Miista: cheaper with a tweet

I love shoes. And I love a shoe bargain. So when I read about Miista's Cheaper with a Tweet campaign, it sounded too good to be true. I'd never heard of Miista before this campaign - you can read about them here. They have a slightly Jeffrey Campbell-esque vibe to them: tough styling (buckles, zips, hardware, chunky heels, dark colours) and very 'blogger'.

Cheaper with a Tweet kind of did what it said on the tin: you tweeted about one of their shoes and that shoe came down in price. By how much depended on your Klout score (though goodness knows those things seem to fluctuate willy nilly for no discernible reason). So, in theory, the more socially influential you are, the more you have the ability to lower the price by. The more people that tweet about a style, the cheaper it gradually gets and you can jump in and buy at any point. So far, so social media friendly and story worthy and I've seen it talked about on loads of sites in the last few days.

It all begins to get a wee bit lengthy here:

Initially, as I touched upon, I thought that the premise might be too good to be true. Turns out it wasn't and I got their £175 Andee boot for a quid. Yup, £1. One pound. Including delivery. I fully expected them not to turn up or for the sale to be cancelled but the boots arrived today! Here they are on some fake grass. Why? Why not people, why not?

I'm dead excited it worked so well for me, the boots look good, feel quality and, added bonus, they fit too!

But how did the campaign work? I'd have though something with such a great hook would go viral very quickly (especially on Twitter) and that the shoes would all be slashed in price and snapped up! But, five days after I ordered there are still shoes sitting there, some with barely any tweets against them, which suggests the Twitter response maybe wasn't as hoped. That could be lack of brand recognition or maybe the tweets didn't clearly enough outline the idea. That said, the fact that loads of sites picked up the story and the fact that I'm sitting writing about it now suggests it has value as a story. Though that may be down to the fact that I follow a bunch of folk who report on stuff like this, increasing the likelihood of me hearing about it, in comparison to your average Twitter user and fashion lover. I'd be curious to hear what you think!

It looks like Miista are planning to utilise the Blogosphere going forward which feels like a pretty nice move. This came in my shoe box.

I might give it a bash...you've got til the 13th to bag your bargain.

The Cambridge Satchel: a British classic in PINK

When I think of classic British brands and heritage, folk like Clarks Originals, Dr Martens, Burberry etc spring to mind. Another name I'd definitely pop in there is the Cambridge Satchel Company: purveyors of gorgeous quality leather satchels. I've always kept an eye out for a classic satchel but, being a bit cheap (me), I'd never properly checked out Cambridge, assuming they'd be beyond my budget and that, for the cost of the bag, I probably could have bought a cheaper bag PLUS a pair of shoes. And we all know how I feel about shoes. Plus, I'm just not a bag girl. I appreciate a beautiful leather bag and the classicism and timelessness of, say, a Mulberry Alexa or a Chanel 2.55 but, if it ever came down to it, I know shoes and clothes would win over a bag almost every time. However, today I was in Urban Outfitters and look what I found:

A bright pink Cambridge Satchel! Yes, I'm one of those fools who prefers something erring on the side of ridiculous - that likely goes with not much - to a classic tan or black that will last forever and go with everything. So, this little piece of eye popping neon-ness grabbed my attention right away! Attention grabbed, I set about checking out the bright pink bag that stole my attention from everything around it (including the knitted tiger print skirt), discovered it was a Cambridge then found it was just £40! For being as awesome as it is (I mean this leather is thicker than the entire cast of TOWIE and pinker than all their blusher combined), that is a BARGAIN. Seriously, I expect to have this bag forever and to, eventually, pass it to a deserving  niece or something when I die. To quantify the bargainicity, I would like to share the following info: the bag was £105 full price AND I went into Harvey Nics later on (to perv on designer shoes) and they had a smaller version of it for £115! Shame on you and your overly moneyed customers Harvey Nics. Anyway, in case you're more of a bag than a shoe perv, here are some more pics for you to get your jollies to. Night!

The bargain boots come out to play!

The bargain boots of a coupla posts ago (£20 down from £215 in Urban Outfitters - I never get fed up saying it), came out with me to see Harry Potter last week. They were very excited. Especially as I had a coupon thing for the posh seats at an Edinburgh cinema and you get a big squishy leather couch and foot stools! Amazing! So comfy, I actually took the boots off for the film.

Shirt and dress: H&M, boots: Urban Outfitters, Hairband: San Francisco (yup, I bought it from the WHOLE city), necklace: Lady Luck Rules OK.

