OK, before we get onto the shoes, I just have to say: how cute is Cheryl Cole in this photo? I’ve always thought she was gorgeous anyway, but this makes me want to put my hair in pigtails and steal her sweater, seriously.
Do you want to steal her shoes, though?
Well, as of today, you can: well, sort of, anyway. I mean, you will have to pay for them, but today sees the launch of Cheryl’s debut shoe collection for member’s only website, Stylist Pick, and here are the shoes:
I’m actually much more impressed by this collection than I expected to be. I particularly like – and would wear – the ‘Hot to Trot’ and ‘Your Royal Hotness’ pumps, and while the Ri Ri ankle boots are slightly out of my comfort zone, seeing them on Cheryl has swayed me a little. The flat boots are very much NOT my style, but I do like the fact that the collection includes a range of shoes, rather than sticking to just the one style.
What do you think of this collection? Would you buy any? You’ll need a Stylist Pick account in order to shop from the site, if so: you can click here to sign up, and here to read more about how it works.
I was so excited by the Autumn/Winter lookbook that I neglected to bring you the best news of all: Kurt Geiger is now offering international shiping!
No more will my international readers be able to blame me for showing them beautiful shoes they can’t actually buy: now you’ll just have to blame me for leading you into temptation instead!
Earlier today, it was announced that Christian Louboutin’s bid to file a preliminary injunction against Yves St Laurent, preventing the brand from selling shoes with red soles, has been refused by a judge. Louboutin argues that the red sole is his trademark, and that by using the same shade on their own soles, YSL could confuse consumers.
The ruling states:
“Because in the fashion industry color serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition, the court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection, even if it has gained enough public recognition in the market to have acquired secondary meaning.”
I’ve been following this case since it started, and while it’s far from over yet, I must say, I’m disappointed by this decision. No one would argue that Louboutin invented the concept of coloured soles, of course (the designer doesn’t claim that himself), but the fact is that the red sole has become intrinsically associated with his shoes, to the point where people who aren’t familiar with the design of the uppers WILL assume that a shoe with a red sole was designed by Louboutin, not by YSL, or by any of the other brands who’ve used red soles over the years.
Because of that, I honestly can’t really understand why YSL even WANT to use red soles on their shoes, especially the particular shade of red that’s associated with Louboutin. There are lots of colours out there. There are lots of ways to make the sole of a shoe stand out. And YSL make beautiful shoes in their own right: shoes which don’t need a red sole to be appealing to the people who buy them. Why would they even WANT to use the same design feature as another brand?
(It’s also important to note that here that Christian Louboutin isn’t seeking to prevent YSL from using the colour AT ALL: only to prevent them using it on soles, which he believes could create confusion, and dilute his brand.)
I think this is my whole issue with this case. I can understand why the red sole is important to Christian Louboutin: I can’t see why it’s so important to YSL, as it’s not something that’s associated with their brand.
What do you think? Should Louboutin have been granted the injunction?
Brace yourself, shoe lovers: I bring the kind of news that could do serious damage to your bank accounts.
This week, my favourite high street shoe brand, Kurt Geiger, launched Shoeaholics: a discount version of its online store. (Think of it as their version of The Outnet.) The shoes you’ll find here will probably be familiar to you if you’re a fan of Kurt Geiger and its associated brands: as well as the main line, you’ll find shoes by Carvela, Miss KG, and Fashionistas, as well a selection of brands like Nine West and Guess, which are sold by Kurt Geiger.
Oh, and they’re all heavily discounted, and I mean HEAVILY discounted. In the image above, for instance, you’ll see £150 shoes doen to £39, £110 shoes down to £9 (NINE! POUNDS! FOR! CARVELA!) and £95 shoes down to £19.
“But how on earth are they doing this, Shoeperwoman?” I hear you cry.
I wondered the same thing myself when I first looked at the site. In fact, I was so surprised by some of the prices that I actually hit the back button and re-checked my sources to make sure that these were, in fact, genuine shoes, and not some cheap copies. (Don’t worry, it’s the real thing.)
Well, they’re able to sell these shoes at such a discount because these are either old lines which didn’t sell well at the time, or they’re ex-display models. The majority of shoes I looked at on the site seemed to fall into the “ex-display” category and had disclaimers stating that they “WILL HAVE some minor cosmetic damage”. Ah. That explains the low prices, then.
