Archive for the 'Designed by Style Leaders' Category
May 13
The Perfect SS11 Capsule Shoe Wardrobe
Ever wondered what the shoe wardrobe of one of Upper Street’s co-founders, Julia Grinham, looks like? How does she choose her Upper Street designs to update an already gorgeous shoe collection each season? Julia is a firm believer in the power of a capsule wardrobe full of style staples and trend led pieces and her shoe collection is no exception. We recently caught up with her and got a sneak peek at her latest collection of gorgeous SS11 Upper Street heels… and now admit to having a serious case of shoe envy!
Monochrome Must Have
“I initially chose this black and white snake design as a great everyday shoe, with a lower 3.5″ heel. However they’re actually really striking so I’ve worn them out in the evening quite a few times too. Such a simple design, but they provide a fantastic impact. These are the shoes that I was wearing when a builder wolf whistled me and said ‘nice shoes’! They look fabulous with cropped black trousers or a smart dress.”
Vivacious Violet
“I just had to have a strong pop of colour this season and when I saw a customer’s shoes made in this material I fell in love with it. This is only the second pair of Upper Street points in my wardrobe, but I think I’ll be getting more as it’s such a foxy style. These violet snake heels work best with simple jeans and T-shirt I think – the shoes are what I want everyone to look at!”
Pointed violet snakeskin court
Spring Colour Blocking
“This shoe was inspired by a combination of the Shoe Of The Month designs that Rosa has put together. I would never have though of putting turquoise and coral together but they really work especially for this season. They’re a real statement shoe so I tend to wear them with quite a neutral outfit – black or nude. It’ll be interesting to see if these colours carry through to SS12 – I hope so.”
Style Staples
“These camel peep toes are actually from SS10, but they’re still totally on-trend. They literally go with anything, and make my legs look super-long. They originally had an ankle strap which I took off (it’s removable) as I decided I didn’t really need it and was worried about my ‘chunky’ ankles! I wear these for work meetings, with a summer dress, with jeans… absolutely anything.”
“I wouldn’t normally chose black for summer, but Katy, my sister and co-founder of Upper Street, has a pair of these snakeskin sandals and wears them all the time, so she encouraged me to get a pair – they look amazing! I think I’m a real sucker for snakeskin and it’s great to have a chunky sandal in your collection as it ‘rocks up’ any outfit. I’ve just bought a new strapless leopard casual dress from Malene Birger for this summer’s festival season and these look amazing with it.”
Camel buckle peep toe, Black snake sandal
The Irresistible Extra
“These gladiator sandals are actually one of the sample pairs worn by the models on the Jasper Garvida catwalk for SS11 London Fashion Week. Fortunately with my large feet (size 8s), I was able to nab a pair! It was hard to decide which colourway I liked best but I fell for the purple and bronze as they are so sultry and the colours look good with so many things in my wardrobe. I think I’ll wear them with my black jumpsuit from Whistles or maybe the lovely Jasper Garvida dress that the man himself gave me….wow I am one lucky girl!”
Will you be building up a capsule shoe wardrobe to see you through the coming seasons? Take a look at our guide to The Essentials and The Lust Have’s and feel free to contact us if you’d like some advice on designing your perfect Upper Street capsule shoe collection.
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.
Mar 24
The fash-pack’s SS11 shoe designs
To help inspire you with your entries into The Golden Shoe Awards SS11, we asked five leading fashion bloggers to design their perfect shoe for this season.
70′s inspired – Fashion Foie Gras
Emily Johnston, the stunning woman behind leading fashion blog Fashion Foie Gras designed these beautiful tan snakeskin with natural python flower shoes that have a real 70s Retro feel about them, and also pick up on the floral trend. She’s very happy with the result as you can read on our blog post featuring her.
Tala Samman of MyFashDiary has come up trumps again with her second Upper Street shoe design. The gorgeous colour combo on these purple and violet suede platform courts works the colour blocking theme to perfection.
