Designer Shoes

Here at the Designer Shoes Blog, we aim to bring you handy advice and news. After our post about the impact of the recession on the shoe industry, it seems clear more and more of you are choosing to mend or polish-up your old shoes, rather than buying brand new ones. So today we thought I’d help out by providing you dear readers with some advice on e the effectively covering up the scruffs on your leather shoes – so they look great and last longer!

Ever wondered why army boots look so good after months of stomping around? It’s because getting scuffs out of leather shoes is simple; all you need is a damp sponge, a shoe brush and some form of shoe polish. Although wax is the best option for covering scruffs, creams comes in far more colours – so they might be more appropriate. To start with, remove your laces (if you have any) and, using the damp sponge, clean your shoes to remove all the surface dirt. Once they are sparkling clean, apply the polish (wax or cream) and rub it into the leather using small, circular motions. Once you’ve covered all the leather, remove any blobs of excess polish and finally buff the leather with the shoe brush. Good as new!

Published today, official research into the recession has revealed that shoes were one of the biggest things to be cut from family spending during the 2008 period of economic decline. According to the Office for National Statistics, spending on shoes and clothes in 2008 was the lowest since 2001, despite the fact that average household spending actually rose by £12 per week from 2007.

Although it could well be that the recession is causing people to cut back on their spending on ‘luxury’ items like designer shoes, it has also been suggested that the recession has been accompanied by huge discount at clothes and shoes shops, as well as massive price reductions in products like designer shoes. This implies that it is not necessarily the case that people are buying less shoes – but possibly that it’s costing people less to buy them. If the area I’m living in is a reliable source of evidence, I’m going to assume the latter is true! I, for one, haven’t cut down on my shoe-buying at all – it’s the last thing I’d give up! As for sales, I can’t remember the last time I haven’t been able to find one to suit my needs.

In case you’re interested; people in Wales spent the least on shoes in 2008, followed by Scotland, then England and finally Northern Ireland, who spent the most.

Although there are many strange and wonderful shoes out there, some really challenge the notion of what it is to be a shoe. My recent posts about crazy designer shoes have, as many crazy things will do, made me challenge my very concept of shoes – here are my musings.

Most definitions of the word ‘shoe’ involve the words “covering” or “protecting”; “a protective covering for the foot, originally designed for comfort and durability, but more recently also for decoration” was along the lines of my own definition. However, many hyper-fashionable trends and individual pairs of shoes are now challenging that very definition; many shoes are now uncomfortable, don’t cover the foot at all and are actually more dangerous than not wearing any shoes at all! The question is, are these still ‘shoes’? If so, then our previous definition must be wrong and need altering – but to what? If these new objects are not shoes, then what are they?

Although many people would consider the first pair of shoes in Return of the Crazy Designer Shoes to be ridiculous, I think most would agree that they are, nevertheless, shoes of some kind. Yet all they are is a kind of metal cage around the foot, so this raises interesting questions; just how little material can still constitute a shoe? Which parts of an object must remain intact in order for the object to still be a shoe? Also, at what point does an object become a sock?

To illustrate my point and get you thinking, I ask you to consider this picture. Is this object a shoe? If so, what is it about the object that makes it a shoe? If not, what is it failing to do that a shoe would do and what changes would have to be made in order for it to be a shoe?

When is a shoe not a shoe?

Happy New Year! After the popularity of the last post about crazy designer shoes, we’ve decided to bring you a second instalment – possibly even weirder than the first one! Hold onto your plimsolls, this is gonna get strange…

To start things off, a pair of shoes from probably the laziest designer in the world. These are what most people refer to…as feet. They look very much as if the designer simply couldn’t be bothered to finish making them – or even start for that matter! Perhaps I’m being unfair; maybe they were forgotten about until 25 minutes before show time, or the designer ran out of money and couldn’t afford the materials… Whatever the reason for their being, these are not good shoes.

In stark contrast to the first shoes, these are probably the most over-planned shoes in existence. In case you can’t see for yourself, they have a CD player built into the sole of the shoe… I don’t actually know whether it works or not, but I fear it may just be a fashion statement similar to wearing headphones attached to nothing around your neck. I’m not saying these are bad shoes, but they are pretty strange.

Finally, check out these pinnacles of bizarre – shoes that I refer to in my mind as “The Raptors”! With a heel that would break the ankle of the most bendy of ballerinas, these shoes are also equipped with talon-like claws or spikes that sit in the bridge of the foot, presumably to ensure one does not alter one’s frankly ridiculous pose.

Whatever next?! (This is deceptive because I already know what’s next and it’s mental).

We have more seasonal shoes today at the Designer Shoe blog – this time for the guys! Consider these cool Christmas offerings from Adidas, for example; Christmas themed Stan Smith 2 or Superstar 2 shoes, in red and green! Although clearly Christmassy, there’s no doubt these shoes will look the part all year round and, because they’re Adidas, they’ll still be wearable when summertime bring games in the park!

If Adidas isn’t really your style, perhaps consider these tartan-style Converse All-Stars instead. A classic shoe with a seasonal spin, these manage to be festive, but without any striking Christmas clichés – a cool and understand style.

