5 of the Best: Fruity shoes

Usually with my ’5 of the Best’ posts I peg the chosen items to a new season trend like stripey skirts or silk shirts. But not this time. This quintet collection was inspired by the discovery of one awesome pair shoes, the Ooh La Las from Office, a pair of platform stilettos that looks a bit like a couple of watermelons in disguise. Turns out there are a whole fruit salad’s worth of fruity shoes about at the moment, from Jeffrey Campbell’s chunky Fruitbowl heels to River Island’s lemon print espadrilles. So here’s a juicy Polyvore compilation…

FRUITY SHOES by blondekatie featuring office shoes

Office shoes
office.co.uk

Jeffrey campbell heels
office.co.uk

Shellys suede shoes
£76 - heels.com

Ego and Greed floral shoes
£49 - solestruck.com

River island shoes
riverisland.com

Shellys platform wedge sandals
£76 - heels.com

Pleather and Peplum picks…How to nail 2 trends in 1

Two tricky trends that have emerged this season have resulted in a personal battle to find the ultimate in styles I have never before ventured in to.  ’Pleather’ and peplums to be exact. Whilst I have been lusting over a series of real leather skater skirts for the last few months on various internet sites such as Asos, Topsop et al, I didn’t feel at ease with blowing around £90 on a trend that could potentially hit saturation point this winter. Just like my previous deliberations over the Isabel Marant rip-off trainer heels that have subsequently flooded the market (and yes I did ultimately cave) I have been holding out for a cheaper copy, a ‘pleather’ if you will, which wont make me cry when my credit card bill comes. After umming and arring over this version from Rare I discovered in the basement of Topshop’s flagship yesterday, which not only also incorporates the studded trend for AW12-13 but is also a steal at £26, I would have gone for it had I not picked out a size too small and had a MOOOO moment…

However, this did lead me to venture in to Zara, somewhere where I rarely shop to be honest, and discovered something that not only nodded to the leather trend, but also incorporated the ‘peplum’ look which has been absolutely everywhere from SS12 (and which I do not see going away).  This PU gem only set me back £22.99 and although I am yet to road test it out thoroughly, I think managing to nail two trends with one item is pretty good going…

Fashion or future fiction? Running in high (top) heels

There comes a time every season where a few choice products fly down the catwalks and become deemed by the fashion elite as ‘absolutely necessary darling’.   And said products, usually a type of bag, a style of sunglasses or fit of denim become De Rigour for about 6 months.  Then, due to over saturation through high street copies, the elite want to distance themselves from these ‘necessary’ items sharpish.  No longer are they deemed exclusive and high-end, but through no fault of their own other than their sheer popularity, the minority dictate when they shall die their fashion death.  Remember the Chloe Paddington bag?  Enough said.

And this vicious cycle has left me wondering if this season’s choice of ‘it’ footwear really has the clout to carry on and creep through in to our Winter wardrobes.  The heeled high top, the wedged trainer, the stacked sneaker or whatever you refer to it as, has filtered down from Isabel Marant’s SS12 show right through to the bowels of New look in the past six months.  And finally, when I feel I can probably afford a respectable looking non-designer pair, this nagging feeling that they might be a complete waste of money rears its ugly head.  Are the upper echelons of fashion already hanging up theirs while us mere mortals ponder the influx of non-practical sneakers on ASOS and debate what colour our mates HAVEN’T yet got?  Why, oh why isn’t there some kind of fashion Oracle to warn my credit card of the life span of my new ‘totally necessary but completely not needed shoes’?

Having lived most of my adult life by the words of Beyonce, seeing her prancing about in a pair just fuels my desire, as does these gorgeous wedges by Ash landing in my inbox (below).  But, come on, for a potentially faddy item of fashion, is £149 a tad too steep?  Is the high street alternative, coming in at a lovely £24.99 from New look more sensible (if high-heeled trainers could ever be called such a thing) despite looking a bit more naff?

Well, only time will tell.  So roll on Fashion Week because all eyes will be on the floor.

