Hermes Santorini Sandal Women Epsom Calfskin Gold H252168Z 20345

The first thing I noticed about this Santorini was not the colour, it was the inside: gold lambskin lining a sandal whose outer face is pressed calfskin. Lambskin under the sole of the foot is an indulgence you feel rather than see, and it makes a warm-weather shoe feel considerably more considered than its flat sole suggests.

Outside, Epsom Heritage calfskin gives the regular embossed grain that keeps the H cut-out sharp and shrugs off the small accidents of summer — kerbs, gravel, the corner of a suitcase. The edge is left natural, the sole is natural leather, and the ankle strap closes on a palladium-plated buckle. Heel 0.4 inch, front rise 0.2 inch, sizes 36 through 41, Italian-made. Fit runs true from 36 upward, and because the sole is flat there is no pitch pushing the toes forward.

Gold is easier to live with than people assume. It flatters bare legs, sits comfortably beside cream, black and denim, and reads dressier than a neutral when one pair has to carry me from lunch into an early dinner. I keep mine for dry days and warm evenings; natural leather soles and wet pavements are not friends.

The compromise: pale linings show sunscreen and lotion marks sooner than dark ones. I wipe the footbed with a dry cloth after each wear and let the pair air before they go back in the dust bag.