Dear Victoria ...

So sorry to hear about your bunions. Ouch much! Trust me - I know from experience. Although I took a very different route to making mine a lot happier than yours.

Because I'm 5 feet 9 inches - and got there sooner than most in my youth - and because "taller than me" boys were few and far between while I was growing up, I started out with the flat shoe perspective on life. Eventually, boys grew up - figuratively speaking - and employment put highfalutin heels within financial reach. I stood head and shoulders above the rest, and life from the top was grand.

Until, ouch much, my feet began to hurt, my bunions began to ache, and stepping out became a very painful experience. I followed in your footsteps for a while - exercises, corrective insoles, grins to hide grimaces and gnashing teeth, and blatant declarations that all was well. But eventually, I, too, went off to the doc, and his advice was plain and simple: "Surgery or flats."

Needless to say, I opted to stand on my own two feet, supported by little more than an inch of heel and an abundance of comfort. And before long, flats and gentle heels became my trademark, with my bunions all the happier for it.

Victoria, I can understand your reluctance to swap agony for relief, but might I say that your "stylish look" has nothing to do with the tortuous heels you attach to your feet. Rather it's your success that inspires - in music, with your family, and your charity work.

So, why not ditch the heels and experience life on a whole new level - and in an entirely new price bracket - where you can be an example to all who still follow in your haughty footsteps.

Step up to the challenge. Be a beacon, a shining light, a leader in street-level fashion. Don't let your feet be either "the bane of my life" or "the most disgusting thing about me". Instead, turn your hatred of flat shoes into an opportunity to design healthy heels for fellow bunion sufferers. Not ballerina flats or tacky, tasteless designs that frighten small children. Make them lovely, stylish, fashionable, sexy and classy, with just a hint of spice!

I can see it now ... "Put your best foot forward with GO FOR LOW - the new heel from Victoria Beckham's Cobblers for Cobbers". Your bunions and ours will thank you for it.