INTERVIEW | Vintage Seeker Roberta della Bona

When it comes to vintage shopping, I am an extremely difficult person to impress. I am one of those nostalgia-driven kind of girls, one who thinks of this decade as a ‘fashion-recession’ era, seeking comfort by overloading my Barclaycard with expensive ‘seasoned’ buys, spanning from 1920’s cigarette dresses to 1980’s vintage Reeboks. While roaming through the collections at the Dust PR press day the other week, I came across Roberta della Bona, a fellow Italian young lady who was there to promote Vintage Seekers, an e-commerce website that sells rare vintage treats. I interviewed her about this ambitious project.

Naomi Morello: How did you come up with the idea of Vintage Seekers?

Roberta della Bona: It all happened on a day out at Goodwood Revival -[a classic car event sponsored by Rolex and Vitra that celebrates the heyday of racing at Goodwood between 1948 and 1962] in the Autumn of 2008. Me and my business partner Rob Keylock could sense the connection between cars and vintage fashion. We quickly put two and two together and realized that there was no online platform uniting these categories, so we decided to give it a go ourselves!

Could you briefly describe the website to our readers?

Vintage Seekers brings together 20th century design and collectibles across six categories in a premium lifestyle site. An e-commerce platform and online magazine combined, our aim is to connect the seeker with the sought after.

What kind of products do you offer?

The product mix is in itself unique, taking a very specific timeline (vintage pieces are between 25 and 100 years old) and applying it across six industries (design, collectibles, fashion, wine, watches, motoring). Anything from a first edition book collection to a vintage Airstream to an original 1963 Aston Martin can be found by the connoisseur. We’ve also started an online heritage-focused lifestyle magazine, which brings all of  these six areas together. Also currently developing is the ‘Future Vintage’ category, which covers a whole range of products from all our categories that are 0 – 25 years old and set to be the sought-after collectibles of the future.

How important is the internet to your business, how has it helped?

The Internet is our business. We sell niche product and thanks to the internet we managed to reach a targeted consumer based globally, connecting a collector in Hong Kong with a piece sat in a gallery in Holland, or a gift-seeker in Washington with a perfect anniversary present from a supplier in Kent.

Do you see the growing popularity of vintage as a result of the recession?

There has been a growing global demand for vintage products. The economic downturn has generated an increasing interest in nostalgia and heritage, and a reaction against ‘fast fashion’ and other disposable purchases and while independent niche dealers may have the stock, they often lack the digital knowledge or marketing skills to reach a wider audience and capitalise on the new media age.

Since the ‘vintage trend’ has been spreading all over Europe in the past five years, you must have a lot of competition. How do you distinguish Vintage Seekers from other vintage stores/websites ? What makes you special and worth visiting?

First of all, there isn’t another vintage site that covers all these categories under one roof to the same level. We are not a listing site or a portal, but a real e-commerce website, where you can click and buy from anywhere in the world. Also, since we are not a second hand  ’shabby-chic’ outlet we don’t see ourselves in competition with many of the so called vintage shops. We have very particular criteria to define and select our items which sets us apart. Everything we sell are investments items, true classics iconic of an era that retain value in time.

Visit www.vintageseekers.com

Have you still not joined Pinterest?

Guys! Have you not heard about the newest social media bandwagon upon which you’re supposed to jump? Pinterest is the latest hyped to the heavens website that aims to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” I was dubious at first, but now I’m really getting into it.

How does it work? You go to www.pinterest.com and request an invite. Once you’re signed up you download a little button that sits on your browser that says Pin It. Whenever you see an image on the web that you want to share you hit the button and save it to a Pinboard. So you might save a photo of Ryan Gosling looking ridiculously hot to a Pinboard called ‘My Future Husband,’ for example. You can also choose to post your Pins to Facebook or Twitter as you go along, and you can follow other Pinners and ‘repin’ their images on your boards.

If you’re a visual sort of person (and you’re reading this awesome fashion blog right now so I imagine you’ve got pretty good taste) you’ll probably love Pinterest. Like most new social media sites, it takes a bit of practice but before long it gets addictive and you can’t stop pinning. I got properly hooked last weekend after the Angry Birds photo on my nail art Pinboard got 15 repins (I’d barely got a single repin before that). And my best friend Caroline discovered that someone had pinned an old street style photo of me, which I was pretty excited about: little old me, a source of style pinspiration, who’d have thought?

