Laser Cut Shoes

(Image sourced from paperblog,com)

Laser cut shoes are another popular trend for this spring summer which means your feet can look pretty while also being aerated in those oh so many hot summer days we get here (always the practical thinker, and optimist!). 

"When you want to spice up an outfit, opt for a pair of visually intriguing laser cut shoes. These statement-worthy pieces add a splash of pizazz to any ensemble, and make a simple outfit come to life." blogher.com

Here's our collection that made the cut this season:

Clarks Henderson Silk £50

White on white and metallic shimmer are perfect for the party season with comfort padded insoles and laser cut detail. 

Fitflop Flora £65

Fitflop Flora are bang on trend with their bright vibrant colours and laser cut detail to the upper.

Gabor 84.169 £75

Gabor have brought out these fun square laser cute pumps in a variety of colours that are key for this season completed with their hovercraft sole unit for all day comfort. 

Gabor 86.094 £75

A variation on Gabor's classic California moccasin updated in pastel tones with laser cut detailing to the tongue area.

Rieker 40078 £49.99

Rieker have added a bit of girly glamour to this basic blue loafer.

Rieker Z9415 £57

Pastel pink boot with stud detail and laser cut flower pattern perfect for the summer.

Van Dal Monteray £68

With an espadrille sole unit and laser cut flower uppers this Van Dal summer shoe is perfect for any occasion.

Van Dal Selma £65

A peep toe sling back with slight laser cut detail adds interest and glamour to this simply cut shoe.

Van Dal Tahoe £75

Metallic toe caps mix perfectly with the laser cut flower detail on these cute and feminine comfort padded ballet pumps.

Will you embrace the laser cut trend this season?

Shoes of the Week

Here is our second edition of shoes of the week , unfortunately it has come from a week of grey skies and rain - the complete opposite of the previous edition!

Top of the pile yet again is the Converse all star Navy at £44.95, suitable for most weather situations and occasions Converse All Stars are one of the most popular spring styles. 

For the women it seems the wet weather has not put anyone off buying their sandals in nice and early, or are you lucky people going to some far off sunny place?! Top seller this week has been the Birkenstock Gizeh in our new patent colour Cashmere Grey. 

Such an easy, versatile colour where silver was our top last year this fresh patent grey tone has taken its place this year. All the comfort and support you expect from a Birkenstock means chasing the kids around the park all day or socialising at a BBQ no longer begs the question what can I wear that'll mean I'm comfortable all day. 

Following suit in the mens department (could this be an indication of an increase in matching footwear for couples?!) is the Birkenstock Arizona in mocca. Easy to slip on and off with double the adjustment and fantastic support this sandal is perfect for all day comfort. Goes nicely with jeans and shorts alike for summer holidays or summer memories in the back garden with a nice cold beer soft drink! 

After the sandals comes something more practical for this weather - the top selling shoes (as the title implies!).

For women the most popular shoe this week was the Gabor 84.169 in the stunning bluette (the colour really does look a lot more striking in the flesh). Finished beautifully with a simple square laser cut detail and super soft suede uppers along with a comfort padded and flexible leather insole, like heaven on the feet! 

And for the men; something even more practical, a dress and office shoe in the name of Bugatti by Steptronic. Perfect for a work or dress occasion with its gorgeous brogue detailing (need I mention yet again how much we looooove brogues?!!) Steptronic have lined this beauty (as with all their shoes) with a gel and sheepskin sole unit which provides all day cushioning and flexes with you so the are instantly comfortable. 

What have been your favourite buys recently? 

A Day Trip to Barkers

Last week James and I had the pleasure of being invited for a factory tour in Earls Barton, Northamptonshire to see the production of one of our top selling mens brands, Barker. Established in 1880 by Arthur Barker who believed in making shoes to the highest of qualities the business has flourished and now sells to over 50 countries. 

Barker's mantra is that "Barker will, through a combination of design, quality materials, and craftsmanship developed in a century of shoe making offer shoes which empitomise style, superb fit, comfort and excellent value"; this mantra speaks for itself once you put on your first pair.

