Welcome to our new weekly blog, Shoe Design of the Week, where we’ll be featuring our favoursite shoes, finding out about the woman behind the shoe and what inspired her design. As we’re looking at shoes to invest in, we’ve launched with Co-Founder Julia Grinham and her latest Upper Street shoe, this stunning platform peep toe shoe in our new Luxe Metallic Suede in Green.

Over to you Julia, please introduce yourself…

Hi everyone, I’m the Co-Founder of Upper Street shoes along with my sister Katy and we started Upper Street two years ago. Both Katy and I ADORE shoes, but having size 9 and 8 feet meant we often couldn’t find the stylish, but individual shoes we really wanted for our shoe wardrobe. Katy discovered she could have shoes hand-made to her own design for her wedding and that’s when we realised we had to take our shoe secret and share it with shoe lovers everywhere. The last two years have been amazing and every day I love seeing the designs you’ve created online turmed into stunning shoes.

What inspired your shoe design?

As the face, or should I say the feet of Upper Street, my shoes need to have a WOW factor and show the beauty of the shoe designs you can create with us. We’ve just introduced our new Luxe Metallic suedes to the Studio and as soon as I felt the softness of the suede and saw how glamorous the colours were, I knew I had to design a shoe with them.

Although the green is very individual, it goes with everything in my wardrobe. I do a lot of networking and socialising for work so I need a shoe that will take me from conferences to business dinners to a black tie event. And this shoe will only improve with age, as the material takes on a vintage glamour.

Have you worn your shoes yet? What do people think?

I haven’t worn them yet (apart from modelling for my photo), but I’m attending a conference in India in June and they’ll make their debut there. I shared a picture of them on Facebook and Twitter and was inundated with friends and Upper Street fans asking how they could design a shoe like mine! I can’t wait to see more shoes designs in our Luxe Metallic suedes as they’re such a luxurious and beautiful material: once you feel them and see the colours, you fall in love.

Thanks Julia, please send us more pictures of your beautiful shoes.

Upper Street’s Luxe Metallic Suedes are only available through our Studio (they’re not on the website). If you would like to design a shoe featuring them you can:

Upper Street shoes come in a huge range of sizes from the petite 33 (UK 1.5) to the generous 43 (UK 10) with 4 width fittings. We also offer free alterations to fit and we’re so confident that you’ll love your final design that we’ll refund you if you don’t!

To book an appointment in our London Studio, email iloveshoes@upperstreet.com or call us on 0845 680 9365.

If you can’t make it the studio but still want to see our full range of luxurious materials, visit our Upper Street Swatch Store.Whether you’d like to experience the richness of our suedes, feel the silken quality of our sumptuous Italian satins or visualise our glossy patents as a shoe, you can order as many swatches as you want!

Upper Street - the made-to-order luxury shoe label where you can design your own individual shoes and have them delivered right to your door.

If you invest in our key shoe styles you’ll always have the footwear equivalent of the Little Black Dress, the jeans that you can wear for any occasion and the white shirt that works from season to season. With an Upper Street shoe design you can take a classic design and add that individual stamp that will always get people asking “Where did you get those shoes?”

Read on to find out what shoe designs we recommend you invest in to ensure you have fabulous footwear with the bespoke touch…

Black animal pointed court shoe

The right evening shoe is the shoe wardrobe equivalent of the Little Black Dress. This elegant D’Orsay cut pointed court in black animal has just the right amount of detail with its black satin Mary Jane strap, heel and large bow. Customise your design with different materials or select a 2.25″ kitten heel at the checkout.

Gold snakeskin sandal

When all out glamour is called for, you can’t go wrong with a shimmering sandal in gold tones and a little added extra sparkle. This snakeskin sandal with an easy back strap and two front straps embellished with Swarovski diamante gems is the perfect party shoe for every season.

Zebra pointed court shoe

Liven up your wardrobe by choosing a stiletto that makes a head turning statement. These fabulous zebra calfskin pointed court shoes use a perennial favourite print, zebra, and add an individual touch with a zingy red patent heel. Customise our stiletto shoe style to create your individual shoe.

Black & gold pointed court shoe

We love this kitten pointed court – it takes a classic brogue design and adds an Upper Street twist by contrasting stunning gold leather with sleek black patent. The 2.25″ kitten heel means you can take your feet comfortably from the office to evening cocktails…exactly what an investment shoe is supposed to do!

Cobalt suede studded ballet flat

A ballet flat is always a solid investment to add to your collection so why not up the ante by giving your ballet flat a little rock chic edge? These cobalt suede flats with their black snakeskin toe cap and counter back are given a fierce finishing touch with a sprinkling of studs.

