SHAPE

As winter's second round of new shoes is unpacked and racked in shops across the country, a vivid illustration of fashion's fickle nature is also unfolding. The popularity of brick-high platforms has calmed (albeit not waned) after at least a dozen seasons on the "must-have" list of fashion's 16 to 24 core market. But, slowly, slowly, the elegant dagger-toe stiletto and delicate spaghetti-strap sandal are winning hearts with every exposure on the catwalks of Paris, New York, Milan and Melbourne. Following last week's Alex Perry spring fashion show, for example, a flimsy thin-strapped sandal named "Karissa" (left) suddenly shot to the top of Tony Bianco's best-seller list a full year after its first release. Now, in Tony Bianco stores, stocks of Karissa and comparably delicate shoes, sit in head-shakingly odd proximity to exotic slabs of footwear such as the "Kortina"(left bottom).