Three Bad Mice: Heiress vs. Penniless: Lace Espadrilles

If we'd been playing the word association game a couple of years ago and you'd said Valentino to us, we'd have likely said red or couture. Today though the very first word that springs to mind when you mention Valentino is... shoes.

Ever since the rockstud trotted onto the scene, we've been saving our pennies to get our hands on a pair of these so-gorgeous-they're-lickable Valentino babies.

And then when we spied the Valentino lace espadrilles last year, it was heady lust at first sight all over again.

The Rockstuds are almost £1,000, and although our heads say that that's an obscene amount to spend on shoes, or hearts say they're delicious; they're classics; a sound investment; the shoe equivalent of buying a Picasso... sort of. We'll wear them forever, they'll go with everything and they're worth splashing some serious cash on.

The lace espadrilles on the other hand are the sort of shoes we'll wear to death for a couple of summers before tossing them to the deepest, darkest depths of our wardrobes where they'll languish in shoe purgatory until we move or next go into a bout of over eager wardrobe organisation (ie no time soon). In other words, as much as we covet them, until our bank balances swell to Ecclestone sister proportions, we'll need a more purse friendly alternative...

If you don't have our cash constraints, and want to knock yourself out with some seriously lovely lace hop on over to Net-a-Porter to snap up the heiress version of the lace espadrille...

Valentino Chantilly Lace and Mesh Espadrilles
£290

Or if you like your lace uber-luxe drop an extra couple of hundred on these bad boys...

Valentino Metallic Lace Espadrilles
£490

Feeling a little naseous at the thought of forking out almost five hundred pounds on a pair of rope-soled kick abouts? Save your cash for the Rockstuds and plump for one of these Penniless lace espadrille options instead...

Soludos Low Cut Lace Espadrilles
US$50