Almost every time I write about Vivienne Westwood/Melissa shoes (which I do rather a lot, as you may have noticed), the same set of questions seem to come up in the comments section, so I figured I’d put together a quick FAQ for those of you either considering buying a pair of these shoes, or just thinking “The hell? Plastic shoes?”
Before I get started, I should probably stress that I’m answering these questions from my own point of view only: I don’t claim to be an expert on Vivienne Westwood or Melissa, and I can really only speak about the Lady Dragon shoes, as those are the ones I own.
These are just the questions that come up most often: if you have any others, ask away!
Q. How on earth do you balance on a rubber heel? Doesn’t it wobble around all the time? A: Nope! The heel isn’t actually made of rubber: it’s a regular heel, made in the same way as any other stiletto, but with a plastic coating. So it won’t buckle under you, I promise!
Q: Eew, plastic shoes! Don’t they make your feet sweat?
A: Well, I certainly haven’t found that to be the case. The Lady Dragon shoes I have are a peep-toed, slingback style, which means that most of the foot is exposed, anyway, so they don’t sweat. I can’t speak for the closed-toe styles made by Vivienne Westwood/Melissa, however – I would suspect that as they’re enclosing the entire foot in plastic, they may indeed be more likely to cause this problem (I’d be interested to here more about this from someone who owns one of these styles), but you should be pretty safe with the slingbacks: they’re really no different from any other shoe in that particular shape – or at least, that’s been my experience, anyway.
Q: Doesn’t the plastic chafe against your skin?
A: The only place where I’ve found rubbing to be an issue is on the peep toe. It’s a slightly smaller peep toe than on most of my other shoes, and because it’s plastic, it doesn’t soften up, as leather does, so if I’ve been wearing the shoes for a while, or doing a lot of walking in them, it can start to rub a little. I haven’t had any issue with the slingback or vamp rubbing, though, and much of this will depend on the shape of your feet and how well the shoes fit.
Q: Are they true to size?
A: I had to go down a size with both of the Vivienne Westwood/Melissa shoes I own. The first time I bought a pair of Lady Dragons, I ordered my usual size, and found it too large: in fact, I looked like Minnie Mouse in them! I went down a size for the next two pairs and they fit perfectly, however, I would always urge caution when taking sizing advice from someone on the Internet – or someone who doesn’t have exactly the same shape of feet as you, basically – because I know a couple of people who also own these shoes, and find them true to size. Size is a very personal thing, and, as I mentioned above, it depends not just on the number on the sole of your shoe, but on the shape of your feet, and on what you’re used to. So it’s always a good idea to try them on rather than just taking my word for it!
I’ve been journeying through my search referrers again, and today’s question is this:
How many pairs of shoes do you take on holiday?
And the answer is:
Personally? As many pairs as I can fit in my suitcase. No, really. And I know that’s not the right answer to this: the right answer according to the so-called “experts” is that you should pack yourself a careful, capsule wardrobe, and make sure every item in it goes with every other item, so you only need a couple of pairs of shoes for the whole trip. Now, I can do the whole “capsule wardrobe” thing if I have to. The problem is, though, that I just don’t want to. I mean, what can say, I’m a shoe addict (and a dress addict, and a skirt addict and… oh, I have a lot of sartorially-based addictions): it just goes totally against the grain for me to want to pack a handful of clothes and then keep wearing them over and over again for a couple of weeks or more. I’m also one of those people who likes to be prepared at all times. What if I pack my capsule wardrobe and then find myself in a situation which is just crying out for that fabulous pair of shoes I left at home? Or that dress I didn’t think I’d have an opportunity to wear? It just doesn’t bear thinking about.
This is why, when it comes to packing, I can generally be found forcing one more pair of shoes into my suitcase as I head out the door on the way to the airport. But that’s just me. And I’m guessing “Just take as many as you can” isn’t the advice you were looking for, mystery reader, so here are the shoes I’d take on holiday, if I was trying to take the absolute minimum – and bear in mind here that this will, to a huge extent, depend very much on where you’re going, what you’ll be doing, and what kind of climate you’ll be doing it in, to say nothing of factors like what kind of clothes you like to wear, and what your footwear style is. For the purpose of this post, though, I’m assuming it’s a standard summer holiday: reasonably warm weather, bit of sightseeing, bit of relaxing – you know the kind of thing. I’d take:
Q: What does Terry think of your ‘shoe addiction’?
