Sunday shoe porn: somebody stop me!

This week, the shoe porn is all mine. Even by Llara standards, I've gone a bit shoe crazy in the last month or so. I've been too busy to blog them as they came into my life so I thought I'd round them up today. Ah, today. I'd describe what I've been up to today as "hunkering down". The forecasted "storm force" winds and driving rain landed in Edinburgh and it's been every bit as rough as predicted. So I cancelled thoughts of leaving the house and battened down the hatches. Quite literally in some areas - I have tissue paper stuffed around a point where a wire comes in through our window to hold back the leakage that happens when the rain pours!

And, so to the shoes. Last week, I showcased my beautiful Nicholas Kirkwood shoes. This week, all 6 pairs (yes, that does mean I've bought at least 7 pairs of shoes in the last month-ish. Some would be a bit disgusted by that. To them I say "bite me") combined cost less than that one pair so we're truly at the other end of the spectrum. And to really kick things off super bargain style, I picked up these shoes along with my grocery shop a few weeks ago at Asda.

I've always suspected that I was somewhat lacking on the snakeskin shoe front. That said, snakeskin shoes can often look really quite skankalicious and it's hard to find a nice pair that don't put me in mind of buckets of fake tan, too-tight shiny dresses and tranny style lip liner. However, the sweet almond shaped toe and mid heel on this pair struck just the right note for me: demure rather than manure, if you will. So in they went to my trolley. Want to know the best bit? They were £2 in the sale. That's a quid per shoe. 20p each per toe coverage. Insane. I can't walk away from a bargain that hefty. Powerless. So now they're mine.

Next up are these H&M stilettos. I've really gotten back into my stilettos again lately (and this time around, I will NOT sell them all on eBay! I will remember that fashion is cyclical and so is my taste and keep them for the future) and, once again had a sneaking suspicion. Which was that I likely needed a nice basic multicoloured glitter pair in my arsenal. So, imagine my joy when I stumbled across this twinkly pair for a tenner in the H&M sale. Woop! And I had a gift card - so, in fash-math terms, that means FREE.
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Next up, we have the most expensive purchase. My insane, sort-of-wedge-but-heel-less neon shatter boots from American site Nasty Gal. I saw a blogger wearing them some time ago. I can't remember where sadly. I'm sure I made some of sort of noise along the lines of "gnuarghhhhIHaveToHaveThem" when I first clapped eyes on them. Sadly, said blogger hadn't linked to them and could I find them anywhere? Could I buggery. But sometimes fortune smiles upon us. One of my colleagues was about to buy some shocking pink spiky efforts from Nasty Gal and asked if anyone else wanted to order anything and split the postage. Oh, and their shoes all had 25% off too. Donkey. Stick. Carrot. Other figures of speech that imply the ease with which I was reeled in. So, off I went, browsey, browse when: what should I stumble upon? Only the EPIC neon heel-less shoe boots that I'd seen on the blogger! I couldn't bloody believe it. And so, I was IN on the Nasty Gal spree! And on the off-chance that they're just SO your bag too, you can get them here. They don't call Little Scribbler helpful for nothing...

And so back to British shores. These shoes are from New Look. I'd admired them a few times but hadn't actually got as far as even trying them on. A plain black peep toe upper isn't really me (see the shoes above) but the watercolour-esque platform and heel caught me and I LOVE the shape of the heel - quite slim from the back but really wide from the side. It's got such a grace to its chunkiness which made me swoon every time I saw them. And, earlier this week I was in a New Look and they were down to £11 in the sale so it was rude not to at least try them. And they fit perfectly and looked awesome on. Done deal.

