Black lace

A/W 08 has proved to be the most eclectic season in fashion for some time, with everything from muted, sophisticated credit-crunch inspired classics to hideous peg leg trousers gracing the catwalks.

But my favourite trend by far (and this will not surprise those that know me) is goth. Yes goth. But banish thoughts of patchouli stinking torn trousered emo types - this is a modern, grown up look with attitude.

Think leather, denim and (thank you Prada) lace in black, black and more black.

And the shoes are to die for. sky-high shoe boots, patent stilettos and open toes everywhere.

The ever reliable New Look have tapped straight into the goth look with these gorgeous black lace-look pointed toe platform stilettos. Bang on trend and only £25 - what's not to like?

Peacocks

I wonder if there'll ever be a time in my life when I stop getting such a kick out of buying cheap shoes? Considering my current financial situation it's doubtful I'll ever be in the position to find out.

On the way to the pool the other day I, out of curiosity more than anything else, wandered into Peacocks. I'm not averse to the sweatshop end of the high street (I love New Look shoes and Primark pants), but Peacocks has always seemed a bit, well, chavvy.

And from a clothes point of view I'm afraid I haven't changed my mind. (Does anybody really buy those bright pink velour hotpants?) But the shoe collection was a lot more interesting, and I picked up these (definitely not leather) sandals for £15.



OK so they are definitely not the most comfortable shoes I own, and they have a weird built up bit on the sole which doesn't extend to the toe and thus trips me up quite frequently, but on the whole a bit of a steal imho, and I practically skipped out of the (otherwise horrible) shop with them.

KG Hattie platforms

My new job definitely has its perks. The 50% discount, the sample sales, the ridiculous amount of holiday. But being paid to spend time 'researching' other fashion sites is the one I'm enjoying the most.

Recently I was asked to set up a new screen for part of the checkout process, and fortunately I remembered Kurt Geiger had a particularly neat example, which I'd come across almost buying a pair of sandals recently. I love the KG website. It looks classy, it's easy to use and it has one of the smoothest checkouts I've come across.



This seemed too good an opportunity to miss, and I bought myself these lovely brown suede platform Hattie slingbacks in the sale for £81.

If only I could claim them on expenses...

Peep toe townies

Generally I find M&S pretty disappointing in an all-talk-no-trousers kind of way, but I'm a sucker for their advertising. Not those massively irritating food pr0n ads, but the billboard and magazine campaign featuring Lily Cole and her enormous forehead. So I sometimes wander in just to make sure they still don't actually sell any of the clothes in the ads.

On the rare occasion they do have an item of clothing that actually catches my eye their sizing is so weird I've never found anything that fits. The trousers are too short, the skirts are too long and their tops are too dull to bother trying on.

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across these grey patent peep toes with pink heels in the Limited Collection range. They also come in purple or black, but only the grey comes with the contrasting heel. I can only suppose the M&S shoe designer was smoking something when they came up with these, but I love them!

They had the added bonus of costing only £19.50, w00t!

l'autre chose

Despite the minging weather I'm determined it's going to be spring any day now, so obviously I'm in need of some platforms for wearing with flippy skirts and tea dresses.

Fortunately the Yoox sale popped up at exactly the right moment, and I picked up these beauties for £39 (reduced from £76).

Yet another pair to consign to the 'completely impractical' pile - with 4" heels and a 1" platform I ain't going to be running any marathons in these, but goodness they're pretty :)

Stellas

Over the years Tom has proved himself master of presents, particularly of the shoe variety. Of particular note were the Irregular Choice hula wedges, and the beautiful pink Prada kitten heels. But this year he's outdone himself:



Mmm mmm *mmm* these are possibly the loveliest shoes I've ever seen. Stella McCartney satin platform pumps in fuchsia with a 4" heel and graduated platform.

Of course since they are all-over satin I will never be able to wear them outside, but frankly if you're wearing Stella McCartney shoes you shouldn't be walking anywhere anyway. Last night we went to the Dorchester for cocktails (changed shoes in the cab) and then on to Scott's in Mayfair, a mere 10 minute walk away but a matter of moments in another cab. And then another cab back to Hackney.

On an ongoing basis these may well prove to be the most expensive shoes of all time...

A scandal of shoes

What's the collective noun for black shoes? A 'scandal' perhaps. Certainly that's what my long-suffering husband might call it after I returned home yesterday with yet another pair to add to my collection.