Is it still worth a shot? Well, I, for one, am willing to give it a go. I placed an order with Shoeaholics this morning, and I will, of course, report back to you on what the shoes are like when they arrive, and whether the “minor cosmetic” damage they claim to have will be minor enough to be lived with or major enough to make me want to return them. I do this purely in the name of research, you understand. In fact, I do it FOR YOU, readers, like the true Shoeperhero I am. I buy shoes so you don’t have to!
Want to take a look for yourself? Click here to visit the Shoeaholics site – but before you do, let me just deliver the final piece of bad news: shipping is currently only available to the UK: please don’t hate me!
Over at The Fashion Police today, we have an article about crimes of office fashion, as decided by a new survey from fashion website Stylecompare. Obviously what’s acceptable in the office depends very much on the type of office you work in, but while I broadly agreed with many of the items suggested by the survey (too much cleavage and visible underwear are always going to be a big “no” in the workplace), I was a little surprised to find wedge heels and stilettos/pointy shoes on the list.
Again, I guess this depends on the type of shoe we’re talking about: high platforms, crazy wedges and anything very loud or “fashion forward” is probably going to raise eyebrows in a conservative workplace, and I know many offices frown on bare toes or strappy sandals. I don’t think ALL stilettos, pointed toes or wedges need to be banned from the office, though: for instance, the Christian Louboutin ‘Simple’ pumps shown above would’ve been considered perfectly acceptable in any of the offices I’ve ever worked in, where black, heeled pumps were pretty commonplace. (Although not necessarily Louboutin ones, mind you!) Similarly, there are plenty of closed toe, low wedges out there that are very modest, very plain (and very dull, if I’m being honest), and which I can’t imagine anyone seriously objecting to.
What do you think? Are stilettos and wedges a fashion faux pas in the office (If they are, I will never have been so glad to be self-employed!), or does it all depend on the shoe?
This morning I begin my day by wishing I was related to Beyonce. More so than usual, I mean. It would be great to be related to Beyonce at any time, especially if it meant getting to share some of her amazing genes, but it turns out that Beyonce’s an amazing sister too, having just presented Solange Knowles with 25 pairs of shoes to celebrate her 25th birthday on June 24th! Apparently the shoes all came from Saks and Bergdorf Goodman: well, you probably wouldn’t expect Beyonce to be hitting up F21, would you? (Although I guess you never know…)
A pair of shoes for each year of your life? Now THAT would make birthday’s almost bearable…
Olivia Rubin has just designed a capsule collection for Dune, consisting of twelve pairs of shoes (some of which you can see on this page), and three handbags. Olivia Rubin is well known for her love of prints, and this collection really reflects that, with a good mix of heels, flats and wedges, many of which come with bold, bright uppers.
Prices range from £55 – £110, and can be found in select Dune stores, Selfridges London, and, of course, on the Dune website. Click here to take a look!
When I started my Shoe Challenge this year, and started collecting all of your shoe totals, I was reassured to find that my own shoe collection (currently sitting at 71 pairs) wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary: sure, there were a lot of people with fewer shoes than me, but there were also lots of you with many, many more pairs, so I figured that while my collection is just a little bit on the extravagant side, I wasn’t too unusual in my shoe-buying habits.
Apparently I was wrong about that, however, because according to the results of a poll released this week by ShopSmart, the “average” amount of shoes owned by women over the age of 18 is… 17 pairs. Now, while I haven’t bothered to actually work it out, I suspect the average for readers of this site is a little higher than that (When I was adding Shoe Challenge participants to the member’s list, I felt like the average number of shoes was probably somewhere in the mid-twenties), although that result is probably a little skewed, given that people who read this site are much more likely to have a higher than average interest in footwear, but the statistic that really interested me in this poll, is this one:
Of those 17 pairs of shoes, most of the women surveyed admitted to wearing ONLY THREE PAIRS on a regular basis.
And that right there is why I started my Shoe Challenge last year. I can well believe that most people out there are only getting regular use out of a small percentage of their shoe collections, so at least those of you taking part in this year’s challenge can take comfort in the fact that you hopefully won’t be one of those statistics. In the meantime, here are some more shoe-related stats for you, all from the same survey:
I’m actually much more impressed by this collection than I expected to be. I particularly like – and would wear – the ‘Hot to Trot’ and ‘Your Royal Hotness’ pumps, and while the Ri Ri ankle boots are slightly out of my comfort zone, seeing them on Cheryl has swayed me a little. The flat boots are very much NOT my style, but I do like the fact that the collection includes a range of shoes, rather than sticking to just the one style.