Check out Style & Then Some on Pinterest and leave me a comment below with some tips on which Pinners I should be following.

StyleMint: What’s it all about Olsens?

Being one of the Olsen twins’ biggest fans going (much to my mum’s disgust) I was a little bit excited when I heard about The Row designers latest venture in to the world of e-commence.   However, it has taken me a while to get my head around what www.stylemint.com is actually all about. 

At first I had the impression it would be a virtual style sight like dress up Barbie (ahhh, those were the days) but using the Olsen twins – and FYI if that is indeed what you are looking for, you can get your kicks on www.i-dressup.com (don’t judge me please).

But in fact, it is more like signing up to a monthly personal shopper, whereby you answer a series of questions and are pigeon-holed in to a style group in less than 5 minutes.  You then spend around 30 dollars on a t-shirt and are sent your ‘top styles’ based on your profile every month with the incentive to buy more stuff.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed as the outfit choices to determine your ‘style’ were pretty lame, but hey, it is a bit of fun, and they have even managed to badger some fellow celebs to be seen out wearing their extremely basic togs, so no doubt it will spin them a little more pocket change to pump back in to The Row to produce those 16K priced crocodile backpacks.

But as always, personal opinion and all that.  But I think I would   Rather spend my time on www.olsenanonymous.com.  Now there’s a fellow addict I’d like to meet.

Style Alert: Fearne Cotton and the invasion of Aussie Brands

There are very few people’s style I actually admire.  I mean, I would die to look like an Olsen twin, yet others think they look like the richest homeless kids going.  But that’s what makes fashion fun I guess-differences of opinion.  And in my humble opinion, when this image of Fearne Cotton landed in my mailbox I just couldn’t stop staring at it, and felt compelled to share.    

Cotton’s ability to looked relaxed and like she hasn’t tried too hard is a definite style win with me.  And let’s face it, there is nothing a decent leather jacket can’t fix, (unless it’s teamed with leather trousers and you DON’T own a motorbike-so God help you).

And for some time now, I have been label watching several Aussie brands which are taking off in the UK (Style Stalker, Wheels & Doll Baby etc) and recognise Fearne’s dress as being by fellow Aussie label Evil Twin.  The bonafide rocker brand’s latest collection is definitely worth a look if you are, likewise, a Fearne fan.

The only way I’d improve this dress would be with some absolute killer heels, but when you’re attending a party on a lawn, you aren’t going to want to sink into the grass.  Well thought through Cotton.

 (P.S. Anyone else spot Ronnie Wood in his high tops in the background?)

It all starts here

Those were the words that Mikey whispered right before he and the rest of the Goonies descended  underground and started their epic adventure. But enough of favourite childhood film references, I’m talking about the start of Style and Then Some, your new favourite blog.

What’s it all about? Essentially, this is a fashion blog. An outlet for all the stylish outpourings of a quartet of writers. If it’s aesthetically pleasing and/or interesting to us you’ll find it in the style category. But even we can’t exist on a diet of fashion alone, so we’re casting our nets wider to fill the other half of the blog with news of the most stylish cultural happenings, places to go and things to do that we can find in London and beyond. Geddit? It’s style…and then some.

And who exactly are we? We are Helen, Katie (that’s me), Kelly and Sophie, four London-dwelling  twenty-something girls united by a love of fashion and writing, and a distaste for fashion clichés and ‘churnalism’. With several years fashion blogging experience between us, and a good few seasons at London Fashion Week under our belts, we’ve decided to join forces to form a style-savvy blogging team.

We’re just starting out, so be gentle with us as we find our feet. If you like what you see why not become a follower of @Style_thensome (can you believe it, no & symbols allowed?!) on Twitter and like the Style and Then Some page on Facebook so you can keep up to date with the latest posts, pics and general happenings. Like I said, it all starts here.