Vogue - The Shoe

The holy fashion bible has released an awesome new coffee table book 'Vogue - The Shoe'. The reason I'm excited? - they will have the BEST of the best archive known to man an archive to be more than envious of regarding famous imagery of shoes, designers, campaigns and illustrations - this will be an absolute must have for shoe lovers around the world. Vogue had great success with their previous tomes on 'The Gown', 'The Jewellery', and the 'Portfolio' so this is bound to be huge bestseller for them too - especially since accessories are definitely having their moment and demand just as much acknowledgment as the clothing on runways. At £75 its not a book you buy on a whim but would definitely be a great present, for birthdays, Christmas (I know its early but good to get started) and possibly leaving gifts - available to buy now!

Vogue 100 Exhibition

I have been desperate to go to this exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery ever since its open date in February and it finally happened on Saturday. The boyfriend and I decided to have date day and all though we had to wait an hour until our allocated slot the exhibition was well worth it. I have been an avid Vogue collector since my mum bought me the subscription for christmas years ago, (slightly obsessed since I've kept every copy!) so I was excited to see the front covers that I hadn't seen before. I absolutely loveeeeed it! The exhibition took around 45 minutes to get through (good running time! ha) and the rooms were decked out in great imagery from some of the fashion photography greats. As I walked through the exhibition I could see so many of the covers that Grace Coddington had curated and it was nice to know the back story of how the shoots were produced and put together. The covers for the first few magazines were beautifully illustrated and the huge archive that they've exhibited was stunning. This is the last week for the exhibition and Sunday will be the last day, make sure you head down there before you miss a great exhibition.

Vogue Review 

Dolce and Gabbana

The first week of a new month is something I always look forward to. It means my next instalment of Vogue is due, as soon as it drops through the letterbox I'm eager to see whats in store. The March issue is always exciting because of its transitional content - the time of year where you ditch your thick winter coats (hopefully if you're living in England) and start to think about your summer wardrobe. This doesn't mean only your clothes it means your shoes too! Now the first couple of pages pretty much give you a preview of what to expect for the coming months, the stand out pages in the last few years have been the Dolce and Gabbana spreads which are usually four pages strong. Naturally my eyes immediatly took me to the shoes which were blooming gorgeous. Encrusted, embellished, blinging, fringed, embroidered you name it they've got it. The colour palettes are bright and bold with luxe embellishing and integrally love for Italian heritage like most of D&G's branding. The shoes aren't cheap but what great statement shoes are? Its definitely worth having a look at their website and having a flick through this months Vogue, if not for the Dolce and Gabbana campaign then for the inspiration for what to purchase for your summer wardrobe!

Where have your January goals landed you so far?

One of my goals for this year was to read a book (or more - ha very optimistic) a month. I also said that they would have to be something different to the normal fashion books I usually read. One of the goals I have achieved (HURRAH!) - I've managed to finish the book I started on the 1st of January, BUT it was a fashion book! (boohoo!). However, the reason I let this one book pass, (I know there shouldn't be any excuses) was because it was a memoirs book. To be exact Grace Coddington's Memoirs. This book has been sitting on my shelf for the better part of two years now, if not longer and my aim was to get through it bit by bit. As it happens it turned out to be a book I just couldn't put down. Some of you will already know who she is, and if you do, then this book is super fascinating. For those of you who don't, its someone you just have to get to know by reading her book. Ill be the first to admit that I only started recognising her ever since she GRACED (haha! get it?!) our screens for the September Issue documentary. I was intrigued by her influence and passion for her job and how this connected to avid Vogue readers like me. I had no idea that she had so much authority over the main photo diary spread in each months installment of Vogue and this book pretty much covers every one of her favourite memories (and not so favourite) shooting with some of the top fashion photographers around, Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino, Steven Meisel - you name it she's shot with them. I guess for me it was an insiders view of a job that was very much tailored to her but for every one else looking in a job that only she could do because of her eye for clothing and curating. I totally got lost in the pages for hours on end, when I really should have been sleeping but I think it was totally worth it! Definitely worth a read and if not for the reading then for the cute illustrations by Grace that are dotted through out the book.

Now, there was an endless list of goals that I wanted to achieve, daily, monthly and for the whole year, they all had different time frames on them - but its always good to look over the goals list regularly to get you in line for the next few days or months ahead! - you never know where they may land you!

Cinderella's Glass Slipper

'Well if the shoe fits' - the Glass slipper featured in the new Cinderella movie

The Glass Slipper designed in honour of the new Cinderella Movie

As a little girl the idea of a glass slipper being handed to me by some talk, dark, handsome Prince charming seemed every bit as realistic as becoming a fairy or a princess. Obviously between then and now, reality sets in, you find a real career, shoes and clothes shopping are the only thing that make you happy and if you’re lucky enough your own prince charming comes with and untold amount of lavish dinner dates, holidays and gifts (I haven't received any glass slippers yet but I’m working on it!) So when I recently saw an Instagram post about Vogue commissioning 9 footwear designers to reinvent their take on Cinderella’s Glass Slipper, immediately I thought three things all at once; 1) how did my shoe radar not know this was going on and what designers are involved?!?!, 2) Where the hell do I buy them from?! and  3) the most important question of all; how will I convince my boyfriend, mum or sister to buy them for me?!**

I hurried home to check out what designers were part of the commission and what styles were available, I was happy to see some of my favourite designers.  Designers included were; Jimmy Choo, (a given) Paul Andrew (a new favourite designer of mine since last year), Jerome C. Rousseau, Stuart Weitzmen, Alexandre Birman, Nicholas Kirkwood, Salvatore Ferragamo (a classic), Charlotte Olympia and Rene Caovilla. The illustrations alone were amazing so you can imagine what the actual shoe looked like....

** My persuasive skills are abysmal so I’ve started saving for this small but worth while (I’m convincing myself) splurge. 

Jimmy Choo

£2,995

Salvatore Ferragamo

£1,395

Paul Andrew

£1,245

Alexandre Birman

£595

Rene Caovilla

£885

Nicholas Kirkwood

£1,795

Jerome C. Rousseau

£545

Stuart Weitzman

£2,950

Charlotte Olympia

£1,895

Stockists UK

Harrods
(made to order)

I spoke to a lovely man by the name of Simon at Harrods customer services (he was very helpful and polite) to find out the prices of these shoes. He informed me of the made to order requirement and also mentioned that they do not have the Charlotte Olympia Cinderella Slipper exhibited or stocked in the store. The shoes displayed in Harrods are unfortunately for display purposes only. (I tried my luck to)