Shini Park, recent Graphic Design graduate of Central Saint Martins, and the girl behind the must-read fashion blog Park and Cube, has also played with the 70s theme with this strappy platform sandal in bronze snakeskin and white leather, perfect for high-summer and disco nights!
Kit Lee of famed London based fashion blog Style Slicker has a passion for all things bright and beautiful, and her shoe design for this season is certainly bright and beautiful that’s for sure! Her peep-toe platform in wild mix of red leopard pony skin, red suede, turquoise and purple two-tone snakeskin will certainly have heads turning.
The very gorgeous Amanda Start, of The Online Stylist (and regular contributor to this blog!) has designed her dream shoe for this season in the new nude patent. Her platform d’orsay with mary-jane strap shoe design makes a statement with it’s simplicity; she wanted to let the gorgeous new nude patent speak for itself in all it’s glossy loveliness.
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.
Mar 15
Fashion Foie Gras designs her own shoes with Upper Street
Emily Johnston is the stunning woman behind Fashion Foie Gras, a leading fashion blog that aims to bring fashion news to readers around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Originally from North Carolina in the States, she’s based in London but is constantly on the move following where the fashion news is developing.
“At Upper Street…..The shoe that you design is exclusively yours. So no more embarrassing moments of wearing the same shoe to a party. Now you can be certain no one will have your same footwear. That’s a real plus when it comes to investing in a shoe.”
And here are Fashion Foie Gras’ final shoes up close – such a beautiful design we’re sure you’ll agree.
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.
Feb 22
Mademoiselle à Paris
Uber chic fashion blogger and self confessed shoe addict Mademoiselle à Paris, has been keeping a record of all her fashion and beauty likes and dislikes since 2001. Writing her posts in both French and English, she now shares her views and opinions with the rest of the world at her gorgeous eponymous blog, Mademoiselle à Paris.
With a longstanding addiction to shopping a key factor in her life, Mademoiselle lists her likes as brunch with friends, tea rooms, photography, going for walks, travelling and dreaming. She’s not so keen on being kept waiting, Saturday crowds and running. A girl after our own heart… after all, it’s very hard to run in heels.
Having jumped at the chance of designing a pair of fabulous heels from Upper Street when she discovered the site at London Fashion Week back in September 2010, she created these beautiful slingback platform sandals in grey snake with stud embellishment.
We caught up with the lady herself to find out what she thought of her gorgeous new shoes….
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I live in Paris and have a career in consulting, while editing the Mademoiselle à Paris site. I travel quite a lot and am literally never home. When I am home, I attend quite a few events and running around requires to have really comfortable shoes.
How would you describe your personal style?
I’m quite eclectic and my wardrobe reflects my two occupations: one side has cute tops and smart workwear, while the other is composed of my more fashion forward pieces, collected over the years. I dip in both to get dressed but always err on the side of caution when going to work.
What’s your relationship with shoes?
Shoes are my biggest weakness and I have hundreds of pairs, ranging from the cute and cheap to the Statement Shoe of Carrie Bradshaw proportions. So I guess you could say I’m obsessive! Each pair is stored in its original box, and in the cupboard when there is space, otherwise there is a spot in my living room dedicated to my shoe stash.
What was the design inspiration for your Upper Street shoes?
I was inspired by that pair of spiky Louboutins that were all the rage a few months back, but that I couldn’t justify buying. And when I saw the gorgeous grey snake Upper Street had to offer I just couldn’t resist.
What did you think when you opened your parcel from Upper Street?
The shoes arrived gorgeously packaged in a black box with selective gloss varnish, which I am an absolute sucker for (I used to intern in a trend agency and worked with the graphical designer). Extra touches like the dust bag and careful wrapping of the shoes makes all the difference, specially when delivered rather than store bought.
What did your friends have to say about your shoes?
The girls loved them, and were very impressed with the material and so on. I’ve gotten loads of compliments on the shoes. The boys were not so impressed, as I think they’re jealous the shoes made me taller than them (6ft3 in heels).
So… will we be seeing you at Upper Street again soon?
Definitely, I spotted that blush patent leather that is new for 2011! And I would love you forever if you made wedges and boots too!
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.
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