No matter how big sneakers have become, and how important, there are days when a pair of leather shoes complete an outfit. If you are not into stilettos (who wears them anymore?) and prefer something low, but not a pump, this pair of lace-ups with extra fastenings may be the shoe to have.

Part of Simone Rocha’s autumn/winter 2018 collection, and possibly homage to Victorian footwear, this is a shoe with bondage leanings. The laces, tied as if a corset, are given, not one, but two buckled straps! A deterrent to those with feet fetish?

While this looks nothing like the bejeweled Gucci Flashtrek, they are not exactly quiet—sensible, perhaps, but definitely not quiet. We’re partial to the slightly off-beat double-strap fastening and leather-trimmed white corridor that frames the entire shoe. And the pointed toe that rather augments the somewhat naughty headmistress bent.

Ms Rocha may have John Rocha for a father, but she is no Limi Feu (aka Limi Yamamoto). Her aesthetic sense is not tethered to her dad’s and she is free to explore her Englishness, mostly skewed by her offbeat sense of romanticism. This pair of shoes marries the prim to the playful—uncommon pairing it is, and what a joy.

Simone Rocha buckle and laces leather shoe, SGD1,400, is available at DSMS. Photo: Chin Boh Kay