High End V High Street: Lucite Heel Comparison

Irregular Choice released another perspex heel style last Friday, the beautiful Blossom Bunny. Since the early days, they've been making carved, lucite heels which have come in many forms; low, wedge, stiletto, even heart shaped, but the chunky one on the new Blossom Bunny is probably the most recognisable as it usually reappears at least once each season. It's little wonder I own so many of them as they've come in every colour or style of shoe or boot you can think of. Not only is it pretty, it's manageable and easy to wear, so it's a firm favourite of mine.  What I see a lot of on social media from first time buyers of this heel though, is that they dislike seeing the screws. In fact many wonder if this is 'normal' or if they got a dodgy pair. In short, yes it's normal and actually completely essential that the heel is attached to the shoe! Shoes, whether cheaper, mass produced or more exclusive and expensive, machine or handmade, will usually have some sort of screw, tack or nail attaching the heel to the shank. So it's a given that when the heel is clear, you will see this. There's not really a way around it. I have to say it's something I rarely notice in the IC heels myself. You would need to be inspecting them very closely and it's unlikely it's visible to anyone else (or yourself) when they are on your feet.
Earlier this year, I added another lucite heel to my collection, non-IC this time, the Charlotte Olympia Barbie Girl. Now this shoe is expensive. Really expensive. Let me preface by saying I paid nothing near the RRP and they're not even the most I've paid for shoes, but at full price, they are a staggering £1145. That's at least £1000 more than the IC ones usually retail for. So with this in mind, I thought it might be interesting to look at both styles and see how a high-end designer like Charlotte Olympia and a high-street brand like Irregular Choice compare in disguising that screw issue.

The first thing to note is that IC shoes are factory made in China, while CO are hand-crafted in Italy, making them more affordable or expensive respectively and the construction of each shoe will differ slightly.  However I can only speak as a consumer here, rather than go into details of manufacture that I haven't seen.  Right away you can see a big difference in that the CO heel is completely clear and has no carved details. IC mostly use a graded, shaded format for the heel. The pair I photographed here are my old Rada Tilly, but generally the deeper colour begins at the top (under the sole) and either fades out to a paler version of the same colour or completely clear when it meets the coloured heel tip. This goes some way to concealing the visible screws. Obviously some colours do a better job than others at hiding them, but regardless, it's aesthetically pleasing while 'covering' the unsightly bits.
Then you have the carved elements to IC. Again it's masquerading the nails, while being something interesting and pretty to look at.
CO instead use this metal plug-like-stopper situated at the top of the heel under the sole. It's certainly nicer or neater to look at than bare screws, but I find my eye drawn to it because it's more noticeable due to the rest of the heel being so plain.
I really can't say I find one method more aesthetically pleasing than the other. The CO way is perhaps more neatly finished off, but then it's more noticeable because it's missing the prettier disguises of colour and patterns that IC use.  Neither is particularly visible when you look at the shoe as a whole, you really do need to get up close before you start to see this detail.  So as I said in the beginning, it's not an element that concerns me or 'ruins' the overall look of the shoe and without it, the heel would detach.  What do you think, do you have a preference, have you noticed the screws in lucite heels before?