I love shoes!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you know that I love shoes! I would say what girls doesn't but I'm sure there are some who don't. I however am addicted to shoes, my budget means I can't buy like I used to but I still look a lot. I am lucky to have small feet so have always been able to buy vintage shoes pretty easily, however I know many of you struggle to find vintage shoes, but don't fear there are some amazing repro brands out there, one of them is Miss L Fire. I LOVE Miss L Fire.

They have just launched there Spring/Summer 13 collection and oh my there are some fabulous shoes in there, I think I need to do some big time saving!! You can find Miss L Fire's online store here in the meantime here are some of my personal favourites.

I think if I get anything from this collection this may be the pair for me, just stunning!

Tijuana in Red - £114.99

Now these are stunning!! Now only are they an amazing design but the very talented Miss L Fire has incorporated a vintage technology that you never seem to see any more in mule shoes, despite it being the cleverest piece of shoe design, the springolator!!! Yay well done Miss L Fire, so nice to see someone finally re-using this marvellous bit of shoe technology

Lola in Brown - £99.99

 I LOVE turquoise, I love a raffia style wedge and I love a tropical flower, there really isn't anything to not love about these, ok maybe I NEED these too ha ha!

Aloha in Turquoise - £89.99

I'm not normally a fan of polka dots but only because they seem to have been hijacked by current trend for 'vintage' without knowing what vintage is *climbing off my soapbox* but I do love these, they are fabulous, happy, cheerful and summery!

Casablanca in Red - £104.99

Despite loving wedges and heels, in reality what I wear most are flats, I have flat feet and heels hurt me for any length of time, plus I have a disabled husband who I need to be steady on my feet for in case he needs help with walking, sooooo I love and wear flats a lot. These are just fabulous and probably are the most likely pair I will buy even though I want most of the range. These are not only stylish and pretty but fabulously flat and practical, my favourite combination, flat is certainly not ugly!

Mexicali - £56.99

 All pretty shoes eh? And they have so many more to drool over, now I need to start counting my pennies!!

My Favourite time of year for shoes!

It's true I love autumn and winter, but spring and summer is my shoe time. I think I must have lived in warmer climes in a previous life, nearly all my shoes are spring/summer shoes to the point where I struggle for autumn/winter wear - ok I say struggle, my husband and friends would disagree, but I certainly don't have as many options!

I should love to be modelling my spring/summer shoes for you today, but I have 2 enormous blisters on my insteps from extended walking without wearing sports socks with my trainers whoops. So all I can bear to wear on my feet right now are slippers, I have just bought special blister plasters so hopefully it will sort itself soon!

I have many shoes, I can't deny it, but when I thought about spring/summer this year, 3 pairs sprung to mind!!

First up, when I was doing some work for Miss L Fire I was lucky enough to pick these up, I love them. I did want some of the cream ones, but by the time I could afford them they were all sold out, but I'm pretty happy with these. They look kind of blue in the photos, but actually they are a mint green so I'm on the look out for some mint green fabric to make something nice in now!

Next are one of my go to pair of summer shoes, I love these! I bought them in LA many years ago, they remind me of sunshine. I also like that they are pretty inside where your foot goes, no one else knows but you do! They are obviously repro not vintage but they look fabulous with hawaiian shirts & pedal pushers, or a cute summer dress.

Last but not least my walk of shame. I bought these many years ago and they have never been worn, I just have not brought myself round to wearing them, but this is so ridiculous as I'm writing this I'm thinking am I actually crazy!! So this year for the first time since they were made - I'm thinking late 40's - I'm going to wear these wedge sandals. Aren't they just fabulous?!!

And to prove they've never been worn!

My craziness about shoes IS improving though, both last year and this year I've parted with shoes I never wear even if I loved them. In fact only yesterday I mailed a pair of shoes off that I sold on ebay, I wanted them to fit, they never did, and of course never would, so I sold them. What do addicts say, one step at a time.....

Right I'm off to sit in the sun and have a coffee for my break, hey when you live in the UK you have to take the sun when you get it!

Fixing Vintage Saturday

I don't know what it's like where you are today but here it's dull, raining and pretty goddamn miserable. I had no desire to go out and about today, and no real energy to do much but definitely wanted to do something!

So I set about fixing some things I've been meaning to for ages. I'll cover a couple here and some more in another blog post!

First up was a pair of gorgeous shoes that the buckle had come off. Because they're fabric shoes, I just sewed the buckle back on. I'm not sure how well it will hold but I sewed it pretty firmly. These are a pair of my most favourite shoes, they are just gorgeous. I'm lucky I have small feet so can often score big time when it comes to shoes! When I got these they were in their original box, I know, and what did I do, I didn't keep it, stupid!

Next up is a project I have been meaning to do for years, yes I'm ashamed! I have these beautiful shoes, green satin with rhinestone heels, however many of the rhinestones are now missing. The shoes are pretty worn and I'm thinking of dying the satin but I'm not quite sure how, I adore the green but some of it is too worn at the side of the shoes. Any ideas let me know!

I haven't quite finished these yet, I've done one heel, but I need to know it's going to work before I spend time doing the second one. I'll let you see the end project when it's finally finished!

Beautiful Advertising

When I was clearing out my office at the beginning of the year I discovered lots of old mags that I'd totally forgotten I owned. I love looking through old magazines, particularly American ones!

One of the things I love are the adverts, it's just a little glimpse into life at that time and the adverts are so blumming stylish!

Sadly I don't have an A3 scanner so they're all a little cut off but here's a sample of just a few.

Isn't she dreamy?

I always love a vintage car advert, it's all about lifestyle and look at those colours!

This is a beautiful Jantzen advert, again such gorgeous colours!

I can never get enough shoe adverts, especially wedges. I'm going to say again, look at the colour, there just isn't enough colour in clothing these days!

I have the shoes on the top at the left, it always thrills me to find an advert from the 40s/50s of something I actually own, I don't know why but it does!

And last but not least it's the weekend so cheers!! Although I'm still teetotal cos of meds, so it's a grape juice for me! I could just do with a Daiquiri right now

Or a nice cold beer yum!

Vintage Matching, do you?

I thought I'd tackle the issue of matching in clothes, shoes, jewellery and handbags. As a vintage gal who loves the 40s and 50s era matching is just natural for me. I'm not saying what is right or wrong, but for me, colours have got to be matching or complementary. Of course nowadays it's considered a faux pas to match your shoes and bag but I love it.

Only the other night, I went out with my lucite bag, which inside contained a matching powder compact and a matching comb, no one knew but I did and it gave me joy, perhaps weird but I love it!

Here is my bag and the picture after are the matching accessories, all bought separately of course. Perhaps one day I'll get some gorgeous shoes to match!

So I had a look online to see other matching items and I came up with a few.

This is just a gorgeous picture from Life!

These are just a beautiful pair of shoes with matching handbag.

And I've saved the best for last, oh my god if I could have this set, it actually makes my heart beat slightly quicker, the colour, the style *swoon*

So are you a matching type or do you hate it?