I take back any throw-away comments I may have made previously about discovering the coolest thing ever on the internet.

Because now I have surely found it. Yep, that’s right, the cyber-world of devoushki blogs. For anyone who ever needed to wear suede stiletto-heeled boots after a snowfall, diary of a devoushka muses on life’s little essentials like “Is HRH the Duchess of Cornwell (formerly Camilla Parker Bowles) a devoushka?” and records the correspondence of one devoushka to another.

(My answer, for the record, was NO WAY, she’s far too horsy.)

Devoushka is the word for “young woman” in Russian, but it’s not just that. It’s a concept, a mentality… but unfortunately one totally foreign to me (like Stacey in the travels of Stacey I prefer sneakers to stilettos - but check out her photo of the damage that heels can do to the pavement!).

So I have a question - it’s one that’s been on my mind for a while. Do shpilki (stiletto heels) work like ice-picks for the feet on icy streets? Is there actually some benefit to wearing them in winter? I’ve been developing this theory of “amazing practicality” for a while (too scared to attempt it in practise - Russia is not the place to learn to wear heels, like for novice surfers in Australia, I feared the wrath of the experts), but anyone I’ve asked has assured me that, no, shpilki are as hard to navigate on winter streets as first appearances conveyed.

Well…?

This was the closest I ever got to snapping a photo of the ultimate gathering of devoushki and honorary international members of the devoushkahood. Even though it was contestants from the “Mrs. World Pageant” I’d say they snaffled up a ring pretty much the day after their high school graduation.