Topic: Shoes

Tour My Closet – My Revamped YouTube Channel

I decided it was about time my long abandoned You Tube channel was revisited. I’ve had a few requests for vlogging content and I agree it does make some things easier to explain. My first video is a companion to one of my most popular posts ‘Vivienne Westwood Pirate Boots: History & How to Spot Fakes‘ where I can show details that genuine Vivienne Westwood Pirate boots have.

Next, the launch of my new regular shoes feature ‘Shoe Closet Tours’, I aim to eventually show all my shoe collection, each pair at a time! You can have a look through my channel, there are also some runway videos, but if you just want the new shoe action I have compiled them all into a Playlist, entitled ‘Shoes!’ Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel to get all my new videos. I will be doing some haul and review vlogs too. Of course if you have a channel, drop me the link so I can subscribe x

Shoes! Playlist:

Gone Roman

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 I admit I have a very cool job, but some days it seems even cooler than usual. Above you can see my Vivienne Westwood toe shoes, directly above is the leather sole from an archaeological Roman sandal- notice anything similar? Yes it too has a toe shape cut out, some of them just have the first toe and others have all five toes defined. These sandals would have had leather straps attached to the sole just the same as our sandals today. Fascinatingly both my shoes and the Roman shoes were made in London.

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In fact the popular ‘Gladiator sandals’ are inspired by their original Roman counterpart. At the Museum of London they have recently included some modern items in the cases to illustrate their purpose. Personally I think this is a great idea, especially for children to help them gain perspective. We often forget that simple, every day items and steeped in history.

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Not Quite Snow Boots

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Snow in March, snow in March and what looks to be snow continuing into April. For a change we have been quite lucky up North and have just had constant blusters with nothing settling. I have to confess I really love it, its like movie snow! All the pretty flakes and none of the trudging through sludge, ruining my shoes. Which means I can revel in my snow-movie outfits of flowing capes and towering high heeled boots just like Carrie Bradshaw! My favourite look at the moment is tall boots and knee length dresses. These Vivienne Westwood boots are surprisingly comfortable for such a high stiletto, I adore them.

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The Kind of Winter I do Like – Vivienne Westwood Shakespeare Boots

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Vivienne Westwood ‘Shakespeare’ newspaper print ankle boots AW 2000 ‘Winter’ collection

Needless to say I’m pretty made up snagging these guys. The ‘Summertime’ and ‘Winter’ collections of 2000 are some of my favourites, especially since that was when the animal toe shoes were launched. They are even more beautiful in the flesh, made from the softest suede. I think the print will be rather delicate, so much as I want to, I don’t think I will be able to wear these every day. That is the only thing with being a collector, sometimes you have to put preservation before sartorial pleasure. I have always liked the stiletto heel and wish it was still an option as much as I like the chunky heel, it would be nice to have options.

Worlds End just put a new post up featuring John who makes all the Gold Label shoes. It is nice to read about the small, family run businesses still going in England and makes me feel proud to get my shoes from there. I know I say it often, but it is true, the Gold Label shoes are worth every single penny. They last for years and are so comfortable. A testament to real craftsmanship.

Shoes With Laces

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All shoes Vivienne Westwood

If I had to choose a style of shoe which I always go for it would be court shoes. Yep courts would win hands down, most of my shoes are courts. Lately however, I have been favoring lace ups, perhaps it is because they are a little more wintery? A little more formal? That satisfying feeling of tying a perfect bow? I am still in the process of ‘wardrobe re-jig’ but can’t seem to focus. I’m not sure what mood I am in fashion wise right now. My brain is longing for spring, alas we had snow again today, even if it was a light dusting it was bitterly cold. Which also reminded me another winter has gone by without me getting out any of my tall boots. This is  a job I like to do each winter no fail along with my heavy coats but neglected to this year with all this unpredictable weather. One thing I do like are shoe laces and the fact you can change them around. I absolutely adore the yellow laces in my tan Tracey trainers (bottom right) so might try swapping some of my laces around.

