Sunday 7 – Shoes for Spring and beyond!

Hello,

And welcome back to a Sunday 7 after a little interruption to last week’s service in the form of my first ‘lurgy’ since last summer (so I shouldn’t complain too much!) as well as the fact that it was my wedding anniversary.

13 years!

Anyway – last weeks draft blog post is yet another which will never see the light of day: I’m fickle and I move on verrry quickly with my ‘fancies’ from week to week!

Next week’s warmer, sunnier weather forecast has got me hot under the collar at the prospect of being able to bare my ankles… hell, perhaps there’s even hope for my toes seeing the light of day one day soon as well?

So, I’m looking at summer footwear this week: trainers, sandals, slides, drilles…

{God knows I love winter fashions, but even I’m sick of wearing boots!}

7. Office – Converse All Star Hi Red Canvas (£52.99)

I haven’t had any Converse Hi’s since my uni days – they were my sneak of choice back then.

And although I had a couple of pairs, I didn’t save ‘one’ particular pair as being the ones I’d wear for my bar job at the pub on campus.

So pretty much *all* 3 pairs were wrecked from getting beer spilt on them as I emptied drip trays and the like.

GROSS!

{I’ve grown up since then!!}

What I love about this style is that they never date (classics!) and can be worn with pretty much everything: shorts, skirts (midi or denim minis), dresses (again all lengths) and of course they can bring a street style edge to smarter, tailored trousers though nothing beats a blue jeans & cons combo.

The biggest problem with Converse is, which colour to choose… because there is a *a lot* of choice.

Over the years, the on-going damage to my knee (caused by an injury whilst I was at Uni) has meant that I find converse too heavy to wear nowadays.

But I really, really love them.

Wondering if it’s worth taking a punt on them  again after all these years?

6.  HOF – Warehouse Contrast Toe Post Sandal (£26)

I love this style of sandal – a toe-post stops your foot sliding out the front of the sandal.

For just £26, and apparently leather too… I think these could be worth every penny… I once had a similar pair (from Toppers) which I wore to an absolute, holey-soled-death… but across 5 summers: pretty good going?!

The mix of leopard print and black give them a great deal of versatility.

Though my personal preference would have been a mix of leo & gold!

#fussy

5. Very – Toms Alpargata Espadrille – Dark Grey (£40)

Every single summer… without fail… I have meant to buy myself a pair of Toms.

I know they’re not everyone’s cuppa… kinda beachy-surfy-slobby… but I love them.

Toms also have their “one for one” pledge, where for every pair of Toms bought, a pair of shoes is given to the most poverty stricken children around the world.

75 million odd shoes donated to date.

So, if you’re after feel good shoes: you can’t get better than that, really, can you?

4. Zara – Leather Buckle Sandals (£17.99)

I bought these the other day – a bit of an impulse buy to be honest.

They are a good price, they fit nicely and the buckle doesn’t seem to imprint or press into your foot, so from just wearing around the house, I’d say they’re pretty comfy.

I used to love my single strap Madrid Birkenstocks, which I bought over and over for many years… always in white.

However, something about being pregnant, and post pregnancy… I haven’t been able to wear Birkenstocks without them hurting the arch of my foot.

So these Zara cheapies are a close second.

Though if you’ve read  Susie So So’s latest Friday Five Blogpost (a firm favourite of mine!), you’ll have seen that the new Birkenstock Madrid’s have a lovely big buckle: I inwardly wept slightly when I read about them… they’re gorge but sadly no longer the slides for my feet.

{insert tiny violins here}

3. Gandys – Pink Butterfly Metallic Flip-Flops (£24)

How pretty??

And yet more feel good shoes: Gandys is a family run business, set up by two brothers after they were orphaned by the Tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2004.  They are the middle two of 6 siblings… I think?  The eldest two were in the UK, but the brothers and their younger two siblings were with their parents when tragedy struck…

They set up their business with an ‘Orphans for Orphans’ foundation fundraising element at the heart of  it.

Mr T & I met the Forkan brothers who founded Gandys – whilst we were on a kid-free night out, in our old stomping ground (Clapham Junction,) last year.

We ended up chatting with them for a fair few hours and were both in awe of what the brothers have achieved.

You can read more about their journey should you be interested – and I’d strongly recommend doing so, it’s both heartbreaking but truly inspiring as well.

Or, instead of buying a pair of (a dime a dozen) Havianas this year, why not buy some feel good flip-flops?

For every pair sold, donations are made to the Orphans for Orphans foundation.

Again, there’s quite a lot of colour/print choice… but you guys know I’m a magpie, and these metallic pink butterfly flops have my name on them.

2. Veja Store – Wata Tent Pierre (€80)

So those of you who’ve been following me on Instagram and /or on here for a while now, will know… Veja are somewhat an obsession of mine.

Much as I’d like to think it was me who started the Veja revolution against the tide of mega brands (whether Stan Smiths or Gazelles or Converse….) the reality is I happened to buy my first pair of Veja’s a teeny-tiny-fraction *before* their cusp of exploding all over Instagram and magazines.

{it was because of *me* though, wasn’t it? Ha! if only!}

Anyway, my favourite style are the lower cut, less chunky Esplar/Wata styles.