I should add this is just the court shoes, obviously I have black boots, flats and sandals too.

What was clearly lacking from my collection however was this pair of snakeskin courts, £40 from Urban Outfitters. oooh sparkly :)



The cone heels and sparkly snakeskin effect make these completely different from the shoes I already own, a distinction which was perhaps too subtle for Tom. However I shall be tripping like a sparkly gothic princess to any Christmas dos that come my way this year, hoorah.

Pick-me-up heels

Continuing the theme of rather a lot of leg and some shoes somewhere in the picture, here are my new pick-me-up (not in the f*ck me sense please) gold heels from New Look.

I was in a very bad mood this afternoon, mostly a result of being back at work after a week's holiday, but also having been blown out by a mate who I had been looking forward to seeing.

So to cheer myself up I took myself down to the enormous and far too convenient for work New Look in Moorfields and picked up this pair of £25 lovelies. A fairly conservative heel for me, but I just love the dirty gold colour and the slightly retro feel.

hula girl

My husband is officially the nicest man in the whole world. He bought me these beautiful Irregular Choice Hula Girl shoes for our wedding anniversary next week, but wasn't sure I'd like them so he's given them to me early :)

Not only are they the prettiest summer shoes I've seen in a while, they also have this fantastic quote on the sole. Preserved here for prosterity as it will doubtless wear off the very first time I wear them outside.

"Summer may change for winter
Flowers may fade and die
But I shall ever love shoes
While I can heave a sigh"

This is part of Tom's mission to turn me into a 50s hula girl. Unfortunately for him that's unlikely to happen, but that's certainly not going to stop me wearing these wedges.

Rocket Dogs

I'm not very good at buying trainers. I don't really understand them. I get running shoes - I've got a pair of good ones and they're purely practical, I don't care what they look like - they support my feet and let them breathe when I run. But what's the point of trainers exactly? They're meant to be fashion items, but they frequently look hideous and they cost more than a good pair of proper shoes.

Which is why I'm rather surprised at my own late night drunken purchase from Schuh during a marathon Heroes session, these Rocket Dog Kings in a rather lovely shade of pink.



Cute. Who knows, perhaps it's the start of a beautiful friendship.

Style: 3 (a bit preppy for me perhaps)
Comfort: 4
Value: 4 (£25 from Schuh)

Brand new second hand

Vaguely browsing through Bang Bang in town on Saturday for a ball gown (long story) I came across these:



I've always been slightly uncomfortable with the concept of second hand shoes, but these are a perfect fit and in really good nick. They look as though they've never been worn outside. The signature red soles have some scuffs, but otherwise they are practically mint, inside and out.



Needless to say I overcame my scruples for a £120 pair of almost new Louboutins in the most perfect shade of orange.

I can only imagine there's a very sad story behind why someone had to give them up, but whoever you are, thank you!

Style: 5 (timeless shape, but what a colour)
Comfort: 4 (expensive shoes are more comfortable, live with it)
Value: not sure I can score this - they were excellent value for what they are, considering they'd cost around £460 new, but even I don't think £120 is good value for second hand shoes.

Irregular choice?

I have been the lucky recipient of not one but two late Christmas pressies of shoes in the past week :) The first are these stunning Irregular Choice cortesan ribbon flower courts from my lovely twin.



They're a deep red suede on gold, almost like the wallpaper in an Indian restaurant in the 80s, with a row of confetti-like flowers, ribbons and beads, and they've got the classic Irregular Choice toe shape.

The second are a fab 50s style polkadot pair from my brother and sister in law:



They came in an Irregular Choice box, and it's written on the insole, but I'm pretty certain they're not, mainly because they're not as detailed, and they aren't as well made. Also, having worn them twice they're already damaged:



I really like both pairs, and as long as they don't show too much more damage I expect I'll get more wear out of the fakes, as they're rain proof and not quite as high. Hooray for late Christmas pressies, just what I needed to brighten up my January!

Sticker fascist

Why do people leave the price stickers on the soles of their shoes? We can see them you know. What's the point of wearing a lovely pair of sexy black knee length boots if you're flashing white stickers everytime you lift your feet, girl I saw on the way into work this morning?

