Sample Sale Silliness

While it feels like only yesterday, it was a couple of months ago when my beloved Rupert Sanderson held a sample sale. Rupert always has a taste for the class, so even while many designers hire an empty shop front or warehouse, we find ourselves instead visiting the Royal Institution on Ablemarle St in the heart of Mayfair. We tread the same boards that the scientific giants of from Faraday through Rutherford to Dawkins.

The Palatial Neoclassically Styled Royal Institution of Great Britain
Image modified under Creative Commons License, original artwork by Gryffindor

A Match Made in Heaven

When Dune announced that they would be launching a collaboration with my favourite designer, Rupert Sanderson, I was absolutely thrilled. Combined Dune and Rupert Sanderson make up a quarter of my shoe collection, with good reason too, both brands offer what I look for in shoes, that magical combination of beauty, comfort and (relative) value for money. Knowing Rupert, he would only put his name to something that was worthy of his name, so expectations were understandably high. While I love so many styles in this collection, I have followed my head and only permitted myself two pieces, so I would welcome anybody who owns a pair of these or Rupert’s main collection to provide opinions on this too!

Dune London’s first major collaboration, and who better to work with than Rupert Sanderson?

I love a chunky boot, but…

You love those chunky boots don’t you? The ones which have served you so well through the past few winters. Do you wish that you could have the same comfort without suffocating your feet through the summer? While pretty shoes are hot now, you can still be pretty in a chunky heel.

While sample sales are often older designs being sold, Rupert Sanderson does keep classic lines going as well as refreshing seasonal designs with new finishes. Earlier this year I picked up these from the sample sales, the Ravenna is quite a retro look, with the velvet it reminds me of the glamour of the inter-war years. Best is they’re amazing under this season’s wide legged trousers! They’re currently available in a burgundy velvet at the Rupert Sanderson Bicester Outlet.

The Velvet Ravennas are just feel so luxuriant, they’re super cute with a little platform they’re a very wearable shoe that can be dressed up and down.

For 2016-17 floral patterns are also still going strong, a little switch from before is that they are inspired by interior styling. The key is a slighly kitschy look, think bohemian embroidered fabrics, or slightly hippy prints rather than the neater prints. Its a twist on the classic, but nonetheless florals are going strong, and I think they look even better with a chunkier heel. These looks are very now and should see good service through AW16/17.

This is so typically Erdem, still a smaller designer right now but he’s going to be very hot this season. Even better a lot of his shoes part of a collaboration with the great Nicholas Kirkwood

The classic option, ever present is the classic stacked heel sandal, with or without platform, they will always make a good strong choice especially for a more casual wedding, a garden party or a BBQ. There are few things less elegant than that sinking feeling as your heels dig in, not a problem with these chunky heels. Personally I prefer the single sole look, it’s defininitely more elegant for a summer evening and won’t compete with lighter fabrics.

These lavender python skin sandals are by Coach, perhaps a little bright if but you can always find a similar shoe in nude.

Summer doesn’t mean you have to abandon the chunky boot for flop flops, you can carry on in comfort with a chunky summer shoe. The trick with chunky heels is to avoid swathes of cow’s leather. Fabrics such as velvet or satin print are great, or get sandals which have that au naturelle look.

The Real Deal

Following on from my post about Faking It a guide to how to get the luxe look without the price tag, I began to wonder how to quickly identify genuine luxury pieces. Have you ever found amazing bargain accessory in a charity shop only to end up walking away because of the uncertain provenance of the piece? Spotting the real deal is doesn’t have to be hard, there are already plenty of brand specific guides on the internet, especially on eBay. They offer some great advice, and I want to build on that and give you done tips which can always be relied upon regardless of the brand.

From a Distance
Before even looking into more detail, luxury shoes and bags have a certain presence to it. Shoes have a certain elegance and sleekness to them, bags tend to have good structure even after years of service. Leathers and fabrics will have a depth to their colour.

The Riviera Bag (left) was Made in England during the 1960s, 50 years down the line it’s structurally solid, zips and clasps all still work. Here pictured with Paris 105 by Yves Saint Laurent. The unbranded Snakeskin piece (right hand image) is likely to have been made in Germany in the 60s or 70s, and likewise still in exceptionally good condition.

Faking it

Whole I admit I have an exceptional love for leather, sometimes its unjustifiable to splurge a triple figure sum on a luxe shoe or perhaps disagree with the use of animal products. So let’s start by playing a game, take a look at the pictures below, can you tell which is the real deal which is the imitation stuff.

A few shoes that haven’t been on the blog, can you tell which of these are real animal skin? Answers below. Hint: two are real animal skin

Hope you get the point

So with the weather warming up and more importantly drying out, it’s finally time to dust off your courts, pull out those leather soles, and show off your feet. Big surprise here, I’m a massive fan of pointy shoes, it never goes out of Vogue, and I think is a very flattering style, so I’m going through a selection of similarly cut shoes in a few different styles.

