Tag Archives: shoes

Clothes swap party

Posted in Dresses, Fashion, Shoes by

One of the items I bagged - love it!

I am very excited to say that, for the very first time, I did something I had wanted to do for ages: attend a clothes swap party. It was organised by a friend who, after having so much fun at one in the past, decided to host her own.

For me it was the perfect excuse to perform my biannual wardrobe season change – this is when, for pure lack of space (or as my boyfriend seems to suggest, too many items – crazy – you can’t have too many, right?!), I put all the bygone season clothes in suitcases and shove them in the loft. They then come out around six months later, and the cycle is complete! I often use the opportunity to review my collection and get rid of clothes that made in and out of the loft a couple of times and haven’t been worn. Usually, they end up in the charity shop, but this time they had a different destination.

Armed with some nibbles, I pulled a small suitcase packed with a mix of  clothes (some I really liked and had worn a fair bit, others a bought and didn’t sit well or were simply not my style) all the way to my friend’s house, where I was met by around eight other girls holding glasses of bubbly. Promising!

The format was pretty straight forward: you went in the middle of the room, opened your case, showed each item and the ladies interested asked to try them on. If there were no takers, the garment would join a pile on the floor, for later perusal or disposal. If two or more parts were interested, they would all try the disputed item and sometimes this alone would solve it, otherwise, negotiations would commence – all very friendly, flattering but honestly on how the other part looked to decide who the item was better suited for, with all the girls giving opinions! I pretty much got everything I wanted, and I have the feeling everyone was satisfied with their new acquisitions. I certainly took more items with me to the party than I brought home, and this was my intention from the offset!

The vast majority of my items were tried on by more than one girl (it feels nice when other people like your taste!), and two lovely dresses went to a good home – they were sexy numbers, and I am sure she will do them justice!

I ended up with a flower print full skirt dress, which I wore to work the day after, a pair of high heel grey boots, a wool wrap mini skirt, a pencil skirt with leather panels on the side, a skirt suit, a bright pink lipstick, a hair volumising spray and the best of all, three MAC brushes (227,212 and 275)!!!

A great experience altogether, I would certainly do it again. It worked very well and I loved it, plus,  it makes so much sense –  I cannot see a better way of recycling and exploring styles that you might not necessarily go for, as well as making new friends and most of all, having a LOT of fun. And the clothes which ended up unclaimed, were gathered by the hosts to be taken to the nearest charity shop. Nice!

A feast of very exotic shoes

Posted in Shoes by

Oh, Popeye!

I recently came across the Virtual Shoe Museum website, after receiving an email with lots of shoes from the designer Kobi Levi.

Showcasing material about art and design of shoes, the site has footwear craft and creativity abundantly splashed around.

With designs ranging from “different” to “completely insane”, the site contains heaps of information on designers, description of most concepts, and simply TONS of shoes (fear not, to wade through the vast amount of items, you can narrow your search by colour material, style and plenty more) and  I have to say, the photos are the best part of it, with many angles shown for many of the fantastic shoes. Well worth spending some time browsing through.

Most of shoes displayed are real works of art,  so push wearability, comfort and common sense aside, this is a true feast for the eyes of a shoe lover like myself.

Here are the Kobi Levi’s adorable pictures I received:

Happy birthday Shoe Galleries!

Posted in Fashion, Shoes by

Selfridge's Shoe Galleries

Last night I attended one of the events celebrating the first anniversary of the biggest shoe department in the world, the  Selfridges  Shoe Galleries. Situated on the second floor of the London store, the gallery is home to 55,000 shoes at any one time and 4,000 shoes on display, from over 150 brands. It is a fantastic place, on one hand, my dream, for obvious reasons, but also my nightmare, because I want to buy them all!

Upon arrival, I was lured to the area surrounding a small catwalk by the music of a live band.  Not long after I found a seat, extremely good looking waiters brought little bottles of Pommery POP champagne for the dozens of ladies waiting, and Grazia’s fashion editor, Sophie Ferguson Jones, opened the event by talking about shoes and handbags trends for this season. Soon enough, the more than F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S Miss J Alexander, from America’s Next Top Model, started running the show and picked girls from the audience to strut their stuff on the catwalk, giving them tips on how to improve their walk.

Beautiful ballerinas also made an appearance and there were other activities going on around the whole floor, such as foot mapping (like palm reading, but for the feet!), several prize draws and customisation.

I really love this type of event, overall it was a like a big party with lovely atmosphere, Miss J provided endless laughter and the champagne flowed enough to keep me happy – all surrounded by the most amazing shoes in the world!

