I can't believe that on my last trip to the UK I managed to overlook such a unique oddity as vending machines that sell a pair of ballet flats for five quid...but I did. A piece of fashion tourism that for a confirmed flat lover like myself should have been unmissable...I'm kicking myself (though in a different pair of shoes, of course).

The concept behind the machines is so simple that it's hard to believe that no one's done it before...vending machines, loaded with shoes, are placed in clubs...ready for that point in the evening when you have danced your little heart out...and the shoes that you left your house in have been transformed into instruments of torture...hobble to said vending machine...insert your fiver...and slip into your new ballet flats. Brilliantly simple.

Though it's not quite the same thing...none of the funfair-like thrill of pressing a button and getting a "present"...I may have to order a pair from their website.