Hermes Oasis Sandal Women High Heel Sandal in Moire Calfskin Gold Noir H212183Z 20370

Moire calfskin has a watered, shifting surface — hold the sandal one way and it is black, tilt it and a gold ripple moves across the vamp. It is the most tactile version of the Oasis I have owned, and photographs never quite capture it. In a shop window it looks like velvet; in a taxi it looks like dark water.

Everything else is deliberately dark: black leather sole, black edge, black heel, black lambskin lining, with the H cut-out cut cleanly through the moire so the pattern reads as texture rather than decoration. Five centimetres of heel, the size run from 36 through 41, reference H212183Z 20370. The black sole and heel let the vamp be the only drama. The heel is high enough for a long dress and low enough for a taxi queue.

I wear these with black, obviously, but also with ivory and with grey silk, where the hidden gold does the work a plain black shoe cannot. They are evening sandals that behave well enough to walk a few blocks in. With a tuxedo jacket and dark trousers they are the most grown-up sandal I own.

The maintenance note: moire is a surface finish, and rubbing it against a chair leg or a car door will leave a dull patch. Store them apart from anything with a buckle and put them on last when you are getting dressed. Black shoe bags, one per sandal, are not excessive with a surface like this. It also means they never fight with the rest of an outfit.