mini and Herbert Levine's Easy Does It and RAYE's Dani round it out.

Toteme, which Elin Kling and Karl Lindman founded in Stockholm in 2014, makes the Mid Heel Leather Boot, a black boot with a pointed toe and a slim heel that suits a straight trouser. Cult Gaia's City ankle boot stands on a faux stone heel, St. Agni's Soft Boot gathers at the ankle over a low curved heel, and Veronica Beard's Arabelle is a chestnut suede riding boot on a one-inch heel. Nili Lotan's Joplin, Victoria Beckham's Harlow and Acne Studios' Brillante are the black leather boots that go with nearly everything.

Try a tall boot with the thickest pair of tights you own. A shaft that fits bare legs can pinch over knitwear by December.

What I would skip: a stiff new cowboy boot for a day of walking. Break it in at home first.

Castañer opened its first workshop in Banyoles, in Catalonia, in 1927, and in the 1970s it made the first espadrille wedge with Yves Saint Laurent. Its Bromeli wedge is the reason this shape never quite goes away.

The jute and raffia wedges are Castañer's, RAYE's Mille and Anais, and Paige's Kylen espadrille. The leather ones are Vince's Parma, Seychelles's Uptown, St. Agni's thong wedge, retrofete's Nelly, LPA's Nerina and Simkhai's Bridget with its oyster-shell heel. Stuart Weitzman's Vinnie sling wedge and Dayna II platform are the polished pair. RAYE's Livy is the bolder wedge, Jeffrey Campbell's Shockweave is the woven platform, Schutz's Valerie keeps the lift low as a flatform mule, and Amina Muaddi's Dalida in clear PVC is the evening pair.

Jasmin Larian started Cult Gaia in 2012, straight out of FIT, making flower crowns for friends, and the label still treats a shoe like a small sculpture. The Orly is a strappy rich clay sandal on a real wood wedge, and the Phoebe sets a leather toe strap on a curved raffia platform heel. St. Agni's High Wedge wraps thin straps across the foot on an 8.5-centimetre wedge, and Veronica Beard's Larken is a studded suede platform clog on a 3-inch wooden heel.

Walk on a wedge the way you would on a heel, heel first, and notice whether the sole rolls. A good one lets your foot roll forward naturally. A stiff one makes you clomp.

What I would skip: a platform higher than about four inches at the heel unless the front is raised too. Without that pitch it feels like standing on a ramp.

A final word on buying shoes online: decide the role before you decide the colour. A pair that fills a real gap will be worn more than the technically perfect shoe that only works with one dress. For leather, inspect the shape of the toe and the height of the heel; for a platform, look at how much sole sits between your foot and the ground. I would be especially strict with stilettos and anything described as a wedge, because the number in the name tells you only part of the story. Keep a little room for the foot to move, but not so much that the shoe is working to stay on. My preference is a small, useful wardrobe of distinct silhouettes, with one impractical pair allowed to be there purely for pleasure.