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 :)

all saints

Despite the fact I haven't posted in coming up for two months I've bought a whole heap of shoes in the meantime, some of which I will no doubt write about at some point. But without a doubt these Scrunch Boots from All Saints are top of the pile.



With killer 4.5" heels, round toes, black leather and soft slouchy cuff they look like something from the Vivienne Westwood AW 07/08, so they almost felt like a bargain at £115.

OK so these are not a pair of boots to wear to the office, or in fact to anywhere that involves any amount of walking. They've even got leather soles to help me slip over on carpets too. But the shape from the back of the ankle to the toe is so perfect it makes me smile every time I look at it.



Damn I love these boots.

Pierce my heart

I have a real talent for impractical shoes. Whilst in rainy Manchester this weekend visiting the goth-in-laws I mistakenly wore suede ankle boots which were quickly soaked through and ruined.

Fortunately I remembered the Office card a friend had kindly given me for my birthday, and decided to replace them. I've had a look around Office a few times but not found anything particularly exciting. But this was an emergency, and perhaps the influence of the goths had rubbed off a bit as I completely fell in love with these Pierce My Heart black leather shoe boots.



The leather is beautifully soft and the straps have a cute little button detail, but the real clinchers are the peep-toes and 4.5" heels.

Yes, peep-toes. I bought boots with peep-toes to replace boots that had been soaked in the RAIN. doh!

Nonetheless they are fantastic boots and I look forward to wearing them when it's dry. Or inside. Full price £65 from Office, I got them for £5 with a gift card - an absolute bargain :)

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.