Arriving early morning we were met by our tour guide and current agent Mike Thomas who proceeded to lead us to the conference room -  a beautiful large glass room - with every style to date on display. We were then joined by the Sales Director Adrian Gell and lead through the styles, given ample information on fit, colour options and prices and proceeded to put together our next seasons buy. 

Here's what we chose:

In the top left hand corner we chose a simple, classic black lace up for work (something we are missing in our Barker's collection, in the top right hand corner we have a small selection from the 'premium' collection taking on the country theme and at the bottom we have a beautiful selection of our true loves, brogues! 

Once we had put our selection together a refueled with tea and lunch we went for our factory tour, que a stream of pictures and complicated descriptions!

Skins for the products come in from all over the world, predominantly from France and Spain because they tend to be the best quality; each piece is then checked by hand and eye for marks or impurities in the leather. If any marks are found the leather it is either returned immediately or the skins are cut by hand in order to avoid in the imperfections. 

This machine has been with the Barker factory since they began and it is the most accurate way to measure the dimensions of the leather. The leather is fed through the machine by the row of pins you can see at the top and the exact circumference of the leather comes up on the dial.

Once the leather is checked it is sent to the cutting and clicking room...(named so because of the sound of the stanley knife once removed from cutting a piece of leather)

James having a go at cutting the leather by hand; some of the pieces are cut like this and some are cut using a press.

And the result:

Next step is to mark where the stitches need to be made on the leather and any stiffening to the tongue is added. If the shoe is then needed to be punched by hand it happens at this point too, the lady we met at the Barker's factory that does this job is one of four in the whole country that can punch leather by hand. A shoe is hand punched for bespoke and one off pairs. 

The soles are then made - all punched out of a thicker section of leather and injected with a cement made out of cork, a shank is also added either made out of metal or poplar wood. At this point the underlay of the heels is also added.  

The shoe is then stretched over the last using a heat process to shrink the leather to perfectly fit. The shoes are hand checked for any blemishes or faults and then 650 pounds of pressure per inch is used to secure the welt and the sole onto the last. The shoes are then put through a machine and 300 pounds of pressure is used to ensure the soles are all even and level. 

And finally the shoes are sent to the finishing room where they are polished with wax and any edges or roughness on the heels or the welts is smoothed out. The heels are then added using 10 metal tacks that go from the sole into the heel; (it used to be the other way around but due to quality issued this had to be reversed) as the shoes go from a size 3 - 17 the heel width and height changes to meet the requirements of each sized shoe. The heels are rubbed down again around the edge to ensure they are completely smooth and then they are inked to ensure an even layer of colour. The upper is then hand polished again and sealed to make the shoes as waterproof as leather possible can be. The soles are then stained and then they are 'bunked' (or stamped to you and me) with the Barkers emblem. The shoes are then hand laced by two lovely ladies; the shoes are then hand check one last time and approved for packaging. 

Finally the shoes are boxed (by hand, naturally) along with spare laces, a shoe horn, polishing cloth and care guide ready for shipping and selling.

The stock is held in the warehouse (where 55,000 are currently held) until it is ready to be shipped to its destination. 

A few years ago Barker celebrated their 130th anniversary with a visit from Princess Anne, in the same year they won a UK Fashion and Textile Industry award and a Gold Award for export excellence. 

It was so fascinating to see the entire process of making the shoes from the leather at the beginning (still almost animal like) to a pair of hand crafted, contemporary styled shoes. A massive thank you to everyone at the Barker factory for our wonderful tour.

Shoes of the Week

What a beautiful start to the day! 

We have decided to start a new blog series called shoes of the week, a quick post reporting on whats sold the best here over the past week. 

Top of the pile is the Converse all star Navy at £44.95, classic navy is the perfect colour converse to match with the majority of your wardrobe (if you're only choosing one colour!). Women: wear with jeans or cut offs for daytime and pair with a skirt or dress for casual evening wear and men: perfect with any outfit, even a suit if the occasion allows for it!

The biggest selling women's product this week has been this gorgeous Rieker heeled sandal at £57. The neutral, tonal colours add a summery vibe to any outfit while the small gem detail ensures this sandal works just as well for a dressy occasion as it does out shopping with the girls. Made with Rieker's anti-stress comfort padded sole unit which acts as a shock absorber while increasing comfort and flexibility ensuring all day comfort. Who said comfortable can't be stylish?

