Anatomy of a Shoe

Have you ever been out shopping and called a friend to tell her about an amazing pair of shoes to realise that you have forgotten to take a picture and that your describing skills aren't exactly up to scratch? To avoid this heartache ever happening again, today I give you the anatomy of shoe, (you can thank me later) so that next time you can describe away like a pro!

Upper (outside of a shoe)

Inner (inside of a shoe)

Holiday Heels

The hardest decision to make when I'm going on holiday is choosing the right shoes to take with me (I’m sure every woman at some point has been faced this dilema) especially if your activities during your holiday are varied. I still always end up taking 6 pairs irrespective of how much I ponder over it! On Saturday I will be flying out to India, part business part pleasure. Delhi will be the first stop to bid a final farwell to my late grandad, so for this part of the trip I will probably wear a pair of traditional indian footwear also known as Chapal (flip flops to you and I) or maybe even some converse depending on the terrain and weather. 

After Delhi we will be heading to Surat, known as the Diamond Capital, its the 8th largest City in India and extremely metropolitan with fashion really making an impact on their economy. (interesting fact: a staggering 92% of the worlds diamonds pass through Surat before being exported to other parts of world). So for this part of the holiday with temperatures around 30 degrees at this time of the year, I have taken my trusty wedged espadrilles, for me they are a hot holiday essential, especially for day wear as they are super comfortable and add that little bit of height which I love. (don't worry I have also packed some flat strappy sandals for when I’m fed up)

After Surat the next destination is Mumbai. Now I havent been to India in a very long time, but I’ve heard some amazing stories of how far Mumbai has come in 10 years which was the last time I was there. Its the fashion capital of India, and from what I have seen on various social media posts, I will quickly find my bearings in this beautiful newly developed city. So for this reason I have gone all out, I have taken a pair of my new favourite summer heels, an absolute steal from Zara, they are super comfy and have very quickly become a staple for the summer months. Their tribal print coordinate with a number of outfits I have packed and are just the ticket to to jazzing up an outfit for an evening meal too.

Zara - £39.99

I have also packed some flat espadrilles. Flats are always a must even for a heel lover like me, something quick and easy to slip on your feet for breakfast, short strolls and by the pool often give your feet a chance to rest between the heel wearing. The pair Im taking were looking slightly tired so I embellished them to bring them back to life.  I couldn't bare to throw them out as they are so easy to wear and match with lots of casual outfits and bikinis. (I have posted the tutorial for how I did this on www.diymodista.blogspot.co.uk)

Go to diy:modista to find out just how quickly it was to revamp these espadrilles by embellishing them.

Now if that wasn't enough I have also decided to pack my very well travelled Jimmy Choo Dream Rope Tie Elaphe sandals, now I know your’re all screaming WHY?!!? but I have a good enough reason (I promise!) My generous and loving uncle and aunty, as a christmas present, gifted my whole family with staying at The Taj. Now the Taj is the creme de la creme of hotel experiences. The BBC recently filmed a 6 episode documentary looking at the intricasies of looking after such a prestigious hotel and after watching the first episode with my boyfriend this week I felt it was absolutely necessary to take them with me so I could wear them for dinners within the hotel (well thats what I tell myself). Below is the list (sigh! There's a list you guys are thinking!?!) of shoes I ended up taking with me.

Jimmy Choo - Dream Rope Tie Elaphe Sandal

Shoe List

Flat Espadrilles

Flip Flops (Chapal)

Strappy Sandals

Wedged Espadrilles

Tribal Print Sandal

Dream Elaphe Sandal

DIY Project
diy:modista

News

Liam Fahy

I've always been fascinated by the fact that some of the best desingers in the fashion industry, are men. I often think its because they have an eye for knowing what looks good on women, or should I say sexy on women? I only ever feel confident in my heels, which is why I wear them almost everywhere I go regardless of what I'm doing (though you’d definitely see me doing the food shopping in flats)

So as you can imagine when I came across Liam Fahy I was suitably impressed by his sexy range of heels. The classic and luxurious styles make his shoes super wearable yet adaptable ( I tend to always love classic style pumps - the best way to match a number of outfits and stay trendy). Fahy's shoes are limited edition designs and are hand made by some of the best italian (obviously) artisans - I would expect anything less.

