If you’re a regular reader, you’ll probably know by now that I’m a huge Vivienne Westwood fan. Huge. But I just can’t get on board with the designer’s famous “toe shoes”, as seen this weekend on Parker Posey:
In fact, I would go so far as to say that I actively hate them. I know Dame Viv has been making them for years, so they presumably have a big enough fan base to keep on selling, but seriously, I hate them. So much. They always look to me like shoes which are about five sizes too small, and which the wearer’s feet are just busting out of. I may be a shoe fan, but I’m most definitely not a foot fan (Sorry, all you foot fetishists who keep writing to me thinking that because I love shoes I must also love feet: the two passions most definitely do not go hand in hand for me. Or foot in shoe, rather.), so these are just a huge turn-off for me.
This is one of the few times I find myself wishing I lived in London. Selridges is currently hosting an exhibition of Vivienne Westwood shoes, from 1973 to the present day, and the grande dame of fashion herself turned up to take a look at her work this week. Pictured above are the huge platforms which sent Naomi Campbell flying during a 1993 runway show. Take a look under the jump to see some more Westwood shoes through the ages… Continue reading →
What’s that in the sky, kids? Is that… THE SUN? I could hardly believe it, but it was true, so naturally I spun into action and went straight into “grabbing what might be the only opportunity to wear a sundress this year” mode. I also took the opportunity to wear my new Lady Dragon cherry shoes, which I’ve been wearing around the house ever since they arrived, purely because I love looking down and seeing the little cherries staring back at me. This was their first trip into the outside world, though. I think they liked it. Aw, my little shoes are getting all grown up!
Ever since I bought my Lady Dragon shoes (so for about a week, then) I’ve been a complete convert to the Melissa line – or at least to that part of it designed by Vivienne Westwood’s Anglomania label. Trust me, this is as much of a surprise to me as it probably is to you. I mean, plastic shoes! That smell like bubblegum! The HELL?
Even so, I love them. Enough to have found myself, late last week, trawling the Internet looking for a pale blue pair, even although I totally can’t afford them. The blue version with the red hearts is sold out everywhere. I did however, find these ‘Cherries’ shoes, and while this design is not new, looking at them through the eyes of a new rubber-shoe convert, I was smitten. A shoe with a cherry on top: so cute!
If you agree, you’ll find these at Shudoo, where they’re £110.
When I ordered the peach version of these shoes almost a year ago, I sent them back because didn’t like the colour and I didn’t like the fit. I knew it was the right decision, but at the same time, I never really got those Lady Dragons out of my head. Every time I spotted someone wearing them (on the Internet, natch: my town isn’t really a plastic, heart-shaped-shoe kinda place), or saw them for sale, I’d feel a little pang of regret that they weren’t mine, so when I found them in Saks on the second-last day of my vacation, on sale, in a size that fit me perfectly (a European size 36, as it turns out, which is a full size smaller than I’d usually wear, but these do seem to come up large), and in a gold and red combo that I liked much better than the ill-fated peach shoes… well, it would’ve been rude not to just buy them, wouldn’t it?
OK, so maybe not. But I’d definitely have regretted it, because I put them on as soon as they were legally mine, and discovered that my life has been incomplete without a pair of gold plastic shoes with gigantic hearts on the front. I mean, WHO KNEW? I’ve worn them once already, but didn’t get any photos, so I’ll try to get them out again soon for a Shoe Challenge. Speaking of which, I have a camera full of photos to post at some point this week (turned out I was much too lazy to do any more blogging while I was gone), but I just got back this morning and haven’t slept since Friday (and as well as the shoes, I also brought a heavy cold home with me), so I’m going to go and do that now, and let the Shoe Challenges wait until another day – not least because I can hardly bear to look at the photos without wanting to burst into tears at the thought of being home. Also: cold remedy. Must take some cold remedy….
(These shoes, by the way, only bring my total to 76 pairs, because I had a bit of a clear-out before my vacation. Yes, I’m a filthy rotten shoe-challenge cheat!)
Vivienne Westwood’s Rocking Horse platforms have been around for a while, and you don’t really see a lot of them around these days, so I was a little bit surprised to see these ones rock up (yeah, yeah, let me have my pun…) on My Wardrobe. They’re selling for £120, which is less than you’d expect for the rocking horse style, but that’s because these are made of plastic. Yes, plastic. What’s with all the plastic, recently, Dame Viv?
Despite my great love of all (or almost all) things Westwood, these aren’t my style and I don’t think they’d be particularly flattering to the leg. If that doesn’t bother you, and you just think they’re plastic fantastic, however, you can buy them here.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that I actively hate them. I know Dame Viv has been making them for years, so they presumably have a big enough fan base to keep on selling, but seriously, I hate them. So much. They always look to me like shoes which are about five sizes too small, and which the wearer’s feet are just busting out of. I may be a shoe fan, but I’m most definitely not a foot fan (Sorry, all you foot fetishists who keep writing to me thinking that because I love shoes I must also love feet: the two passions most definitely do not go hand in hand for me. Or foot in shoe, rather.), so these are just a huge turn-off for me.
