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.

Marine Satin Peep Toe Platform

When it comes to getting married and arranging a wedding ceremony that’s right for you as a couple, most people end up wanting to incorporate a little bit of tradition somewhere along the line. Even the confirmed individualists among us sometimes adopt one thing off the exhaustive list of marital customs.

Often it’s the Something Blue tradition that is a firm favourite to hold onto, possibly due to the meaning behind it – in ancient times it was thought of as a symbol of faithfulness, purity and loyalty. In years gone by we’ve all seen the infamous blue garter make an appearance at some stage in the proceedings but if this isn’t for you, why not design a pair of bespoke heels in one of our blue hues?

Sea Satin Peep Toe With Gem, Eau Satin Bow Sandal

Marine Satin d’Orsay Bow

For the low-key ceremony why not pair some beautiful blue heels with a minimal outfit a la Carrie & Big in the infamous wedding scene from Sex And The City?

Don’t forget about your bridesmaids and the mums too. If they’ll be wearing blue on the big day then take a look at our extensive range of colours and design a pair of unique shoes that will complete their look perfectly.

Eau Satin Round Toe d’Orsay

For a bona fide footwear fanatic, the shoes for the big day are as important as the dress… and in some cases, even more so! At Upper Street we understand the shoe dilemmas that face every bride to be and are always happy to help with any design queries you may have. Satin swatches are available on request and a lower heel option for your design can be selected at the checkout.

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.

Image Credits: Etsy.com,About A Girl,misquincemag,Bridalwavetv,BoutiqueBridal,WeddingDressesUp

Last week we looked at what we think are some essential shoe designs that would enhance your capsule collection. This week it’s turn of the footwear favourite that speaks volumes to shoe lovers the world over – The Lust Have!

Only a true shoe-a-holic understands the lure of the shoe that draws an involuntary gasp upon first glance. The instant you set eyes on them you start planning an outfit around them. And if necessary, you’ll go out and buy something if nothing suitable comes to mind, such is the pull of this shoe.

To make it a little easier for you to choose and incorporate into your wardrobe, we’ve divided up the Lust Have’s into four categories… all that’s left for you to do is design something that sets your pulse racing…

The Red One

Red Snake Round Toe Platform

There’s room in every wardrobe for a beautiful red shoe. Whether you wear them with a simple black dress or under jeans, they add instant wow factor to any outfit.

Red Suede Peep Toe, Red Pointed Brogue, Red Snake With Pewter Straps

Choose a luxurious red suede platform peep toe with a dainty ankle strap, a demure but sexy suede and leather brogue or a show stopping peep toe snake platform with pewter triple straps. Visit our beautiful red shoe gallery for inspirational designs.

The Lunch With The Girls Shoe

If you’re going out to have lunch with the girls and maybe indulging in a spot of retail therapy, make your shoes the focal point of your look. These are some of our ‘Girls Lunch’ shoes picks from our shoe gallery.

These glossy turquoise and black patent peep toe heels would look fabulous with skinny jeans and a T-shirt. Opt for beautiful colour pop pointed courts in violet and fuchsia suede.

Or why not update a classic Mary Jane style with brogue detailing in chocolate and camel leather?

The Leopard

Leopard & Black Platform Peep Toe

Never change your style spots. To add instant luxe to an outfit, you need look no further than a leopard print shoe.

Work the trend in a round toe court with a contrasting platform and heel in black leather or just add accents with a gold and camel snake platform peep toe shoe. For a touch of retro elegance, go full on leopard with a pair of stylish D’Orsay side, pointed courts.

The Statement

Every capsule wardrobe needs a Carrie Bradshaw piece. Don’t be afraid to include a pair of statement shoes – they’ll add head turning drama to the most casual of looks or compliment a fabulous dress. Have fun and be daring.

Go wild with black and zebra animal asymmetric panel sandals with a funky ruby patent strap and black snake platform and heel. Put some zing in your step in the form of a these flame and coral satin triple strap pointed courts and finally adorn a pair of marine snake peep toes with a turquoise snake flower and two-tone heel and platform.

Visit our colour block shoe gallery for inspiration on how to create the perfect statement shoe.

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.

No comments

Monday 29 November sees the UK release of the Sex And The City 2 movie on DVD. As with the first, there’s been muck talk of whether they should have ever made the series into films or just left the storyline where it was with that happy New York city ending.

At Upper Street, being the life-long confirmed shoe girls that we are, we have to see every movie that Carrie And Co make – there’s just no question! So whether you’ll be hoping that Santa puts a copy of the latest fashion fest into your stocking this year or just re-running your box set of the TV series, we thought we’d mark the occasion by sharing our top ten Sex And The City shoe moments…

1.  ”Hello Lover” – Looking for something fabulous to wear on her date with Big before he departs for California, Carrie spots a pair of petal pink Louboutins in a shop window and proceeds to purr those famous words now uttered by shoe addicts the world over.

2.  In the same episode, I Heart NY, Carrie’s date is cut short due to Miranda going into labour. Carrie rushes to her side and provides support… only to have Miranda’s waters break all over her beautiful Louboutins!

3.  ”I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes”. Having broken up with Aidan and realising she needs to buy back her apartment, whilst on a shoe-shopping excursion with Miranda, Carrie realises that over time she has spent $40,000 on shoes!

4.  The moment Carrie steps out of her apartment in the second movie in that white Halston Heritage dress.. and THOSE Gold Louboutins.

5.  The shoe rack along the wall of the walk in closet that that Big builds for Carrie in their sadly doomed, Heaven On Fifth apartment  in the first movie… the ultimate in shoe storage!

6.  The Proposal Shoes – “That’s not how you propose to someone… this is. Carrie Bradshaw, love of my life, will you marry me? See… this is why there’s a diamond, you have to do something to close the deal”.

7.  The Urban Myth Manolo’s – Having submitted a first article to her Vogue editor Enid, and promptly had it rejected, Carrie is taken to the sacred Fashion Closet by another Vogue editor, Julian. There she discovers a pair of black patent Mary Jane Manolo’s…. the “Urban Myth” of shoes. She is somewhat distracted when, in a bid to seduce her, Julian drops his trousers to reveal his Versace briefs!

8.  A Women’s Right To Shoes – Carrie is forced to take off her Manolo’s at friend Kyra’s baby shower and consequently they are lost. After heated discussions about getting her friend to replace the shoes, she decides to register at Manolo Blahnik in recognition of her marriage to herself. Kyra finally agrees to replace Carries precious shoes.

9.  When Carrie is mugged on West Broadway, her Fendi bag is stolen, along with her pink suede strappy Manolo’s. Her fear is not for her safety but for her shoes as she pleads with the mugger “Please sir, they’re my favourite pair.. I got them half price at a sample sale!”

10.  The immortal quote: “It’s really hard to walk in a single woman’s shoes – that’s why you sometimes need really special shoes!”

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.

Image Credits: Jack&Anna, AllWomensWeekend, SexAndTheCity