I always wonder what influences and inspires designers, what’s their background? where do they get their individual style, how did they get into the footwear industry? was it planned or something they fell into? With Fahy I think its a mixture of both, his upbringing and his interest in art and physchology which he studied as a student in Africa. He decided to pursue his creativity by enrolling at DeMonfort University studying footwear where he was able to hone in on his shoe designing skills and shortly after, his eponymous luxury brand ‘Liam Fahy’ was established in 2011.

Below are some of my favourite picks from his spring summer collection ‘Summer Rain’ which is available online at the moment, along with his Noir range and most importantly the sale section because who doesn't like a sale?

'Maribel' - Black Suede, 105mm, £385

'Fleur' - Red Elbamat, 105mm, £499.16

'Alys' - Navy Canvas and Raffia, 115mm, £499.16

'Brigitte' - Red Watersnake Upper, 105mm, £892.44

Website

www.liamfahy.com

Instagram

@liamfahylondon

Twitter

@liamfahylondon

Style
22 Styles available in the Noir range
26 Styles in the Summer Rain range

Classic styles, clean cut monochrome colours with accents of red tones.

Price

£350 upwards

Stockists UK

Online on the website

News

Killer Heels Exhibition - Brooklyn Museum NYC

About a month ago my very thoughtful boyfriend surprised me to a 5 day trip to NYC for my birthday. Anyone that knows me will know just how much I love everything and anything NYC related. Infact one of my dreams would be to eventually move out there. So you can just imagine the ball of tears and shock I was in when he told me at Heathrow departures that we were infact going to NYC and not Rome (which is where I thought we were originally going) Little did I know he had pretty much planned half of the trip with things that I have always wanted to go and see. As fate would have it there just happened to be an exhibition on heels and of course that also got placed on this list. So on day one we headed out early just to do that - the Killer Heels Exhbition at the Brooklyn Museum. (I know girls I’m on to a winner with him!!)

The exhibition was an absolute must see for heel obsessed women. Eastern Parkway is the nearest subway station to the exhibition and takes you practically straight to the front door of Brooklyn Museum. The building itself is beautiful, and just what you would expect of a museum. We paid $15 each, but this was optional. You can pay nothing or as much as you like. The suggested amount at the counter was $16 each.

Brooklyn Museum

The exhibition took you through the ages of the shoe, starting off with the development of the heel through to the present day heel, and just how far they have come in terms of design, conventionalism and pure crazy ideas for heels that can be adapted to look like art work on your feet. The best part of the exhibition was physically looking at a shoe that I had seen in the media but not managed to see in person. The use of visuals and digitial media made the exhibition varied so it wasnt just shoe after shoe which for even a shoe addict like me can get slightly repetitive and dull. There were tiny snippets of recordings throughout the exhibition showing the creative process of a shoe with the designer developing their ideas of a shoe design, designing the ‘last’ that the shoe will be moulded around through to it being put together. This for me was very insightful, I love to watch and follow how other shoe designers develop their work and how they record their work so that I can better mine to.

(Sorry the Images are blurry, the whole exhibition was super dark, so some images I had to take on my phone instead of my SLR and I couldn't use the flash within the exhibition - Typical!)

Architecture and Shoe design was a section of the exhibition that really caught my attention, having an architecture degree I have always noticed a connection between architecture and shoes but was never able to really define what made them so similar untill reading a caption in this particular gallery. It gave my thoughts about the relationship between fashion and architecture some perspective; 

"Architecture and shoe design share some concerns: enclosure and protection; The relationship between structure and facade; and the expressive harmony of solids, voids, and contours. The consideration of stress points, loads, flexion, and achieving elevation makes the comparison even more compelling when it comes to high heels"

sorry its blurry!

I ended up purchasing the 'Killer Heels - The Art of the High Heeled-Shoes' book that was dedicated to the exhibition and set me back around 30$ but when you are a shoe and book collector its pretty hard to turn away especially when you have already flicked through the book. The book features a number of shoes from various designers that were exhibited and some extras just to add to the collection within the book. A good buy if I do say so myself. Most definitely a coffee book but for me a source of inspiration from some of the top footwear designers in the world. 

I was completely seduced by the display of shoes within the exhibition and don't think its confined to just mad shoe lovers either, it makes for pretty light viewing (I went with my boyfriend and even he didn't find it to strenuous to go through) and I would recommend having a visit if you are in NYC.