Hermes Oran Sandal Women Shearling Raisin

Raisin is a dried-fruit purple, dark enough to pass for brown in low light and unmistakably plum in the sun. On a shearling Oran it gives a warm, slightly retro impression that a black slipper would never achieve. Under warm lamplight it looks almost chocolate.

The construction is simple: an H cut into the vamp, a centimetre of heel above a half-centimetre front sole, six sizes from 36 to 41, Italian. It is the colour of a good glass of wine, which is either exactly right or not at all, depending on you. The fleece is dense enough to hold its shape around the toes.

Mine live near the door in autumn — with grey wool, with denim and thick socks in the evening, with a dressing gown on a cold morning, which is not a use the product copy usually admits to. Outdoors they suit dry, crisp days and long trousers. The flat sole means they work on a staircase as well as a rug. With charcoal knitwear they look considered rather than sloppy.

The limitation: dark shearling shows lint and light debris, and it pills slightly where the heel rubs. A clothes brush and a lint roller handle most of it. Treat them as a seasonal favourite rather than a sandal you will wear in July. Keep a roller near the door; dark shearling shows every pale fibre. They are also the pair I take to a cabin or a cold cottage.