“Wata” is Japanese for cotton apparently – so you guessed it: these are canvas sneaks.

My black and white ones have proven to owe me not a single penny in a cost per wear calculation.

I love them.

And I now need this sludge khaki coloured pair in my life.

I mean, how cool?

And yet again… yet another feel good-shoe.

If you’d like to read more about Veja’s eco-credentials, I blogged about them in a Feel Good Feet post last year.

1. Vionics – Adeline Backless Loafer (£85)

Vionic Shoes have been popping up all over Instagram, different styles being gifted to various people (whether bloggers or not).

I too have been gifted a pair and chose these classic and chic Caramel Backless Adeline Loafers (limited sizes remaining in caramel, more sizes available in Black and Navy) .

The loafers – which, after a couple of weeks of admin mishaps – finally arrived on Friday and went straight on my feet!

From the above (web) photo you should *just* about be able to see the quilted inner sole… and oh my goodness! Believe the comfort hype, it’s all true!

I wore them around the house as soon as they arrived on Friday and then again yesterday afternoon for a little stroll into town.

The only photo I have is this iPhone selfie:

Not the clearest pic, but I have no doubt I will be wearing these *a lot* over the coming weeks, so plenty more photo ops.

I now have my eye on the Maris Espadrilles (£90) which were actually my first choice, but unfortunately sold out in Black in my size.

That said, having tried a pair of Vionics, with their Elevated Support Technology – I’m pretty certain that the Maris are the ‘drilles for me!

And it seems, Vionics are good enough for Oscar Winning Rachel Shelton:

So… I reckon they’re good enough for me.

And you!

{Factoid: my lovely Insta-pal Donna (Sulky Doll Styling) recently flew out to LA & styled Rachel for the Oscars – and of course Rachel’s movie, The Silent Child only went and won an Oscar! How *very* cool is that?!  So proud of Donna – what an achievement. Donna works tirelessly, and deserves all the success!} 

So those are my main picks this week: what do you think?

But you know what’s coming next… yup:

Stinker of the Week: Zara Strappy Sandals with Metal Details (£39.99)

A perfectly, pretty pair of black sandals, right?

I mean, how lovely do they look, on the model?

Alas, I can only imagine how painful those metal beads must be… the indentations from the beads.

All I see are sandals which have been designed with the torture of feet, in mind.

To that end… it’s a no from me.

And finally…

Wildcard of the Week: Urban Outfitter Texas Embroidered Western Boots (£110)

I know you all know how much I love a cowboy boot.

But would I be brave enough to wear such heavily embroidered ones?

I love boots – even in summer – even though right at the beginning of this post, I said I was sick of wearing them.

#contradiction

But… a good summer boot can’t be knocked!

Look 1 – The Dress Look:

I love the thought of these cowboy boots with a simple black dress. Something like this New Look Button Front Tea Dress (£19.99 – also available in Petite though I’d go for a regular range one, just for that extra length).  I’d keep the rest of this look simple with a Topshop Benny String Shopper (£22) some black Extreme Cat Eye Sunnies (£14 – Urban Outfitters), and maybe a Denim Jacket.  You can’t beat a Levi’s Original Trucker Jacket (£85 – HOF).

Look 2 – The Denim Skirt Look:

I’ve stopped short at picking out denim shorts…. not sure how many of us 40 somethings feel comfortable going for a Daisy Duke vibe anywhere other than in the privacy of our home or anonymously on holiday.  So how about a denim skirt instead? And not too short a skirt… something like this Mango Slit Denim Skirt (£35.99) which you could wear with a tee, or a front knotted shirt… or, a hoodie even?  Something like one of these Hari and the Gang Wknd Hoodies (£35) and a cross body ASOS Southbeach Round Straw Bag (£25).  I know this is probably quite a ‘young’ look for some, but I’d still wear it.

Look 3 – The Wide Pant Look:

You could go for full length trousers and have a smidge of boot-toe peeping out, but I prefer a wide leg crop most of the time.  Something like these Topshop Cropped Wide Leg Jeans (£40) with a bright Zara Ribbed Polo Shirt (£29) would look pretty cool together.  You could go for a denim jacket again, or a longer line trench coat, or… I’m rather taken with this oversized Zara Flowing Bomber (£25.99).  I’d tie the white of my boots into the white of my sunnies: these UO Heart Sunglasses (£14.99) are a bit of fun, right?  And of course, because I can’t get enough of them… another basket bag! Love this Zara Wicket Basket Bag (£29.99).

And that’s it for tonight.

So what do you think of the cowboy boots? Would you wear them?

So relieved school is back on tomorrow: this has been the worst holiday – ever – for trying to get the boys out of the house.

The Great British Weather has  A LOT to answer for… even football / tennis clubs were cancelled so there was waaaaaay more iPad time than I would have liked, but… I guess you’ve gotta pick your battles, and frankly this holiday is the first time ever I opted for an ‘easy’ life with lots of tech-time.

Though to be frank… even *that* didn’t make things easier.

Roll on that sunshine!

Thanks for reading.

Bx

*please note: there are a few affiliate links in this blog post. If you don’t know what that means, you can find out more in this blogpost from last year.