Monday: historical shoes compared to fetish stilettos

Last week myself and the Duke went to the London Museum of Textile and Fashion: http://www.ftmlondon.org/ it is situated in an area of London (SE1) which is being dug up as part of the project to enlarge London Bridge Station and to incorporate Crossrail, so as you can imagine, it was difficult to locate the museum, but I'm glad to say that we did.  There was an exhibition of the work of Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell who provided the present Queen with her selection of splendid outfits.  Quite frankly, even for the day I found many of his designs a little frumpy and was interested to note that Diana, Princess of Wales didn't end up wearing a rather boxy blue suit which would have probably suited Margaret Thatcher a little better.

Anyway: shoes - I took the liberty of photographing the display of evening shoes for your delight, which are pictured below:

I cannot say that I'm particularly enamoured with either pair - are you?  Ditto below really....zzzzzz

Later on in the day we ventured into the Bond Street/Oxford Street branch of Next and had a browse in their basement shoe department.  I was particularly taken with a sparkly pair of high heeled peep toe courts but of course, they aren't particularly suited to my lifestyle.  However, I did note these faux patent leather platform stilettos which, in my opinion, bordered onto the fetish scene because I cannot imagine how anyone can walk in a five inch heel?

I know that the majority of men find them sexy, but I would wobble about like an enormous jelly in them!  Just imagine them juxtaposed with my new Birkie clogs - now that would be worth seeing....  Talking of stilettos, apparently Marilyn Monroe achieved her famous wiggle walk by lopping half an inch off of one heel - I can't think where I read this, but I guess it's true. 

Sunday: new Birkis Dorian clogs

Good morning and yes, I am currently wearing a pair of Birkenstocks?  Why on earth is that you may cry, well I'm sitting here typing in my enormous Janet Reger (hold on: not as sexy as it sounds) velvet hooded robe and my faithful red patent Birkenstock Madrids.  Even though I've owned them for quite a few years now they're still rather splendid - my favourite is the feel of the soft suede footbed sensuously caressing the sole of one's foot: yum!

OK, so I purchased a new pair of Birkenstocks, well they're Birki Dorian clogs to be exact and despite years of umming and ahhing I've never parted with any hard earned cash for a pair of Birkies which wasn't in the traditional sandal format, but knowing how much I adore the sheer comfort of these Teutonic trotters, I thought I'd go a bit wild.

I am fully aware that they're grey and emblazoned with huge ladybirds and know that it's an 'interesting' choice of footwear.  They slightly remind me of Gaston, the ladybird/dog character in the popular children's TV show Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, but there you go.  They're very comfortable though and although they're on a narrow footbed (I tend to chose the normal ones!) they fit like a glove.  Obviously above I'm pairing them with a pair of socks, but this is what they look like without:

Finally, if you place both feet together the pattern joins!  Isn't that clever?  Who says that you don't learn anything from watching the Birkenstock shows on QVC?  Hmmm. 

Saturday: black painted toenails and shiny red shoes

As promised, I thought it time to photograph and display my black toenails to the world as I am aware that you foot fans enjoy visual images, so there you go:

I think they're fairly nice, although at a quick glance you'd be forgiven for confusing them with fellow darker hued polishes like deep purple (not the heavy metal band mind!) but I like them.  If you look closely at my left foot you can see why I may be experiencing problems with exercise as it looks more splayed than the right one.  I tend to strap it up a fair amount but am hoping that wearing Birkenstocks in the summer may sort it out a bit.

I wore my new Clarks deep red shiny shoes to work on Thursday and they were fab.  They look really good paired with black opaque tights as you can see in the picture shown above.  My tights have got a bobbly patch on the right ankle though and look a bit shoddy as a result.

Monday: better weather, dangling pumps and a busy week ahead

Good morning, well it still is technically the ante meridian in good old Blighty anyway.  Sorry for not writing a great deal these days, I feel as though I am eking everything out of this subject for the sake of it now.  I did pedicure my toes yesterday in a splendid black hue: another of my Boots No7 recent purchases.  Unfortunately, as ever it's still a bit smudgy on the edges and will take a few days to settle down, so to avoid disappointment I'll photograph them then when they're in their full glory. 

