Size 8

My favourite shoes are a well worn pair of red and white Converse All Star boots with matching double laces. I adore them. I wore them every day on tour in Italy and they have travelled with me thousands of miles like a trusted friend ever since. Sure they are a bit battered and the soles are slowly wearing down but despite walking on pavement, grass, carpet, glass, gravel, sand, steel and snow, they remain. Every inch of wear and tear seems to add a little more character than the day before. One of the bright red laces is shredded at the end following a vicious fight with an angry washing machine. They came out clean(ish) and still smiling at the memory of having once strolled along the Seine at dusk.

We take so many steps in this lifetime that it would be impossible to keep count. Sometimes they are so small they hardly make an imprint, steadily ambling along. And occasionally the strides are so incredibly colossal that we literally vault into a new chapter without so much as a glance behind.

Everyone wears their shoes differently and each pair has their own unique story to tell. Despite all the weight they carry on their journey, they never give up, steady in the knowledge that no one will ever be able to walk a mile in them better than their rightful owner.