In spite of how it appears, I'm not actually asleep. Although it was a late one the night before after hours of sunshine drinking so I was very sleepy. However, I stayed awake all the way through Haz-Po (as I see Heat Magazine are calling Harry Potter. Don't judge me - sometimes I treat myself to Heat when I'm travelling.) and I enjoyed it very much, though it was less emotionally wrenching than the previous film. It was also better than Bridesmaids which I saw last week too - has anyone else seen it and can't figure out what the fuss is about? They drop the 'c' bomb and some chick shits in the road so all of a sudden it isn't a cliched chick flick? At this point I'd like to say that I usually LOVE a cliched chick flick but this just didn't do it for me.

 

Back to the boots, pair number 65 in the shoe wearing challenge, which have since been to work with me too so they're down to a tenner a wear so far. Not too shabby. Sometimes cost per wear really does make sense. For example, I have a Warehouse leopard cardi that cost about £45 - waaaay more than I'd normally pay for a cardigan but I loved it so much I treated myself and it's now so worn it's getting tatty and has holey armpits but, lordy, have I had good cost per wear usage so far! Anyway, I feel these boots are definitely going to work out to be a winner in the fash maths stakes!

That's all for this evening folks!

Bargain booty!

This weekend, some good stuff happened. It was my lovely pal Ali's birthday party. That was good. The next day, I got my arse out of bed and went out on my bike and surprised myself mightily by cycling about 23 miles to North Berwick! I'm doing a 52ish mile sponsored ride in September so I need to get my training on. Here are my handle bars arriving there. It was such a gorgeous day for being out and about!

The next good thing that happened was that I got an IMMENSE bargain. Major. These boots from Urban Outfitters:

S'cuse the fuzzy iPhone photos. As it's been a wee while since I posted I was keen to get these babies up pronto! Observe le £215 price tag:

I picked them up, tried them (teeny bit big but, being boots, they stay on anyway and I can bulk 'em out with socks) and figured 40 quid down from £215 wasn't bad. Especially given that they are the softest, loveliest leather, leather lined and leather soled - pure posh, ken? But, I got to the cash desk and...

...they were only 20 quid! Down from £215. That's nearly 91% off! I walked out of the shop stunned (after buying them obvs). And I know you might not believe it given the size of my shoe wardrobe but I don't actually have a pair of black leather boots! Talk about a gap in the market! Or my shoe wardrobe - whatever.

Lovely leather soles

And, as black boots go, they're pretty frickin' perfect. They're high enough to be awesome but with a thick enough platform to be comfy. They have definite fierce 80s style connotations - have you clocked that massive sturdy elasticated gusset (ps - if you aren't tittering at 'gusset' just now, we can't be friends. Sorry.)? - and will be awesome with big jumper dresses and tights/leggings when it's cold but not icy. They have a chunk-a-mondo heel and the toe is a pointy-but-not-too-pointy almond shape. I loves them.

They're by a brand called either d.co or dico Copenhagen (depending what bit of their website you believe.). Ker-ching!

Dirty Old Boot

No, in spite of what you might have heard, I am not a dirty old boot. But my boots are dirty old boots. They're schuh ones that I got for about £13 in the sale last year. Bargain! They're really soft leather and they're leather lined so I was pleased to bag such a good deal. But, yes they're kind of on the battered side (and the lining's a little loose inside one foot which, at the most inopportune moments, emits a creaky farting noise)...

They look almost forlorn here! They got worn so much last winter due to my distinct lack of 'sensible' footwear and a trip to the local farmer's market was really their undoing. The snow was almost as deep as they are high (in the city centre!) and, on account of said snow, half the stall holders couldn't even get in to the darn market! So there I was trudging about in the slush in my barely suitable footwear and, so cold and rank was the weather, I had to nip into Poundstrecher for some replacement socks cos mine were soaked through. Anyway, the result was the salty tide marks you can see right around the upper and, try as I might, I can't get rid of them. And I'm something of a shoe expert. Well, I am!

So really the shoes are in need of some TLC before they're properly subjected to the weather again this year. They could do with re-heeling before the wooden heel unit goes all soft and soggy, and a bit of rebonding around the featherline (see - EXPERT!) and I'll probably give them a wee coat of dubbin or protector spray to be on the safe side. I know I won't get anything I like as much as cheap as I got these and it's good to take care of things, innit? They might not be the prettiest boots ever but they're comfy and I do love 'em.

Which is why I chose them to wear through to Glasgow yesterday. Mr Scribbler decided he fancied a day in the Weej so we set off for as cheap a day as possible (payday is next week!). Here's what else I wore ('scuse the bizarre look. I only had time to snap one pic before I went out so it's just going to have to make do!)

Dress: Trollied Dolly (worn lots - see here, here or here for the incriminating evidence!)

Denim shirt and jacket: H&M

What you can't tell is that my artfully arranged fringe is covering a spot big enough to have me paying fares for two on the bus. NO Kidding! Thankfully today it's beating a slow retreat back from whence it came. Dirty Bugger.

