Hermes Oran Sandal Women Swift Calfskin Beige Albinos

Beige albinos is paler and greyer than the name suggests, and that is what makes it useful. It is not camel, not sand and not cream: it is the colour of raw linen hanging in a window, and it flattens the difference between your shoes and the rest of a light summer wardrobe. If you have ever put on a beige sandal and found it too yellow, this is the shade you were looking for.

The upper is swift calfskin, smooth, flexible and softly matte, with straight-cut edges that keep the profile neat. The H cut-out is the only decoration on the whole sandal. Natural leather sole, leather edge, lambskin insole and lining, and a heel that barely lifts you at around one centimetre. They are finished in Italy in sizes 36 to 41.

Mine have become the pair I wear when an outfit already has colour in it, a printed dress, a rust shirt, olive trousers, and I want the shoes to stay out of the way. They also work with all white, where the pale beige edge does the subtle work, and with grey, which brings out the cool side of the colour.

One caveat: swift in a light tone will show marks, and the natural sole edge darkens with wear. I clean the upper with a soft dry cloth, keep them away from wet grass, and accept the slight deepening of the edge as something that happens to every pale sandal. Nothing here needs special products.