Mae West on a friday

Uninspired, in a hurry to get out of the house and do some buying, and still recovering from my absolutely disgusting dream this morning where I was regurgitating whole egg yolks (even writing that made the back of my throat feel weird and pukey), I wasn't sure what to post about today... until I checked in with Style.com, and saw Mae West - these beautiful, beautiful shoes from Charlotte Olympia's Pre Fall 2013 collection. Never mind that I would step through a crack in our garden path and ruin the heel immediately; I would love to wear these shoes. I feel certain I would start dropping one-liners worthy of their namesake all over the place, glide more than walk, and be simply devastating.

I think it's good to have someone like Mae West on your mind before heading out on Friday (I'm more likely to be channelling my beloved Dorothy Parker - I don't need to tell you the consequences). Even if we don't have the shoes she inspired, we can definitely have her attitude. Below are more shoes from the collection - Starlet and Rising Star, respectively, and some other pearlers from West. Go forth and devastate!

"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."

"When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better."

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

Plümo

Did anyone else see Miss Moss's post about Plumo last week? I hadn't checked in with her for ages, and as usual, she had lots of pretty things for me to look at, including some pictures from their latest collection. Here are a couple, plus a few more I grabbed from their website; this shoot is so lovely, and makes me think of sun and holidays, and I want these shoes. Badly. I'm having another heels episode at the moment; it happens once or twice a year. I convince myself that it's my footwear that is holding me back from being a true adult (and not the fact that I get crazy excited when we get to the lolly pick'n'mix at the supermarket, or that I demand to be carried to the couch some mornings), and buy two new pairs. I wear them a couple of times, realise that a miracle hasn't happened in the last six months and I still can't walk in them, and then they go back into their boxes to wait for me to really become a real adult, and I go back to wearing boots and chucks every day. THE END.

PS I bought some gorgeous 20s heels for the shop yesterday; sparkly and silver, with that characteristic square heel, and made in NZ. As soon as I get the physical shop stuff properly underway, I'll get onto photos (and the etsy store); I wish so much these fit me (I've got the dress and the white stockings), but I'm excited to see them go to somebody else who loves them... Slightly envious, but excited.

in praise of: Chucks

If I could only wear one pair of shoes for the rest of my life, it would be my black hi-top Chuck Taylors. No competition. 

They go with everything. I can run in them (as much as I can run in anything). I can kick in them. If rain, or tequila, or pee, or anything else gets on them, they still look fine. They're one of the few things out there where exactly the same model is sold to women and men (the only difference being the sizing). And in spite of being pretty mainstream now, they still retain some of their former subculture symbolism (the Louis Vuitton ones and the extra-low-cut plimsolly ones being exceptions, obviously - in my land, they ain't Chucks). When I'm wearing chucks, I feel like if I get into an argument, my chances of winning are 90% better than if I was wearing keds, (and if I lose, I'm 50% more believable when I say I don't care anyway).

Still not convinced of their merits? Consider who else is/was a fan:

 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Yes. It's Rocky. Chucks are the shoes of champions.

magic friday

I have a bike. I also have heels. When I am on/in either, the world is wobbly and I have to concentrate really hard to get where I'm going. With their powers combined, I expect my wardrobe for the next month would have to go with plaster and traction.

So how does she do it?

It's Friday, and magical things happen on Fridays. (Actually I think magical things happen all the time; something magical happened to me on Tuesday. I discovered Narnia, right here in Dunedin, and I was wearing a fur coat. MAGIC.) So although this photo was posted on The Sartorialist a day or so ago, I think if we tried wearing heels and riding a bike today, the stars would align, and we would look nonchalant and cool. The key must be wedges, and the right soundtrack. Like this.

well-heeled

I didn't get into the slipper thing. The main reason was that it seemed like such a trend, and the kind where I just didn't get it; it wasn't funny, and it was just one component of a bigger trend that worked really well together, but out of context looked a bit weird (to me). Also, it reminded me of Hugh Hefner, and the only time I want to be reminded of him is if it's the alternative to being reminded of Donald Trump (vomit, curse and vomit). But then I saw these woven leather slip-ons with a copper toe, and I changed my mind. Strictly speaking, they're not slippers; they're woven! Yes, they include another very obvious trend with the contrasting toe. So what. They're called Rima, and they're by Dolce Vita, whom I thought only did boots (which would be enough - I have lost sleep over some of them), but happily, I was mistaken.