Anyway, the day of cheapness went very well. Remembering I still had various gift card/vouchers knocking about, I bagged a bag (fnar!) from Accessorize and a pair of socks and a dress from Urban Outfitters all without shelling out a penny. Yay! Ordinarily I'd never pay that much for socks and I think a lot of what Urban Outfitters sell is overpriced but it's not so bad when it's free! And the second dress was an exchange for one I hadn't been able to wear yet as it had a bust zip (thank you for your suggestions on fixing it - I tried lipbalm, a lead pencil and candlewax to no avail. It was just completely busted!) so that kinda felt free. Add to this our Tesco restaurant vouchers which got us a nearly free lunch at Pizza Express, it was an all round bargainous day!

Anyway, I'm off to stare at the rain outside.

Donchoo step on my white leather shoes

I have a question when it comes to these Irregular Choice shoes. Has anyone ever seen Carrie wear them on Sex and the City? And, if so, what episode? Because a rumour did the rounds about 6 years ago that they were in there somewhere and, through all my viewings, I've never once spied them. Which would seem to point to the rumour being a bit of an urban myth. You gotta love a good urban myth though, really. Especially ones that 'definitely happened to her friend so and so!'

 

And right about now, I guess the Elvis-tastic post title's making sense, right? It's like a shoe tribute to the big man himself. Or his jazzy jumpsuit at least. I think they were called Elvis but I can't be sure. Let's face it, my 'facts' thus far, when it come to these shoes, are questionable at best. Facts apart, I totally fell for these shoes and, flying in the face of all that is good and safe, I bought them off eBay from a girl selling another pair. She was a doll and tracked down my size, I paid, she sent them, she didn't have to pay eBay fees and we all lived happily ever after!

 

Anyway, let's get down to the business of discussing the immense awesomeness of the shoes:

Dude, they're white leather and yet nothing about them says 'cheap' or 'hooker'

Dude, they're bejazzled and covered in rhinestones and yet nothing about them says 'cheap' or 'hooker'

They have a cutesy round toe

Dude, they have AWESOME metallic blue shiny lining (you can just see it peeking out above, like a secret lover from a marital wardrobe) and yet nothing about them says 'cheap' or 'hooker'

They have a high but walkable in heel - sometimes sensibility is a consideration!

And with all the bejewelled excitement, what was I possibly going to wear with these striking items of footwear fantabulousness?! Ah, wella, wella, wella huh! A bunch of stars, that's what! Do you think I've slightly dropped the demented red eye factor in this pic but slightly added a bit of a freaky waxwork factor?

 

Shoes - Irregular Choice, you guessed it, circa ages ago!

Leggings (worth a mention for a change since they're not plain black) - Uniqlo (get a piece of them here for £6.99 - bargain!)

Dress and Cardi - Primark

 

Tee - Primark

Necklace - I think from Exile (chav designer place with the odd decent buy) in Edinburgh. Hail Mary for kitschy gifts from friends! (Apologies to anyone this offends. Lighten up though, eh?)

 

Let's finish up with an artsy shot then I'm off to repent and have a bath. (Genuinely, I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. I don't even know if it's supposed to be Mary even. Can you tell I've been burned on this front recently?! Sometimes I just don't learn though...)

Dirrrrrrty Dozen

So, my bad. I haven't updated this in, literally, days! How have you coped? Are you still there? Who knows? Who cares? I do, of course, you dozy mares!!

Shoes # 12 are from schuh and by Irregular Choice (check the no nonsense, straight back to business approach there). Nom, nom. They are from way back in around 2004 and from one of schuh's first ever Irregular Choice ranges - back when they were a little known quirky brand and not the behemoth of embellished bedazzlement they have become. In fact, give it a few years and these babies'll qualify as vintage. Yeah, you better believe it. I have solid gold brewing right here in my shoe closet.



So, the particulars: they're white leather (sometimes class, sometimes trash), flats (that pretty much boots them into class. Trash is the white stiletto worn incorrectly. Or wielded. When I lived in t'Boro some chick actually killed someone with a stiletto. Sho nuff. That shit was ghetto) with the old skool, occasionally reintroduced, Irregular Choice bum-toe. I think they call it a heart toe but I heard it called a bum toe in the early days and it's stuck. As well as the lovely bum toe, the shoes have a purdy studded flower on the vamp (tecchie terms beatches) which I do enjoy. Observe, if you will:



The shoes are worn with my little cream floral Primark dress. You'll see that on here heaps because it's cute and it's awesome for bloated days - everything just hides neatly away underneath it. I also have on my grey H&M cardi and a black and gold zebra scarf (it was a wee bit chilly and I was still chasing off the last of that cold. It was a gift so I'm not sure where it's from. It could be tacky but it's so right and you know my feelings on anything from the shiny family. Foxy printed leggings are by Uniqlo and it's all topped off with a little leopard bow in the hair. Lord, I love the mixed and mashed prints - lace, floral, leopard and zebra - you know it works!