Next up, good old Topshop. Their shoes, by high street standards always feel at the upper end of the cost scale. That said, often they have really original stuff and you can see why they're pricier. I'd been eyeing up these stilettos for a good while but kept telling myself I didn't need them. I also kept not having £65 going spare so, really the conundrum "to buy or not to buy" was squashed right there. BUT (and spy a theme emerging here), they went in the SALE. Yay for sales! I was in my local store a few weeks ago and they'd gone down to £30. And then the ever so nice dude in the shop inexplicably gave me student discount too. I must have a studenty air about me. So I bagged them for £26, which I am most pleased about. The leather's so soft and glitter's so sparkly in such an understated way: it'll look a bit nothing-y, then the light hits and it twinkles like the night sky. Look at it twinkling away down there:

Lastly - yes, you're nearly at the end of this rambling and slightly obsessive collection of what now appear to be short stories. I thought the whole thing was going to be one short story. But no. I chattered on, as is my wont. Still, if you've made it this far, maybe you're enjoying the ramblings. And maybe, just maybe, you'll enjoy these shoes. I first clapped eyes on them in plain black in Urban Outfitters down in London. I tried them on but told myself to behave and that I didn't need spiked lace up creeper/flatform soled ankle boots. And I probably don't. But, I was online a week or so back and Urban Outfitters were doing 50% off their sale. Basically it was "please buy our dregs before the real winter sale starts". So it seemed rude not to take a look. Urban Outfitters' sale can be a magical thing. I got my neon pink Cambridge satchel from them last year for about £40 (they were still selling in Harvey Nichols for over £100 at the time) and one of my favourite pairs of ankle boots came from there for £20, down from £220. Yes you read that correctly - £20, down from £220. Insane. This time, I got a bra, a bumbag (no really. And, yes it will be up here at some point) and a hip flask. And these! £10, down from £55. That's 81.81% recurring, off, fash-mathletes! And they have leopard print on them! What in life is not improved with a splash of leopardy goodness? And, on that note, feel free to go forth and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Have a fabulous Chrimbo when it arrives!

Sunday shoe porn: embellishment

Sunday. A day of rest. And of shoe ogling. So sit back, relax, have a cup of tea (or a gin) and let your eyes enjoy this shit. It's all designer and unlikely to be in my life any time soon...

Alexander McQueen. Sigh. And for £700 and something for actual McQueen, not just McQ, it's really not bad. Here's the thing though - I like the shoe shape: classic peep toe with a chunky heel. Very practical. And I L-O-V-E the skull! But, I'm not wild on the colour and a really quite hate the little flower things. Here's the skull...

It is good.

And, on the topic of heads on toes - so macabre. Or religious in a kiss-my-feet sort of way - here's a leopard's head on the toe of a pair of Charlotte Olympias. The rules of my religion dictate that I must love a leopard/Charlotte combo. And if I was gifted these, I'd definitely wear them. Grr.

Do you know what I'd wear even more though? These Christian Louboutin stilettos. Red upper, soles and spikes? It's like blood and lipstick and fiery passion! I love a spike but I am a little tired of seeing them on everything. So this twist of having the spikes the same colour as the background gives me a reason to feel it again. And feel it, I do!

Speaking of which...
Killer. Just killer. That is all. 

Vintage and Spikes and all things nice.

If you've stuck with my blog for a wee while, you might remember this vintage Frank Usher dress which I purchased for a teeny weeny 3 quid at a flea market.

Now, there were a couple of bummers with the dress: one was the length - too short to be maxi on 5"7 me (even in flats) but too short to be midi - the other was the weird high neck that crept up in such a fashion that I was afraid it would eat my face and I'd just be a body in a dress. I'll be honest, the gloriously Morticia-tastic sleeves (which split across the top and drape down the front and back of the arm) were a bit much for me too. So I bunged it on Dotty-Fionnula (my mannequin. Birthday gift - thanks mum!) and got to work.I needed a dress for work's Xmas party and fearing a High St "your dress is lovely, it looks familiar, oh that's cos I'm wearing it too" scenario, I figure vintage for a safe bet!

See how it hangs way above the floor? DF is about an inch taller than me. She's less concerned with the face covering potential of the dress. However, by this point, I'd trimmed down the crazy neckline and folded it in on itself. I'd also decided that I wanted to go spiky! So I got this in theTopshop sale for about £3-4:

And picked off the spikes:

Shit Topshop quality meant that, with a quick snip of the thread, they glue came away and they pulled off easily! First time their poor quality has paid off for me! The next thing on my shopping list was a set of shoulder pads which were a coupla quid in John Lewis (note how my dress is now close to tripling in cost!):

 Pin one end to align with the shoulder:

 

And stitch to hold. Then it's time to get those spikes on.