We have six shoes for you today, from high street to luxe by YSL, Rupert Sanderson, Dune, Charlotte Olympia and Chinese Laundry, can you tell which is which? Hint: followers of my blog will have seen all of these shoes featured here and there

Bonus Post: Pretty Shoes Are Back!!!

Since the arrival of the Ugg we have seen a number of shoes gain favour, we have had Crocs, Birkenstocks, and even when talking about heeled shoes it has been chunky block heels and clogs. Celine’s chunky heel has become somewhat iconic of this era, and while appearing comfy have ultimately received mixed reviews. As a hardcore stiletto junkie I have tried to cling onto the my spiky shoes, well if you read the Standard pretty shoes are having their resurgence, with fashion show front rows being lined (quite rightly) with stiletto toting editors.

With flares seeing their return from the cold the whole appeal for a more delicate shoe is quite the natural direction, the weight of these massive bell bottoms when paired with a clunky design makes you look like a bottom heavy hangover from a 70’s disco. On the other hand stilettos are a perfect counter to all that fabric of the trouser, pick a intricate design or a print that you can flash a little with each step.

Wolford Gent Trousers (These are a few years old, Wolford tend to ignore trends and just do what they do best), and YSL Classic Paris 105 in Leopard Print Suede

Celebrity Shoes

I was planning to write about another topic, but it’s perhaps a little controvertial and I felt it needed more research. So instead this is a bit of a continuation of last week’s post.

These are my favourite shoes, to many of you this will be no surprise, it’s common knowledge that I love Rupert Sanderson. These are his highest 11cm heel, with a point toe called the Elba, I picked up my gold ones with Swarovski embellished heels for a snip at £99, but after a little digging there’s so much more to the shoe. Not only is it a £1000 shoe with all those Swarovskis, but it’s also a shoe worn on by Nina Dobrev at the Great Gatsby premiere.

Theres a little more to it though, I would not have thought twice if they were not samples that had shown a little bit of wear already, but what set these apart was that they were in a 41, not a normal size for samples. Further that, sample tag indicated these were part of a batch for their US publicity agency, it goes to figure these shoes were lent to Nina for the red carpet. To me it’s more interesting when something has a story behind it, that’s why I like vintage items, and why I like digging through the samples.

From Shoerazzi

Sorry this week’s post is a little short, I’ll follow up with how I plan to restore these to their full glory in the near future.

Making Shoe Clips

Something that has fallen out of favour in recent years is the shoe clip, after all why accessorise your shoes for a different look when you can simply buy a whole new shoe? It was a lovely touch for Charlotte Olympia to ship her shoes with these, and means you can have a bit of Charlotte while wearing all sorts of different outfits.

Red and white, perfect for the warmer weather. The luscious red lips can be clipped to any shoe, or even used as a brooch

Designer Intro: Rupert Sanderson

It’s an established designer, Rupert Sanderson that I am writing about today, I’m sure many of you will have heard of him and maybe even wear his shoes. It is his approach to the industry makes him a unique designer in today’s world of fashion. As a result a there is a strong and loyal following from all walks of life, and I’m sure fans will know the whole story, but for those of you new to Rupert Sanderson, I hope by the end of this you’ll be going out to try his shoes out for yourself.

Rupert’s Britishness does come through clearly, and in many ways he has broken with expectations, he refuses to allow himself to be drawn into the seemingly endless the stiletto arms race where many other designers are being outlandish for the sake of it, instead he creates elegant designs are subtly sexy and exceptionally easy to style and wear. He plays hide and seek, and uses juxtaposition and contrast to play tricks with the eye, the result is you’ll look fabulous, you’ll also feel that way because you never push your body beyond what it’s meant to do.

Key to his success has been the vertical integration of production it’s crucial to achieving the standards he seeks. Looking and feeling the shoes, you’ll notice that only the best materials are allowed to delicately cradle your feet, all stitched together by hands of experienced Italian craftsmen at his own factory. This is why his collections are never made in huge volumes; the result is they always feel so much more exclusive.

Apart from designing four collections each year, Rupert finds time to create for a number of carefully selected a number of collaborations, including having worked with the King of Fashion himself, Karl Lagerfeld. These collaborations have produces some of his more conceptual ideas, yet he holds true to his core values and even these shoes are still very much wearable.

Now if Manolo was Carrie’s weakness, Rupert is my equivalent, just looking at these shoes is never enough. It’s time for me to strut out off into the sunset and for you to go to a shop and try Rupert Sanderson for yourself. You won’t be look back, but everyone else will.

All images from Rupert Sanderson Resort 2016 Campaign, © Rupert Sanderson 2016