Top selling men's product this week is Josef Seibel's Raul 04 sandal at £65, velcro straps ensure a tailored and comfortable fit while the lightweight sole unit and comfort padded velour sole makes you forget your wearing a sandal at all!

What have been your top shoes of the week? Have you bought any with us? We'd love to see how you styled them!

A Break Down of the Colour Trends : 1. Pastels

(Image sourced from http://stylefrizz.com/201309/sandals-youll-need-spring-summer-2014-burberry-ss14/)

Pastel shades are one of the first things that springs to mind when thinking of summery days, warm evenings and holidays. Although we expect many of you have pastel shades in your summer wardrobes from previous seasons if you want to update your selection without spending too much money add a pastel shoe and transform your summer look.

Here is what we have in the way of pastel shades for spring summer 2014 for the women:

Starting with this pale pink patent effect ballet pump from Clarks, this shade of pink is just bright enough to add depth to an outfit without being too garish or obvious. Perfect with white jeans, summer dresses and floaty skirts and at a fabulous price of £29.99. Buy here

Sticking with pink is this stunning HB suede and leather pump with baby blue piping detail and bow to the front. The addition of the pastel blue adds interest and elegance to this simple little pump, perfect for a dressy occasion where a heel just would not do. Buy here

On to a more casual affair with the spring pastel Converse available in mint green, pale purple and pastel spotted. Converse canvas lace ups suit all ages and are the perfect every day run around shoe, lightweight and comfortable. Buy here

Comfortable feet are important throughout the year but in the summer with the (potential) heat it feels even more so. This year Gabor have brought out a variation on their fantastically comfortable and popular moccasin (previous blog about them here) in pastel shades with cut out detail for decoration and to keep the feet nice and cool in the summer. Made on a slightly wider last to enable the feet to spread out and remain comfortable for the duration on the wear. Buy them here

A mixture of comfortable casual and smart in this Rieker heeled sandal, made on a plush padded sole unit to keep feel happy with a touch of sparkle to keep the eyes happy! Tonal pastel shading on the uppers adds interest and helps mate with a multitude of outfits and occasions. Available here 

Now moving on the the classic spring summer colour, BEIGE. Not much needs to be said about how versatile and classically pretty beige can be so we'll let the shoes do (most of) the talking:

Masculine yet pretty the Clarks Hamble Oak in nude.

A wooden effect sole unit ensures this fits into any occasion.  

Cut out detail brings this Clarks Henderson Silk pump to life while the comfort padded removable insole ensures comfy feet for those long summer BBQ's

Three dressy options from Gabor all for very different occasions; update your spring work wardrobe with the suede pointed toe heel above, be comfortable yet stylish at a wedding or summer party in the square toe patent option or opt for the suede heeled sandal for a lighter affair. 

 HB 353

HB 5756

Two variations on the classic moccasin from HB; textured leather adds a point of difference to both while the brogue detailing and tassel detail takes this loafer from pounding the streets of London to office chic with tailored trousers and a crisp white shirt. 

Peep toe - tick; sling back - tick; beige - tick; patent - tick. What more could you want from a summer heeled sandal apart from the addition of a patent and suede bow?! Buy now

An option on the pink ballet pump mentioned above if pink is just not your thing. The addition of green means this pump will easily take you into the colder months. 

A flat every day sandal for those ladies that love a bit of bling (and who doesn't?!)

Snake skin effect toughens up this girly ballet pump making the transition from spring summer to autumn winter that little bit easier! 

With inspiration from the loved smoking slipper this ballet pump come moccasin has an air of sophistication to it with the textured leather and elongated toe. Edging on the masculine side this shoe ticks all the boxes. 

Finishing on this stunning suede peep toe heel perfect for parties and weddings alike. Mix with certain shades and this heel takes on an almost lilacy tone, stick with white and it sits perfectly in the beige crowd but find the right material and you could almost believe this shoe belongs in the pink family. Treated with Van Dal's Iron Mask technology means this shoe is as happy in the rain as it is in the sunshine, unfortunately weather gods if you are listening we are not! Buy here