For more on events at Selfridges, visit their What’s on page.

Christian Louboutin: The Book

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Christian Louboutin: The BookSo I hear that to mark the brand’s 20th anniversary, Christian Louboutin: The Book will be out on the 05 October.

The idea of a lovely pink leatherette bound book containing Louboutin’s most iconic designs throughout these 20 years, his personal story and inspiration behind the sensational shoes, sounds absolutely amazing and I would be putting an order in if it wasn’t for the price tag of £85!

However certain I am of the book fabulousness,  I would still rather deposit those £85 into my Shoe Fund, and get myself real Loubis to grace my feet!

Read more about the book on Vogue and Stylist.co.uk

Lara Bohinc shoe crush

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Lara Bohinc's Constructivist Manifesto StilettoOooh, I’ve developed a new shoe crush – and I am not at all surprised it is over one of Lara Bohinc’s pairs – hers was also my favourite from the Elle Accessories Report.

The amazing “Constructivist Manifest Stiletto”  in cappuccino python and brown is so amazing and indeed as described on their site: a contemporary take on the timeless stiletto. I love the  whole shoe architecture, they are beautifully structured from heels to upper. The gold platforms and robust heels are complemented by the texture, pattern and colour – although the python black is just as desirable.

Lara Bohinc’s site is packed with gorgeous, exquisite yet wearable designs, well worth checking – I dare you not to covet!

I really need to start making larger deposits into my shoe fund, as my appetite for  these beauties is only growing…

Elle accessories report

Posted in Accessories, Shoes by

It took me a while to go through the Elle accessories report, out a few weeks ago. There are so many choices that I decided to concentrate on my favourite types and created  picture gallery with my heel, bag and jewellery picks.

Just as I would with an outfit, I am starting with the high heel shoes: it might come as a shock but I haven’t fallen *madly* in love with any number in particular – none made me want to cash my shoe fund immediately.

Having said that, I could easily see Lara Bohinc’s Tatjana courts in leopard print gracing my footsies – definitely my favourites, these amazing shoes have a somewhat art-deco brass circles sitting on the leopard print calf and at the top of the heel, giving them an amazing texture. I really love the metal details on the shoes upper – Bohinc’s Tatjana collection is definitely worth checking!

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A self confessed heel lover, I am fascinated by their architecture, thickness, material and texture so I was immediately drawn to the heel shape in some selections, special attention to Miu Miu and Prada, with very exquisite heels  (I had to go to Selfridge’s Shoe Galleries to actually touch the Miu Miu’s – they are amazing!). Their shape was almost remitting to historical/costume footwear, with the back of the heel quite prominent and the high heel itself quite chunky and arched outwards, almost like a “C” at the back of the shoe.

Designer until then unknown to me, Chrissie Moriss stood out – amongst my favourites are the Liliana peeptoe shoe boots, the Metropolis and the Dakota – they play beautifully with geometrical shapes on the body and the black Liliana has very sexy heels with a “precious” stone at the end. Fierce!

Other favourites are Giuseppe Zannoti Design’s orange suede sandals, Jimmy Choo’s Kerfield, Flaxley and Kemp, Camilla Skovgaard’s grey peeptoe and grey and silver with zips stilettos, Charlote Olympia’s Cordelia tall boots, Alejandro Ingelmo’s Nighthawk (what a cool name, I am glad the shoes live up to the expectation!) and Pierre Hardy’s leopard print circle cut out sling back sandal.

Style wise,  lots of sparkle, multicolour compositions and loafers seem very strong. Platforms are still present.

Now, the bags –  I noticed that there are many clutches featured, especially box clutches. Amongst my favourite are the Prada python, Miss Dior jacquard, Valentino snakeskin box bag, Jimmy Choo Candy and “Lanvin Evening”.

Satchels and totes also appear quite a bit, as well as fur/pony skin. Other picks are Chloé’s Aurore, Celine Trapeze, Versace Metallic bag (with the iconic Versace Medusa head made in gold metallic mesh, with long-ish straps, lush!) and also from Versace, an embossed number with tassel, very pretty.

Victoria Beckham‘s bags appear a few times, with their clean, sharp cut, straight lines design, and my personal bag obsession, the Mulberry Bayswater, appears as a fox-riveted haircalf incarnation. I did miss Chanel, only one pick for Coco’s brand and that didn’t blow me away.

As far as jewellery go, big, bold cuffs are everywhere, chunky collars and chokers too.  Among my favourites are a Louis Vuitton collar, a BOSS Black red feather brass cuff (gorgeous!),  a Cavalli shell gold cuff and an owl ring, a Vionett gold cuff and a D&G star necklace.

