"When you look at runway trends, over the past few seasons designers have been phasing out the stilettos not even the models can walk in," says podiatrist turned sensible shoe designer Anna Baird.

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"We’re finally starting to realise that we do walk and look better when we’re don’t wear a heel that we’re teetering on."

Due to the increasing informality of office dressing, we’re more likely to wear our Birkenstocks out and proud, as opposed to hiding them discretely under the desk a la The Devil Wears Prada.

Celebrities are continuing the trend (consider Kristen Stewart’s barefoot protest to the "heels only" rule at Cannes). Women are wearing flats on the red carpet, and looking sexy, confident and glamorous while doing so. Even Victoria Beckham says she "can’t do" heels every day anymore, preferring tennis shoes or a flat sandal.

Rocking a pair of flats is now a source of nonchalant pride. See Serena Williams unapologetically awesome shoe choice for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding: that’s the smile of someone who knows she’s dodged an evening of agony.

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There is something undeniably sexy about the new wave of flats wearers. And yet, the argument for heel wearing is all about aesthetics.

"The fact is, heels make your calves look good," concedes Baird. "From a purely anatomical perspective, your muscles are firing so you straight away look more toned. But that’s it. We’re trading an entire day of comfort for slightly better looking calves."

Eventually our eyes evolved to adjust to the "disgusting" sight of women’s natural bulges sans girdle. Is it possible we will one day accept the "hideousness" that is a woman’s heel in close proximity to the ground she walks on, and a lady-calf not permanently shortened, her Achilles tendon relaxed and free?

For me, it’s a simple cost-benefit analysis. Am I willing to be uncomfortable, irritable and unsteady for an entire outing on the off chance that those I encounter might find me marginally more attractive? (Or, in the "women dress for other women" argument, that any women standing across from me at tram stop might think, "There’s a lovely pair of gams," before getting on with her life?)

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Any aesthetic benefit gained by wearing a heel is cancelled out by the fact that you have to teeter about uncomfortably looking like a baby giraffe learning to walk.

"Women are much sexier when they feel confident and empowered with how they look," says Baird.

"Whereas in the past, we thought wearing a heel was a sexy look I don’t think most women do feel confident in a shoe that’s unsteady. We’re never going to look empowered and sexy in a heel because we’re going to feel uncomfortable. Women who can walk normally and with confidence are much more appealing than someone who clearly looks like they’re wearing something to impress.

"Only a handful of people can walk in a heel, but for the rest of us mere mortals, it’s not worth it. It’s so disempowering wearing a shoe that’s painful. How can you work or have any kind of fun when you’re thinking about how uncomfortable your feet are?"

Alice Williams' book, Bad Yogi, is out now.