Tag Archives: shoes

My Darling Peta [Charlie Stone Shoes]

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There’s something I do which may or may not be weird: I go through phases of hyper-focusing on certain aspects of my wardrobe. (Is that just me?) I’ll be putting together an outfit and find myself thinking something like ‘damn, this would be perfect if I had a velvet navy bag to wear it with,’ because I am a bit obsessive about colour matching, and once the idea occurs to me that my collection has a glaring hole in it, suddenly all I want is to find the perfect piece within my budget to fill it. These phases are often accessories focused—hats, bags, belts, bangles.

My latest phase is all about finding pretty flats. It started at the end of last year, when I treated myself to two pairs of Charlie Stone Shoes‘ not-actually-fully-flat flats. I loved them so much that I began to daydream about their other gorgeous flats, which I didn’t need but definitely wanted. But then, oh ho! What did I realise? I actually do need some of them, because guess what, they fill one of the gaps in my shoe collection: comfortable, good quality flats in staple colours I will regularly wear, that—here is the crucial bit—I CAN EASILY CLEAN.

Pl.us size pinup Miss Amy May models the black Peta flats by Charlie Stone Shoes for a fit and size review

Pl.us size pinup Miss Amy May models the black Peta flats by Charlie Stone Shoes for a fit and size review Continue reading →

Rhea & Alberta Are Ready to Shine [Ruby Shoo]

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Last year was an uncertain year for us all, obviously, but as we move into December that uncertainty seems to be coming back around for many of us, thanks to Covid. The small joys of Christmas are still on my mind, despite that precariousness, and if there’s one thing that feels concrete for me, no matter life’s circumstances, it’s that Christmas means sparkles. Ruby Shoo’s Rhea heels and Alberta handbag set certainly has sparkles to offer in abundance.

Pinup Miss Amy May models the black sequin Rhea low court heels and black sequin Alberta bag by Ruby Shoo for reviewPinup Miss Amy May models the black sequin Rhea low court heels and black sequin Alberta bag by Ruby Shoo for review

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Mara, Ruby Red [Lulu Hun]

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Here’s the thing about London Edge: there’s so many pretty things everywhere that the volume of them is almost numbing and you begin to act a bit like a greedy toddler hopped up on sugar in a vast toy store, leafing through the racks and mumbling ‘want, want, want’ about practically all the lovely things, far more than you could ever conceivably buy.

It can take some serious self-restraint and concentration to organise your photo taking and mental cataloging throughout the day in order to best use the event as a way to plan out your purchases for the upcoming season being previewed. Sometimes I end up mentally dog-earring items I change my mind about later once they actually come into stock, when the druggish enthusiasm of the day has worn off. Considering that, my favourite part of the whole experience comes in the moments when a piece is so gorgeous that it will literally make me pause, my whole body stilling while my mouth gapes. When I’m there with friends I turn with wide eyes to look at them, wordlessly holding out the dress or skirt or bag, and said friends, often Giselle, will say ‘Oh you need that. That is so you.’ I feel validated and gratified. It IS so me, yes, thank you for acknowledging that; I must have it.

Just such a scene happened as I rounded a set of shelves at the Collectif booth in September and clapped eyes on the Lulu Hun Mara heels, this time pointing them out, mouth wide, in glee to Collectif’s own designer Julia. I feel that same glee here today to be able to finally get these sweet, classic little ruby cuties on my feet.

Lulu Hun Collectif Mara block heels wine

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Statement Making Feet [La Veintinueve]

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I’ve spoken before on the blog about wanting to challenge myself more often with styling statement shoes, so I’m pleased I’ve been given the chance again to do just that.

For me, shoes featuring multiple colours, varied textures or even a solid print feel harder to style in an outfit than something plain when held up against my print-heavy wardrobe. Still, I often see such shoes and am instantly enamored with them, wishing I was better at knowing when to clash patterns and mix in unusual colour combinations. You know what they say, though–how can you expect to get better at something without practise. And so practise I shall, this week thanks to the lovely offerings from the Spanish retro boutique brand La Veintinueve. Continue reading →

Summer Fun with Lulu Hun

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For those who aren’t familiar with Lulu Hun, they’re a vintage-inspired shoe brand offered by Collectif. Their line has a real mixture of styles, from novelty print flats to classic T-bar and Mary Jane styles reminiscent of eras gone by, to fun wedges and smart-wear court heels. Every pair has a touch of vintage about them. Summer wedges lover that I am, it’s no surprise that the Jessie Textured Wedges caught my eye.

Lulu Hun Navy Blue Jessie Textured Wedges Continue reading →

Clogs on the Cheap 

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There are many different vintage-style shoes from the eras gone by, each offering something unique and specific to finish off your outfit pairings. On the whole, I find that my vintage sensibilities don’t stretch as far into the footwear world as they do the clothing sphere, so typically you can expect to find my outfits finished off with a cute pair of ballet flats, wedge sandals or faux suede peeptoe heels even when that’s not authentic.

Lately, I’ve been branching out a little in this respect, looking up more vintage styles and mentally trying to shuffle them into my wardrobe to see if I feel that the shoe fits–I’m sorry, I had to. (I’m not sorry, I’m actually quite pleased with that one, if I’m honest.)

A style of shoe I’ve recently been pondering over and have been surprised to find myself drawn to is the vintage-style clog sandal. I do love summer wedges or sandals that have a wooden or faux wooden finish on the base of the shoe, so that part easily appeals to me, but on the whole the style is bulkier than I tend to find appealing. For that reason, while I wanted to experiment with introducing a pair into my shoe selection, I was wary of spending out on some of the pricier, well-known established clog brands, such as Swedish Hasbeens.

F&F Wood Look Open Toe Sandals

F&F Wood Look Open Toe Sandals

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Taking The B.A.I.T 

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B.A.I.T Loraine heels green

I’ve wanted a pair of B.A.I.T shoes for about a year now. A lot of their designs aren’t much my style, as I typically find my love for the vintage aesthetic doesn’t tend towards the shoes as much as it does the clothes, but I do like their Ida’s and have especially been eyeing up their new mustard yellow colourway recently.

I’ve heard lots of confused talk about which styles run small, which don’t, et cetera, and that’s always worried me in and of itself, let alone factoring in the fact that I’ve never been able to figure out for certain what my US shoe size is. I’m a UK 7, but I’ve found every conversion size chart I check has me flip-flopping (ba dum cha!) as to whether I’m a US 9 or 10. I’ve tried to figure it out by also cross-referencing the European sizing but half of my UK 7s say 41 and the rest 40, so that only made things more confusing. All of this just came together to convince me that until I could find a UK stockist I would have to give up on B.A.I.T or else risk a costly returns process to the US. Continue reading →

A Beginner’s Guide To: Bedazzling

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Whether you want to bedazzle a pair of shoes, a phone case or a headband, you’re going to need the same materials and the same methodology. Hopefully by the end of this post you’ll know what you need to know in order to get gluing and glittering all over town. Let’s get to it.

What you’ll need:
– Glue, specifically made for bedazzling. I use GemTac, but you can also use E6000 (which must be used in a well ventilated area and preferably while wearing a mask, as there’s links to cancer with this glue. Part of why I prefer GemTac.)
– A gem picker/jewel setter. Typically a wax end picker, as pictured below at the bottom of the equipment image, but I prefer to use a pencil picker, as pictured at the top.
– Your shoes or accessory of choice, clean and dry.
– Flat backed crystals, obviously. 

bedazzlingequip Continue reading →