Q. I am a British MEP which is, you will agree, a heavy social cross to bear. For six years I have tried to set a sartorial example to my fellow MEPs, wearing nothing that did not emanate from Jermyn Street or Savile Row. Now an old rugby injury to the knee necessitates the wearing of orthopaedic shoes. The design of these shoes is so appalling I fear people who do not know me might think I am foreign or, worse, a British Liberal Democrat. Can you help me to find a solution?
G.B., by email
A. You are right to be anxious. Shoe-ism is an underacknowledged factor in social discrimination. The doorman of the legendary nightclub Studio 54, when asked how he could possibly judge at a glance whether people were cool enough to be admitted, replied that he simply looked at their shoes.
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