Of course, it’s not just the adults that can join in the Christmas fun; if the little man in your life wants a piece of the spirit, there are a range of seasonal children’s shoes for them as well! These adorable blue trainers, for example, will keep his feet nice and warm while advertising his love for Christmas and, more importantly at that age, Santa!

Christmas is nearly here and at the Designer Shoe Blog, this can only mean one thing; Christmas Shoe Time! This is essentially an excuse for the team to whizz around the internet, finding seasonal footwear that we’re sure somebody in your family would love to receive. Even if you’re not thinking of buying designer shoes for Christmas, there are normally some cool shoes to see anyway! Let’s get started with some shoes with the ladies:

For the girlfriend, wife, mum, sisters and grannys in your life, consider these stylish, comfortable and super-seasonal Christmas slippers! I know slippers for Christmas seems unoriginal but, let’s be honest, when else do people buy slippers? By the time last year’s Christmas slippers have be worn to tatters, it’s normally summertime and there’s little need for slippers. Then, before you know it it’s nearly Christmas again so nobody buys new ones for themselves, just in case somebody buys them for them for a present!

If you think slippers aren’t what the classy lady in your life is after this holiday, perhaps consider buying her some stylish seasonal heels for the Christmas Cocktail party. Although I’d advise against bright red heels with a cartoon Santa (not cool), some like these might make a suave addition to any Christmas outfit…

Today we bring you a few of our favourites from our collection of strange designer shoes; the ones that made us go “Oooo…oh right”, “Is that…?” and sometimes “They can’t be real!”. It may sound like a terrible speed date, but we assure you these are real reactions to these strange shoes.

Firstly, these bizarre red numbers, apparently designed for the 0.02% of the population that could possibly ever stand up in these, let alone walk around. Aesthetics aside, I think the fundamental laws of physics, combined with simple facts about human anatomy, make these shoes somewhat redundant for anything other than brief posing sessions. It’s just a shame there aren’t many photo-shoots with “Idiocy” as their theme, otherwise these would be hot-sellers! Anyway, let’s move on; behold, our second offering:

What do you mean “that’s not a shoe”? How dare you! Can’t you see it’s…um… No, the Shoe Blog is stumped. As a piece of art, this offering really challenges the very notion of ’shoe’, forcing us to question exactly what it is to be a shoe and, hence, what it is to be a human. As a shoe, however, it sucks.

Finally these – Boxing Shoes! The latest in foot protection for those of our practising street capoeira…or the oddest shoes many of us have ever laid eyes on.

No doubt we’ll be back with more in the near future, so check back soon!

Last time we bought you news that a recent survey of 1000 women found that many more of them could remember their first pair of designer shoes than could remember the name of the person they first kissed. Today we bring you some more facts and figures about women and shoes from the same survey – enjoy!

Of the 1000 women questioned, although 1 in 6 had more than 30 pairs of shoes, the average woman owned a mere 19 pairs. Of these 19 pairs of shoes, only 4 are worn regularly and about the same number have only been worn once. 4 pairs of shoes is also the average number of pairs of shoes that these women purchase every year; a new pair every 3 months or 12 weeks.

Shoe Collection from shoelala.ca

1 in 3 of the 1000 women admitted to having trouble finding enough room to store all their shoes, though 1 in 7 have found room to hide a new pair of shoes from their partner. Sixty percent of the women questioned said they regretted purchasing at least one pair of shoes.

…none admitted that buying shoes had ever caused money problems…

When 1000 women were questioned about their feelings towards their footwear, it transpired that over 92% of them could remember the first pair of shoes they ever bought with their own money. As incredible as this fact is on its own, it’s even more shocking when compared to the fact that only 60% of them could remember the name of the first person they ever kissed!

Would it be insane to draw the conclusion that, for these 1000 women, designer shoes (or maybe fashion) is actually more important than love life? Of course it would be. However, equally interesting as this memory test is the fact that, while only 15% of these women admitted to feeling sorry at dumping a boyfriend, a massive 96% of them said they regretting having to throw away a pair of shoes! So, while it may be hard to draw conclusions from such a bizarre array of evidence, there can now be little doubt as to the importance of shoes to many women. It’s not just something they do to frustrate men; they really do love shoes – perhaps more than they love other people.

As celebrity status becomes easier to attain than a bus pass, more and more designers seem less interested in making good shoes and more interested in getting free entry to the biggest fashion events on the planet. What’s more, the link between comfortable shoes and fashionable shoes seems more stretched than ever and, as Victoria Beckham found out recently, the results can be catastrophic!

However, luckily for those of us who don’t particularly enjoy suffering to look good, there are still designers who have their feet on the ground. In 2005, former ballroom dancer and engineer Anyi Lu combined her knowledge and eye for style to create shoes for “confident and independent ladies of discrete luxury”. Unlike many fashion shoe designers, Lu’s focus isn’t on taking style to the limits at the expense of comfort; her shoes have comfortable rounded toes and her range included flat and pumps, as well as “sensible heels”.

Having said that, Lu is a creative mind and seizes to the opportunity to “express [her]self anew” with every season that passes. Her line of designer shoes has been successful in America so far, so hopefully we’ll be seeing more of Anyi before long!