Hermes Oasis Sandal Women High Heel Sandal in Epsom Heritage Calfskin Blanc

There is a particular pleasure in a white sandal that matches nothing exactly and goes with everything anyway. This Oasis arrives in blanc, a clean white rather than an ivory, and it makes a printed summer dress look resolved instead of busy. Nothing else in a summer wardrobe signals warm weather so directly.

The proportions are the familiar ones: the H cut-out on the vamp, a five-centimetre block heel, with 4.5 centimetres of fall to the toe, sizes 36 to 41, made in Italy. Wearing them on grass is fine; wearing them to a muddy venue is not.

I wore mine to a garden wedding with a pale slip dress and have since worn them to lunch, to a gallery and on a boat, which is a fair test of how willing a white leather shoe is to behave. The block heel was steady on grass — I had not expected that — and the vamp held the foot without pressing the toes. The five-centimetre height also keeps a long linen dress clear of the pavement.

The obvious caveat: white shows everything, and scuffing on the heel is the first thing to appear. I keep mine wiped, out of the sun, and away from denim. Treated that way they stay bright for a couple of seasons; treated casually they will not. A white cream polish exists for exactly this shade, and mine gets a touch-up before outings.