Chocolate orange snakeskin platform court shoe

And because when it comes to a shoe investment, we can’t just stop at five, here’s an added bonus heel for work wear. Bring style to the boardroom with these platform courts in chocolate brown snakeskin with a contrasting tangerine back and heel. A lower 0.25″ platform and 3.5″ heel is available at the checkout stage if less height is required for work.

So now you know what styles we recommend you invest in, take a look at our shoe galleries and design guides for a little investment inspiration of your own. From season to season you can step out in your own investment shoes which you designed yourself for a truly individual look.

Upper Street shoes come in a huge range of sizes from the petite 33 (UK 1.5) to the generous 43 (UK 10) with 4 width fittings. We also offer free alterations to fit and we’re so confident that you’ll love your final design that we’ll refund you if you don’t!

To book an appointment in our London Studio, email iloveshoes@upperstreet.com or call us on 0845 680 9365.

If you can’t make it the studio but still want to see our full range of luxurious materials, visit our Upper Street Swatch Store.Whether you’d like to experience the richness of our suedes, feel the silken quality of our sumptuous Italian satins or visualise our glossy patents as a shoe, you can order as many swatches as you want!

Upper Street - the made-to-order luxury shoe label where you can design your own individual shoes and have them delivered right to your door.

Samantha, describes her daily style as more Country Bumpkin than Kate Middleton, but based on this fabulous shoe design we think the Duchess of Cambridge would disagree! We love Samantha’s fabulous neutral patent peep toe shoe design in camel leather and patent which she’s looking foward to wearing, now we have the sun! Read all about her shoe designing experience with Upper Street

Tell us a little about yourself

My personal style depends upon the circumstances – there is not much call for high heels and elegance when chasing chickens around. So I would say my daily at home style is more Country Bumpkin, than Kate Middleton! When I go out I love to wear nice clothes and beautiful shoes. I would say my style is classic and elegant. I prefer to buy one really good piece of clothing or shoes rather than buy high fashion. My wardrobe is quite small compared to most of my friends, but what I have are things that I love, that suit me and will have long term use. I love designers like Diane von Furstenberg and Alice Temperley.

What’s your relationship with shoes?

I love shoes! They can transform a simple outfit and they can make you feel a million dollars in an instant. Again I don’t have as many shoes as some of my friends, but those I have I treasure, especially my collection of Manolo Blahniks!  They are all pampered and kept either in their box or bag and stored in a 1920’s Tallboy.

I buy a pair of shoes because I love them, rather than for a particular outfit and as my clothes are classic, there is always something I can wear them with. I use shoes to update an outfit and to make me feel  completely different from wellie wearing hen keeper, housewife and mother. I have only made one big mistake in shoe purchasing and that was just before I discovered Upper Street.

I have one foot one size bigger than the other so I tend to only wear sandals. In the winter I wear boots or evening boots, as I find it so hard to buy court shoes that I can keep on my smaller foot. I really wanted a pair of black patent platform courts and so I purchased a pair from LK Bennett (which were not cheap). I was talked into them by the shop assistant, but even with insoles, heel grips and clenched toes I struggle to keep them on when wearing tights. If only I had known about Upper Street, I could have spent a small amount more and had the perfect pair of shoes with a strap across my foot which would hold them on!  You live and learn, although it’s a costly mistake and I won’t do it again!

What was the design inspiration for your Upper Street shoes?

My design for my Upper Street shoes was led by the need of a pair of neutral high heel shoes, with a strap to hold them on, that I could wear with any of my printed summer dresses. It was great fun using the design tools on the website to choose what I wanted. Even the waiting for them was good – the anticipation was amazing.

What did you think when you opened your parcel from Upper Street?

I was delighted to receive my shoes and I loved the pink ribbon and all the wonderful goodies inside – especially my beautiful shoes. I quickly booked a pedicure so that I can do them justice when I wear them (hopefully very soon)!

What did your friends have to say about your shoes?

Unfortunately the weather has not yet been good enough to wear my shoes, but as soon as I can I will be showing them off to all of my friends! The friends that have spied them already quickly went off to design their own shoes!  I am looking forward to designing more shoes with Upper Street

Upper Street shoes come in a huge range of sizes from the petite 33 (UK 1.5) to the generous 43 (UK 10) with 4 width fittings. We also offer free alterations to fit and we’re so confident that you’ll love your final design that we’ll refund you if you don’t!

To book an appointment in our London Studio, email iloveshoes@upperstreet.com or call us on 0845 680 9365.

If you can’t make it the studio but still want to see our full range of luxurious materials, visit our Upper Street Swatch Store.Whether you’d like to experience the richness of our suedes, feel the silken quality of our sumptuous Italian satins or visualise our glossy patents as a shoe, you can order as many swatches as you want!

Upper Street - the made-to-order luxury shoe label where you can design your own individual shoes and have them delivered right to your door.