I read somewhere that it's very attractive when a woman dangles a shoe from her foot(!) so with that in mind, I've photographed this:

Obviously I cannot take it from another angle, so it's a bit odd really.  It also makes my ankle look enormous - take my word for it, I'm not build like a brick shithouse.

I'm sure this dangling thing is borne out of body language and one of my first forays into understanding all about this fascinating science was via Mizz Magazine in the late 1980s.  Mizz Magazine was great: it had it all - beauty, song lyrics, photo love stories and interesting articles.  I still miss the photo love stories as Jackie Magazine featured them too and I do believe the global superstar Hugh Grant appeared in one.

I have a busy week, loads to do and I plan to wear my green Clarks Finnis tomorrow and my patent red ones on Thursday.  Hopefully the weather's warm enough for tights....

Friday: snow and 1000 page views!

So far so snowy - yes, it's fluttering down outside the window and boy isn't it cold?  Brr!  Anyway, I wore my old suede Next ankle boots which have (my personal favourite) cleated soles so hopefully no slippage on the pavements.  I'm not looking forward to the snow turning to ice tonight which will turn the whole suburb into an enormous ice rink!

Today's foot news centres around the weekly Popbitch mail out and if you haven't read this wondrous e-publication, sign up now - it's fantastic so don't delay, sign up at : www.popbitch.com  

Apparently HMV staff (a large CD and DVD UK retailer which has recently gone into administration) aren't/weren't (delete as applicable) allowed to wear sandals on the shop floor.  Actually, that reminds me of a time I was called into a senior meeting and was wearing Birkenstocks at the time which were given a sour look by one of their office staff.  Oh dear!  At least I had toe nail polish on though...  Finally I can't seem to get rid of these italics today so I'll sign off, I wouldn't wish to write in this manner on a regular basis....
 

Thursday: stiletto scrapes and Wiki Feet

This morning I witnessed a fellow female commuter fall over on the platform of the London terminus we'd just arrived in.  She was quite a long way in front of me and surrounded by concerned people but I did notice that she was wearing ankle strap stilettos.  Now, call me Mrs Frump but are they really suitable footwear for commuting in?  No, they're not, are they?  Mind you, my Doc Marten cleated boots were also slipping and a slidin' around, so there you go.

I read in tonight's London Evening Standard that the website, Wiki Feet which I mentioned a few days ago has suddenly become very popular indeed: http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/wikifeetcom-a-wiked-website-for-celebrity-foot-fetishists-8455520.html  Clearly you readers are in good company!

Brr!  It's freezing so I'm going to sign off now - I may purchase a pot of black Boots No7 nail polish tomorrow and give myself a pedicure on Saturday.  Hopefully my bowl won't freeze over....

Monday: snow, spotty boots and the threat of ice

Yes, it's Monday - well it's afternoon technically now rather than morning but you get the picture.  Overnight we had some snowfall - it's now melted but apparently more is on the way.  My personal bugbear is ice - I'm terrified of falling over because my mother-in-law has been incapacitated since she tumbled over last August and as a result, has a full-time carer.

I wore my spotty wellington boots - purchased from Next a few years ago, but I'm disappointed that that retailer is reducing the amount of footwear it sells in a size 9/43, which is a complete pain in the arse.  The spots on the boots are a bit yellowy now because they were stored in my porch and were affected by the sunlight which seems to have penetrated the upper layer.  I have to struggle a little trying to get them off as my calves are fairly muscular.  I do recall my grandfather making a wooden implement for removing wellingtons - it had an inverted V shape to grip the heel and gain enough purchase to pull one's foot out.

I rather like the Hunter ones which are for sale, but they're really pricey.  Sometimes I see people walking around London wearing wellington type rubber boots even when it hasn't been raining - life's strange at times!