I have absolutely nothing against cheap shoes, in fact I love them. But I don't want them to look cheap. Take the labels off. Do it now. It gets harder the longer you leave them on.

Rookie error

I had a job interview last week, and as usual I spent an inordinate amount of time beforehand worrying about what to wear. I think this is probably a form of displacement to distract me from worrying about the actual interview, and it generally works surprisingly well.

The interview was for a web job in a public sector organisation, which is actually fairly easy to judge from a sartorial point of view - smart and understated, preferably black. I decided on my Hugo Boss petrol heels to perk up my otherwise sensible outfit.



These are classy shoes - the photo doesn't do the colour justice at all. They're an almost oily blue-green suede, with black heels and a pretty silver buckle detail. They're also cripplingly uncomfortable to wear, so I usually only wear them when I know I'm not going to be walking far or standing for long periods. Unfortunately I rather misjudged the amount of walking I'd be doing. When I arrived at the tube nearest the assessment centre it was pouring with rain, so I had to dash to find somewhere to tidy myself up before running down a seemingly endless road to find the centre (thus undoing the tidying up and potentially destroying the shoes in the rain).

I was left alone for an hour to do the written test part of the assessment towards the end of the day, and I kicked my shoes off under the desk and forgot about them. So when the assessor came back to tell me the time was up I had to rather sheepishly fish around under the desk to retrieve them, while she stood there in silence. Awkward.

Although parts of the day went well I suspect I'm not going to get the job for various reasons. Certainly if it were awarded on the basis of ability to select appropriate footwear I wouldn't have a hope.

Style: 5 (classic, classy and just a tiny bit naughty)
Comfort: 1 (the t-bar cuts into my toes and the toe pinches - ok I admit it, they're a bit too small)
Value: 3 (£75 in the Hugo Boss sale last year)

The mighty boosh

My sale purchases from asos turned up last night.



A bargain at £15, and having worn them all day today, pretty comfortable too.

But are they boots or are they shoes? Asos describe them, unimaginatively, as shoe boots. Please! Surely shoots. Or Booshes. Actually I reckon there simply isn't enough of them to describe as boots at all, but whatever they are I like 'em a lot and intend to wear them into the ground over the next couple of months.

Shoes or boots? You decide.

Comfort factor: 4
Value: 5 - £15! I love asos!
Style: 5 - check out the red soles! They're like a cross between the Louboutin and Stellas I've been drooling over

Size matters

So here's the thing. Don't tell anyone, but I think my feet are getting bigger as I get older. It's not quite so shameful an admission as drooping boobs, facial hair or grey pubes, but it does rate quite highly in the reasons why getting old sucks list I'm gradually compiling as I potter through my thirties.

I'm not blest with the daintiest of feet in the first place, having been, for most of my adult life, a UK size 6 (39 / US 7). Over the last few years I've started buying summer shoes in a 6.5, because they're a hell of a lot more comfortable for hot swollen feet. But I've suddenly realised that on the whole I haven't gone back to buying 6s, even now, in January.

Worse, the last pair of boots I bought - these soft grey suede calf length beauties from Fly from Harvey Nicks in Edinburgh - were a size 7, and they fit well, even without thick socks! (Which is presumably how one would wear everything in Edinburgh in January.)



I'm certainly not proud, and I'm not going to force my size 7s into shoes a whole size too small for them, at least not to wear for any length of time or if I have to walk anywhere. But this will leave me with a wardrobe full of well-loved shoes I can no longer wear.

Perhaps if I got rid of several of my longer toes...

Comfort: 4 - deceptively high
Value: 3 - £70 in the sale
Style factor: 4 - grey and fairly platformy, really rather now. Or last season according to Harvey Nicks.

all time favourites

These beauties from Irregular Choice have been hogging the top spot as my all time favourite shoes since I bought them last year.



First time I wore these shoes someone asked if they were Vivienne Westwood. Sadly not, but they could be. They're high as hell, but remarkably comfy, I think because of the peculiarly shaped toe. I wore them to a Basement Jaxx gig in the summer and danced like a loon for hours without crippling myself.

I love the way Irregular Choice shoes are so beautifully detailed, from the pattern on the soles (which inevitably wears off the first time you wear them) to the detailing inside.

I bought them in the Schuh shop on ebay for around £50.



mm mm mmm.

Comfort factor: 5
Value: 4
Style factor: 5