In the middle of the doldrums that was the Covid-19 pandemic, around mid-2021 when I was reluctantly accepting that the virus was not going to disappear any time soon, I got into a mini-funk and went through my belongings.

I riffled through my dresses. I opened the cupboard where my once-beloved handbags now lay forlorn, some protected in dust bags, a few mouldy from damp. In the foyer, I opened my six-foot-tall shoe cabinet and stared with wonder at my shoes, especially a pair of fire engine-red heels with a pretty bow. Was there ever a world in which I would wear such shoes again?