Leg Warmers & Red Shoes

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(Wearing Vivienne Westwood Japan label leg warmers, Gold label Mary Jane shoes)

This was after getting a soaking on Sunday. It was freezing but I wanted to wear my Red Label velvet shorts so I pulled out these leg warmers, I hadn’t worn for absolutely ages, had them years. Are legwarmers still cool? In fact were they ever cool? Who knows, I love them anyway. Make me come over all Flashdance.They are a nice alternative to wearing boots.

Granny Boots & Chaos Socks

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(Wearing: Vivienne Westwood Insect print Granny boots and Chaos socks, Topshop velvet leggings)

There is something satisfying about wearing socks and tall boots, don’t you think?

It is a look I have been favouring of late, the flash of sock offers an interesting detail. I had on a black jumper dress, so it also broke up the black. Is anyone else bored of this weather yet? I find it hard to be sartorially inspired when all the weather calls for is snow boots and layers upon layers, no pretty shoes in sight. Next week London Fashion Weeks kicks off and I can’t help but wonder how it will be affecting the street style.Will everyone be wearing wellies if it snows or 5″ heels regardless? Will we see any outfits or just heavy coats? Or will the sun come out for us, I certainly hope so, even if it is just a peep and the bonus of a few more degrees! It was cold last February, but not even close to being as cold as it is this year. I spent a lot of it clutching free cups of coffee just for the warmth. As for me I will be coming prepared, however getting five different pairs of boots and five different coats into a case I can carry is quite another story – heaven forbid I rewear at LFW. This fashion malarky can be hard work.

Kobi Levi Shoe Exhibition

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From top: Flamingo, Cheerleader, Coffee, Market Trolly, Slide

Kobi Levi is most famously know for his quirky, often cartoon-like footwear designs. The Israeli designer pushes boundaries by taking every day objects and interpreting them into shoes. Most of the designs are fun (‘Blond Ambition’ and Banana’) however some are sexual (‘Blow’ and ‘XXX’) others somewhat disturbing (‘Mother & Daughter’ and ‘Double Boots‘). From court shoes to mules, wedges to boots Levi’s imagination has no limits.

“In my artistic footwear design the shoe is my canvas. The trigger to create a new piece comes when an idea, a concept and/or an image comes to mind. The combination of the image and footwear creates a new hybrid and the design/concept comes to life. The piece is a wearable sculpture. It is “alive” with/out the foot/body. Most of the inspirations are out of the “shoe-world”, and give the footwear an extreme transformation. The result is usually humoristic with a unique point of view about footwear. Another aspect of the creation is the realization.” Kobi Levi

You can see more Kobi Lev designs on his blog or visit the exhibition and other displays of shoes, at the Northampton Shoe Museum.

New Vivienne Westood Shoes (in Exchange for Hypothermia)

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Any one who has been reading my blog will know how long I have wanted a pair of Vivienne Westwood Rocking Horse shoes for. I nearly had a pair once, an eBay snaffle but they were too small – makes me wonder now if they were my size at all? Why, well because when I tried the pair on I got they fit perfectly, plenty of room in the width and so very comfortable. I got these from Worlds End as a reward for being made to stand outside and have my photo taken in just a dress, in that weather! I was so cold I thought I was never going to get the feeling back in my hands. Well worth it ha ha! I could have got the Clompers which I wore in the shoot but I figured I would wear these more. The Westwood sale is still on so do check it out if you are after a bargain! For other beauty and fashion discounts you can check out NetVoucherCodes a great site for money off coupons. At the moment they have Spartoo and Kurt Geiger vouchers, since we are on the topic of shoes. Anyway I’ve not had chance to wear my new shoes yet, since the weather has been so bad so here is some inspiration, Lisa (manager of WE, image VW Ltd) and a shot from Tokyo street style.

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