I don’t think he really understands it, because he’s not interested in shoes himself, but Terry’s happy as long as I’m happy – and as long as I’m not getting into debt or spending our savings on them, obviously!
Q: Do you know of any website that allows you to design your own boots?
I’m afraid not – I know shoesofprey.com lets you design your own shoes, but I don’t know of any similar sites for boots [edit: a few days after I answered this question, I had an email from a company called Selve: their service is "semi-bespoke" - i.e. you can choose different colours, materials etc for your shoes, but you can't design your own from scratch. They do include boots, though, so while the prices are on the expensive side (think £500 for a pair of knee boots) they could be worth checking out.]
Q: What camera do you use to take your shoe shots? AND Do you often take them yourself with a timer/tripod or does Shoeperman help? x
I have a Nikon D5000. The indoor shots and some of the outside ones are taken by me with a tripod and remote control, and Terry takes the rest!
Q: Hi, what coat/jacket do you usually wear when out walking Rubin? I’m asking because I walk alot (twice a day) with my twin babies come rain or shine! i currently wear a berghaus rain jacket which is practical but just not stylish! Hmm, I don’t actually have a special coat for walking him – it’s really just whatever coat or jacket goes with what I’m wearing at the time!
Q: What was your first blog? My first “proper” blog was foreveramber.co.uk – I’d been blogging for a long time before that, though, on livejournal, and on a free Angelfire site, although we didn’t call it “blogging” then!
Q: How long did it take you to build up a following on your blogs and what did you do to try to maximise it?
I think The Fashion Police took about two years to build a following: the other sites were much quicker than that because they were able to benefit from the following The Fashion Police had by that point: many of its readers also started to read Shoeperwoman, for instance, when it launched.
I don’t really remember doing anything specific to build readership. I think I was pretty lucky in that I was freelancing for quite a few of the Shiny Media blogs at the time I launched The Fashion Police, and so people got to know me through that. Shiny were also kind enough to allow their writers to link back to their own sites from some articles, so that helped a lot
Q: What do you think of tall girls wearing heels? I think it looks fine but my friends disagree I love seeing tall girls in heels – if anything, it shows that they’re obviously comfortable with their height, and I think people who are happy and comfortable with themselves almost always look good. So, yes, I think it looks absolutely fine!
Almost as soon as I started this site, I also started receiving lots and lots of emails from people who were desperate to find a particular pair of shoes which they’d fallen in love with, only to discover that the shoes in question were last year’s stock, and sold out long ago.
I always feel bad for these people: I know only too well what it’s like to set your heart on something and not be able to find it, no matter how many times you type the product name into Google, and I really wish I was able to help them find those special shoes they so desperately want. I feel doubly bad, though, because the fact is, I can’t help them: unfortunately there is no magic place that shoes go to when they sell-out (Oh how I wish there was!), so if you’re looking for a certain style and can’t seem to find it, all I can do is point you in the following directions:
A quick roundup of your questions from Formspring:
Q: do your feet get larger in the summer? Mine do, I find most of the pumps I wear and have bought in my ‘fall’ and ‘winter’ feet no longer fit in the summer.
I haven’t really noticed that, unless it’s a very hot day and I’ve been doing a lot of walking – feet can swell a bit if it’s hot, which is why I try not to buy shoes after a lot of walking, because it’s hard to get a good idea of fit if your feet are bigger than usual. I guess maybe the solution is to buy summer shoes a half-size larger, if possible?
Q: I’m new to blogging, and just got an offer to be paid to review a website/service, but I have no idea what typical pay would be for something like that. Since you blog professionally, what advice can you give about what fee to request? (I’m in the USA).
I don’t ever accept payment for reviews, because personally I don’t feel that would be ethical, so I’m afraid I can’t advise you about what the going rate would be for that kind of thing.
Q: Hi I am really paranoid because I am 17 and a size 8 I am just asking what shoes you recommend that can give the illusion of smaller feet
First of all, I’d say that your feet probably only look large to *you* – I doubt anyone else would think twice about them, so I’d try not to worry too much!
To answer the question, though, shoes with heels will make your feet look a little smaller, as they put the foot at an angle. Open toes will also help create the illusion of smaller feet (especially when paired with heels), and clumpy, flat shoes will make your feet look bigger, as will pointed toes, so those are ones to avoid – choose rounded toes instead.
Q: What is your favorite food?
I don’t think I have an all-time favourite food – it depends how I’m feeling!
