Cheap thrills

Just thought I'd share a couple of new buys that were beyond affordable, yet have instantly become my new favourites.  I definitely needed something to cheer up my wardrobe from end of season fatigue, considering I'd largely failed to buy much for summer this year.  As it's very nearly September, it feels too late to make any serious purchases, but it's still quite hot here, so this is what I picked up to get me through the next few weeks until the temperature drops...

 

The perfect classic espadrilles, bought for 4€ from a supermarket, and the exact tan sandals I've been after for a couple of years, handmade in Greece, and costing only 20€.  I've worn either one or the other since buying them, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Second time round...

I think I've made it fairly obvious that when it comes to fashion obsessions, I don't tend to move on ever too quickly.  I posted about a year ago that I had finally managed to get my grubby paws on a pair of Miu Miu shoes that I had been lusting after for four whole years, thanks to the magic of ebay.  Well, this time, the wait was a bit shorter.  Meet the newest addition to my footwear family:

They're by Chloe, from Resort 2012, and I've wanted them ever since I first saw photos of the collection online.  Sadly, they were completely out of my reach, even on sale, even at bloody TKMaxx this past autumn.  And then the gods of ebay smiled on me and I found them, in my size, at a price that would be more at home at Topshop.  I've got a bit of a soft spot for all things multi-strapped, and seeing as I can't have the Vivienne Westwoods of my dreams, these will do very nicely.  As a side note however, I must say that Chloe shoes, in my limited experience, are an absolutely nightmare to break in.  These ripped my feet to shreds the first time I wore them, and left me hobbling slightly the second.  I've literally never felt leather so stiff and unyielding, at any price point.  It does make me think that perhaps I'm hasty in writing off high street offerings as sub-par, when something that cost hundreds orginally is of such comparatively low quality.  However, I'm thoroughly smitten, so I'm quite determined that they will one day be broken in.  Fingers crossed that day comes soon... 

I've succumbed...

Well, slightly anyway.  The whole 90s trend that's inescapable at the moment has generally left me a bit cold, mainly because, for the first time in my life, a decade I properly lived through, regrettable fashion mistakes and all, is being ressurected by those too young to remember it.  And I'm starting to think the old adage that if you lived through something once, you're probably too old to wear it the next time it comes into fashion.  Because unflattering clumpy platforms- tick.  Docs- tick.  Rucksacks (mini and full-sized versions)- tick. Ditsy floral maxis, jelly shoes, Birkenstocks, round sunglasses, daisies on everything- tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.  And if looking back on what I wore then has made me cringe ever since, why on earth would I want to adopt any of it ever again?  And yet.  Suddenly, after years of neutral, delicate sandals, and Havaianas for the beach, something alltogether sturdier and chunkier started to seem appealing.  And I found myself contemplating Birkenstocks, of all things.  Thank you Pheobe Philo.  I must admit, 90s minimalism, slouchy trousers with sandals verging on the orthopaedic started to seem appealing.  I blame all the fashion bloggers quickly following wherever Celine leads (and not myself for being a fashion victim, obvs).  So I went as far as actually trying on a pair of Birks in Topshop.  And they were just as awful (on me anyway) as I remembered.  So I scurried away, tail between my legs, and searched for an alternative.  And I found these:

Silver cross-strap Birk-alikes from River Island,  a shop I've barely set foot in since leaving my teens over a decade ago.  *Hangs head in shame* To further cover myself in glory, I somehow, one grey February day, came home with glittery jelly shoes.  I convinced myself they'd be a good beach shoe to replace the flip flops I've become bored to death of.  And they were only £4, so I was powerless to resist.  Now let's see if I get up the nerve to actually wear them.  Meanwhile, I'm trying my hardest to resist the siren call of a pair of full-on plastic pool slides- watch this space.  

Newest Additions...

Nike Pegasus 83 from here

animal print skate shoes by Diemme

to my footwear family, and they're both sensible as can be.  I never thought I'd see the day a new pair of trainers would make me happier than impractical heels, but clearly fashion's current mood for shoes you can run for the bus in has won me over.  The first pair in particular are the perfect thing to cheer me up on the greyest of days, and I'm trying really, really hard not to buy them in the other colourway which has just gone into the Asos sale.  Can one have too many trainers?  Is there anything you can't actually pair them with?  (I've convinced myself the answer to the second question is definitely no, and my current favourite thing to wear is dresses and trainers.  I really did not see this coming.)  

New

Just thought I'd share a few bits bought mainly in the dregs of the sales in the last few weeks.  They manage to quite nicely sum up my current obsessions of pointy, 60s style shoes, delicate jewellery and lace everything. 

New(ish) Mius

After months of buying almost nothing, I seem to be going a bit mad on ebay and in the sales at the moment.  The latest addition is these Miu Miu courts, bought secondhand and ridiculously cheap.  I originally saw them on a customer in the shoe shop where I worked circa 2009 and fell in love with the way she had styled them- all black, a bit grunge-y and the perfect contrast to the primness of the shoe.  We actually stocked the higher-heeled version at work and I tried them on multiple times afterwards trying to convince myself I could wear them, but they were ridiculously high and spindly so I reluctantly gave up on them.  I never came across the lower ones, either in the shops at the time or on ebay afterwards but I always had them at the back of my mind (I'm nothing if not loyal to my shoe crushes).  Clearly though, they were (eventually) meant to be, and the three of us can now live happily ever after. 

I *heart* Ebay

I mentioned previously that I had bought some ridiculously cheap Chloe sandals from ebay but didn't want to say any more lest they not be quite right.  Well, they've arrived, and they're perfect.  

I've been searching literally for years for the perfect pair of neutral, go-with-everything sandals and had failed spectacularly to find anything suitable.  It doesn't help that I for some reason don't consider sandals proper shoes and refuse to spend very much on them, despite living in them in summer months (yes, even in rainy British summers).  They're just not very exciting, and more of a necessity than something I'd fall in love with and need to own.  So any perfect specimen I found, from K Jacques to Miu Miu, never actually came home with me, and I'd end up with some inferior version from Topshop or Primark, which would get me through the rest of the summer and the whole process would start again the next year.  This year though, the fairy tale finally has its happily ever after, and these shant be leaving my feet until at least September.