Needless to say, the shoes are my favourite part – and I don’t see them as merely accessories! I enjoyed going through the report, and overall, it does provide me with plenty inspiration when looking at accessories to buy.

Can’t let go of my Schutz shoes!

Posted in Lifestyle, Shoes by
Schutz shoes

My "vintage" Schutz shoes

I cannot recollect when I started loving shoes, it was certainly  at a very young age. What I do remember is falling in love with them again, in different ways, when introduced to Brazilian shoe makers Arezzo and Schutz – they were my staples when I lived in Brazil: almost all of my shoes were either  Arezzo or Schutz.

I started to love the design, the materials, the quality and comfort a killer high heel can give you due to engineering. Far from something that protects my feet or accessorises the outfit, the shoes I buy become a part of me, they pretty much are the outfit.

I started following @Schutzoficial not long ago, to get updates, news and feel closer to one of the institutions that helped shape my love for shoes. When I was younger, there were Arezzos and Schutzs, I later discovered the Louboutins and Jimmy Choos.

When I noticed someone posted a picture of their recent Schutz, I decided to post a picture of a very old pair of mine, probably bought circa 2000/2001, and one of the very few that survived my move to London and 9 years beyond that. I just can’t let it go! And probably never will.

Today, they posted my Schutz “vintage” on their blog – the shoes that have been part of my life for about a decade, that danced lots the nights away, and luckily, cannot tell anyone what it has witnessed. What a nice surprise!

That is very sweet, thank you Schutz!

Hooking up with my (shoe) crush

Posted in Fashion, Lifestyle, Shoes by

Velvet Mushnik feather trim shoes, very.co.ukWell, the say you never forget your first love. Maybe it wasn’t love, but I have previously opened my heart about my very first Autumn/Winter 11-12 crush,  the Mushnik velvet feather trim shoes from Very.co.uk, which I came across on Coco’s Tea Party blog.

It turns out it is now available for sale, and the price is even better than publicised before: for a mere £38 you can get hold of these lovely shoes.

So I did – I could not neglect the powers of this crush, also, I really obsess with stuff.  I have succumbed to buying A/W items in July. There is no hope.

First of all, having never ordered from them before, I was very pleasantly surprised with Very’s service: placed my order on Monday 25/07 at around midday and requested delivery to a Collect+ point near work (I am now a massive fan of Collect+, everyone who retails online should use them!) and by 10am on Tuesday 26/07, I received a text saying my item was ready to collect. Thumbs up for them.

Velvet Mushnik feather trim shoes, very.co.ukNow, back to the shoes – they are very period drama like – maybe it is the velvet, or the deep burgundy on them, maybe it is just the combo of the fabric with the feathers and “jewels”, it just hides enough of the peep-toe, making it ideal to wear with thicker tights in the colder months. It is a statement shoe, but without being too overpowering.

It is quite true to size, a comfortable 4, almost a 4.5 to be exact and even though it has 5 inches heels, there is a considerable hidden platform, I found them rather comfortable (I was wearing them for ages to get the pictures taken, still to see how they fare on a night out!).

With my eyes on the A/W trends, I have decided I will wear them with a mustard lace dress I bought (ok, alright, the shoes were not the first A/W item I bought this season, go on, judge me!), and I think it will look fab!

I have now more staple items than ever on my new season to buy list, and if the thought of cold, dark, 30-layers-that-make-u you-look-ginormous 5 months to come  is enough to make me depressed, building my new season wardrobe is the silver lining that keeps me going!

*P.S.: I might ogling and dribbling over A/W stuff, and even buying a few (I am actually suffering in silence, trying not to max out my credit card on new season stuff!)- it doesn’t mean I gave up on summer – never – even if it is grey, wet and with temperatures so pathetic that are just above the winter days in my home country.

First Autumn/Winter crush

Posted in Shoes by

'Mushnick' Feather Trim Velvet Shoe, £47

Please don't break my heart!

Coco’s Tea Party has introduced me to my very first A/W crush this year: these more than lovely, gorgeous, to-die-for “Mushnick” feather trim velvet shoes. As I laid my eyes on them, I immediately imagined at least 3 outfits combinations!

I know I have been moaning about the fact all the shops I ever bought from online keep sending me emails with the new collections, and even though I am very excited about what I am going to be wearing in a few months, I am not making any significant purchases  – I haven’t given up summer yet. But just have to have them!

Also, at £47, they are practically begging to be bought – please be available at Very soon!!!

Obsessed!