Q: Hi! I bought a pair of nude patent leather pumps from Aldo that I absolutely love, but they are just a little too small and hurt my feet! Can patent leather be stretched? If not, do u have any other tips? Thanks!
Patent leather CAN be stretched, but my advice would be to take them to a cobbler and get them to do it for you: it’s not as easy to stretch patent leather as it is normal leather, and while you can try all of the usual stretching methods (thick socks, shoe stretcher, wetting the leather then wearing them, etc), it’s still going to be a slow process, and there’s always the risk of breaking the leather, or it just reverting back to its original size. You’ll also have to be sure that the lining of the shoe is real leather, not man-made: if it’s man made then there’s very little you can do to stretch it, unfortunately. Take them to a professional, and if they can’t help you, return them and buy something that doesn’t hurt.
Hi, I enjoy reading your blogs and check them often. I’m interested to know what blogs you follow, check often, or just like reading?
Thank you, that’s lovely to hear! As for me, oh, there are hundreds! In fact, let me just see… according to Google reader, I currently have 632 unread posts from blogs I subscribe to in my reader, which probably means I read far too many to list!
(Feel free to add your own responses to any of these in the comments!)
A quick roundup of some of the questions I’ve been answering this week on Formspring:
Red or Black V. Westwood Lady Dragon Wax Orb Seal Slingbacks? They’re currently on Brand Alley for £39 a pair!
Whichever you think you’ll wear most! I like red shoes, which work better with my wardrobe than black, but if you think you’ll get more use out of the black, go for those!
What are some of your tips for blogging, that helped make your blog so successful?
I think consistency is probably the main thing. You have to be very dedicated, make sure the site is updated regularly and just keep at it, no matter what.
I am in love with Bertie’s San Antonio shoe but it seems like I have clocked on to them too late as they are no longer in stock anywhere (in a size 5). HELP! I MUST get these shoes for my girlfriend!
If they’re no longer sold anywhere, I think your best bet would be eBay – it’s the only place I know where you can sometimes pick up sold-out shoes (if you’re lucky!).
Sorry if this sounds rude but what date was your last foreveramber post? On my computer it says July 2nd, but I think you may have written more since then. Your blogs have stopped updating for me before, so i know that it isn’t you! Thankyou.
Hi! Don’t worry, you don’t sound rude at all! July 2nd was the last post – I’ve actually decided to have a break from Forever Amber for a while, so your computer is right!
I got a pair of Steve Maddens.It is a size too big.The problem is, I live in Ghana, West Africa, and the shoes were bought in New York.Is getting a cobbler to resize them a good idea? I will send the link in another message. Thanks.
I couldn’t open the link, but I actually think your cobbler is the only person who could answer this in any case. A good cobbler can work wonders, though, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Good luck!
i really really really need to know what shoes jennifer aniston is wearing here!!! could you fin dout for me?
You can’t see them too well in this photo, but I think these are a pair of patent Azzedine Alaia sandals, which Jennifer wears fairly often – I’ve attached some photos of her wearing them at another event under the jump. Unfortunately, although I can tell you who made them, I’m afraid I can’t come to the rescue with a stockist, because these are a couple of seasons old now. If you’re looking for these exact shoes, I think your best bet would be eBay, but an alternative could be something like Lauren Jones’ ‘Franci’ sandals, which have a similar shape and colour, and are available at Endless.com:
Q: Where can I find a decently priced pair of red mary-jane type shoes? I live in Australia but am not adverse to online shopping. Also, I am not a fan of the platform or the super-high stiletto- probably why I am having such trouble finding these shoes!
I have to confess, I had a lot of problems with this myself, because I know next to nothing about Australian-based stores and websites, which is why I’m hoping some of my Aussie readers will come to my rescue here!
At the moment, the trend does tend to be for high platforms and heels, so Mary Janes without those are a little thin on the ground, too. I did manage to find these Carvela Mary Janes at ASOS.com, which ships to Australia: they’re down to £40, and most sizes still seem to be available. The heel is about 3.3″, which isn’t overly high, although obviously that’s a matter of opinion!
Another option I thought of was to try some of the US-based departments stores: I know both Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom ship internationally, although Neiman’s doesn’t tend to be exactly “reasonably priced” and Nordstrom isn’t carrying any red Mary Janes that fit the bill at the moment (or not that I found, anyway): it could be worth keeping an eye on the site, though.
Anyone else got any suggestions? Spotted any red Mary Janes, either in Australia, or available to ship there? Do tell…