And done (yes that IS a glass of wine in the background):

Now, at this point, I need to ask you to really use your imagination. Y'see, being the half arsed and forgetful blogger that I am, I forgot to photograph a whole bunch of steps. In a nutshell:

* I picked open the shoulder area and added the spiked up pads in. My machine couldn't handle it so this was a hand sew job. Eeshk!

* The neckline still refused to sit right so I decided to, in a Groove Armada style, "get sexy with it"*, and chopped a mahoosive slit from the neck down to the waistline between the boobs. Bang! Quick hem and done.

* I also took the dress up to a demure midi length to counteract the full on boob action. I don't have a pic of that either.

The good news is that it turned out looking better than I had expected and I wore it to the party - yay! Here's the top half of it (shame - I had awesome shoes on too. Obvs.), along with my scary plum lipstick, spike ring and obligatory gin. Woo! That's my delish pal Magda to my right. Say hi everyone!

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*If that meant nothing to you, you may wish to listen to this song.

Friday night shoe porn goes S&M...

Yup, it's Friday night and I'm feeling alright (dinner cooked, rose poured) and it felt only right that we should take in some shoe porn. And, being Friday, I'm in a slightly rock 'n' roll mood: thus I am upping the sexy, fierce ante on the pornorific shoes. Ladies, bend over and brace yourselves because we are talking studs and spikes. Oh, alright, I'm not really going to whip out a studded spanking paddle or indeed hit you with a studded shoe. Some things are just a step too far...plus, I sure ain't getting backside all over these babies.

The studded shoe love was started for me by Christian Louboutin. I've always admired people brave enough to rock a studded biker or a spiked denim waistcoat and I love the punk look. It's just totally not my look (too many skinny leg trousers). Stick the spikes on a shoe though and I am all over it. Here are the Loubs...

Yum bitch!

 

Yes, I know they look like studded pimp slippers but I like 'em!

Now, Loubly (oh, do you see what I did there? Mega lolz) though this lot are, the £1k plus price tags make them somewhat out of my price range. Just somewhat. So when these beauties from Solestruck started dropping in my inbox, you know I took a second look. Sadly they're mainly still out of my budget but not in ridiculous style a la Christian's creations. I'm going to start with the ones I plan to blow the budget for when they're back in my size...the Lita stud.

Swoon! How bitching are these?! That's right: bitching! They have the things I love: a platform and chunky heel but, minus the studs, would actually be kind of plain for my tastes. But the studs are there. Oh, they're there. All of a sudden, a plain, albeit stompily high, boots goes from OK to oh, oh, oh!

Spikes on the Lita too fierce for you? Presenting the pimp slipper's pimped up cousin, the Lee by Matiko (nope, me either and I couldn't be bothered to read about the brand. This is all about visual pleasure), with a smaller more subtle spike. Again, it's in possession of some of my favourite things. No, no aphids on roses or dangleberries on kittens: leopard print and hairy! Duh! Yes, the spikes are the only subtle thing about these little winners. Now, where did I put my rhinestone studded smoking jacket?

Uh, huh, huh! I like to think that, when the King grows tired of blue suede shoes, he slips on these bad boys. Definitely more studded than spiked, I suspect his right royal Elvisness would be totes partial to the star shaped studs in particular. Ah, the wonder of shoooooooooes!

Time to ramp back up the fierce factor again. Well, you didn't honestly think I'd crack out a hairy leopard print flattie and not show you a heel too? Did you? Come on. These Sam Edelman heels first captured my attention a wee while back. At nearly $300, I've always resisted them but I definitely have hot, special feelings for their lusciousness. The only thing (aside from the obvious dollah) is that the reviews of the style seems to suggest that the spike weight make them a bugger to keep on your feet AND folk have been receiving them with cheeky missing studs too. So, for now, I am lusting but steering clear. Like one should might when it comes to a bad man.

 

You so cannot touch this. You cannot! I love the fact that these shoes need to be seen from more than one angle to give full appreciation of their hedgehog-tastic proportions. Spikier than your average cactus, they're a winner for many reasons. There's something so camp about their overt pinkness, yet something so fierce about their vicious barbs. Basically they're a drag queen. And I'm not gonna top that.