Gold Shoes

All outfits have to start somewhere. Often it begins with a big piece like a dress or jacket. Sometimes it starts with a colour or theme concept. It has been known to start with a particular hairclip- but this outfit started from the ground up. With the shoes.



I am blessed with size 8 feet. My shoe size is everywhere and I am extra grateful for this coming from a family with small feet. My Mother has tootsies that are around the size 5 mark. Not quite so bad these days with the inception of the Number 1 Shoe Warehouse and other such stores- but back when I was in school my poor mum couldn't get shoes to fit her anywhere. She literally had to buy her shoes in the kids sections! I can almost pinpoint the moment that my personal shoe infatuation began in fact because of my Mum and her own lack of footwear options. We went on a family holiday that included a week in Hong Kong when I was 9. My mother suddenly had Asian shoes sizes and actual grown up shoes at her fingertips so obviously she needed to stock up while she had the chance. I roughly calculate that 20 pairs of heels came home with us after that trip....

But I digress.


This pair of shoes that started my outfit were another great buy from The Paper Bag Princess. ($14.00) There is a reasonable amount going on in them- and they were quite hard to really do justice in a photograph. First of all they are gold. Bright and shining in fact. They are also peep toes with a slight wedge heel. They have white detailing around the toe and heel- and if all that wasn't enough- they have a slight shot of colour running through them that includes reds, blues and even yellows. (not a common combo with gold)

Now given that these are obviously a statement pair of shoes- you need to be careful they don't get over powered by the rest of the outfit. Keep. It. Simple.

In this instance I have played it especially safe and gone for a plain black halter neck with a slightly flared skirt. To lift it enough to keep up with my feet- I added a feature belt that has a faux snakeskin finish and an irregular shape.

I think it's enough to be interesting without taking away from my toes....

Lilac Cupcakes

I first saw these shoes on trademe and feel in love with them. They had a buy now price of $100.00 though and I couldn't quite bring myself to commit to the purchase.

The next time I saw them was a few weeks back at Wild Pair. Price tag of $139.00. Still did not commit to them.

The 3rd (and final) time I saw them for sale was in the Paperbag Princess on Tuesday afternoon. Price tag of $20.00. They were even in my size! It was an extremely happy moment I can assure you...

The brand of these shoes is T.U.K. I first discovered these in Melbourne and have spent a bit of time browsing their online store. You should have a look too... HERE. There are many pairs of shoes there that I would love to own. Sigh.

Anyway. There is a lot going on in this particular pair. Shall we cover the details. Yes. Yes we shall.

• Lilac and Black is a great colour combo. Not an easy to match an outfit with I have discovered- but am working on it!



• A nice high wedge for under cover midgets like myself.



• Frills around the ankle



• Peep toe front



• Bow details on the front AND the back



• Cupcake, skull and rose motifs on the wedge



• Dangling skull charm detail on the back of the ankle

When I wore them to work yesterday I had 2 people ask if I had them custom made. They are fairly obviously the kind of shoes I would like... The only thing I would have done differently is made them green!

So in conclusion- I am still riding the warm fuzzy's from this bargain. Aaah. Nothing quite like it.

Red and White Stripes

I know I have already mentioned the bag 'o' bargains I picked up at the school fair yesterday. I am still quite pleased with myself so am going to just go on ahead and mention it again. There.

This dress was one of said bargains. I think I ended up getting this one for about $4.00. It was actually the very first thing I picked up in the clothing hall. I thought it was too small so put it back. Miraculously nobody else picked it up to buy before I came back to the rack and grabbed it on my way to the counter. Turned out to be maybe even be the score of the day. Yusssssss.....




I was even happier with it once I got it home and realised it can fit a crinoline petticoat underneath. I pulled out the drawstring from the waist to use as a headband - and added red peep toes and a wide red belt with bow at the back.

Bordering on over co-ordinating again I know- but still totally worth it!

A Step Ahead...

I am firmly in a peep toed heels phase at the moment. I love that they have a 50's feel to them- and they can quite easily go from day to night time wear.

I also seem to be in a little bit of a red thing these days- so this pair of footwear worked quite well with both of these phases.

Red. Shiney. Peeptoed. Bow.

They really have it all.

To top it off-they were an absolute steal at $15.00 from trademe!