There are certain conversations one has with female friends in a dimly lit pub on a Friday night that should probably not be repeated. One of our old-faithful subjects is, what do you look for in a man?

For some, it is eyes; for others, it is teeth; but there is always one who brings up the age-old question of men and their shoes.

“Shoes say a lot about a man,” is the inevitable line, one that I will, time and time again, refute.

“When it comes to most Irish men,” I say, attempting to be PC, “they say that they were in the colour he wanted, in his size, and he couldn’t be bothered looking anywhere else.”

But could it be we’re looking at this all wrong. Maybe, just maybe, it is not what your shoes say about you, fellas, but what they could say.

A pair of carefully scuffed Converse-alikes from Dunnes suggest a certain laidback character and hint at an interest in indie rock.

A pair of neat brown leather brogues suggest someone whose appearance matters, perhaps someone who likes good whiskey and foreign holidays that can’t be booked as part of a package.

Then there are the risk-takers: burnished orange shoes by Jeffery West, for example, might just say that you’re someone who likes to take chances and have fun with his choices.

And what more could any well-dressed gentleman want?