The legendary Yves Saint Laurent first introduced colour blocking many years ago and every now and again it filters down from catwalks to stores as a leading trend of the season. Spring and summer is the perfect time to mix and clash brights or play with tonal shades. If this is the first time you’re trying the trend, starting out with your shoes is the perfect option.

Take inspiration from the second of our Upper Street Masterclass posts where we look at just a few of the ways you can play with blocks of gorgeous colour – from ballet flats to the highest of platform courts, colour blocking will enable you to design a shoe with instant impact.

Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment
The beauty of our 3D Shoe Designer is the freedom it allows you to create your own individual designs and change the elements around if the finished shoe isn’t quite what you envisaged. Create as many designs as you need to feel confident with colour blocking, save them and scroll through your collection to see which shoes make the perfect statement. Go crazy and clash bold colours such as fuchsia leather and zesty tangerine with a peep toe platform court or add ultra purple satin and cinnamon suede into the equation for a platform sandal

Fuchsia tangerine platform peep toe Cinnamon, tangerine & purple platform sandal

Go Tonal With Texture
If you find clashing bright shades a little too scary, play with colours from the the same spectrum and add in textures for that extra special finish – we love the ocean inspired hues of these turquoise pointed courts with shimmering metallic teal snake panels. For the perfect daytime colour block heel, choose chocolate snake platform courts with a tangerine snake back and heel.

Turquoise teal pointed court, Chocolate tangerine snake platform court

Consult Your Closet
When designing a colour block shoe, take a look at all the shades you have hanging in your wardrobe and establish which are your favourites to maximise the wearability factor of your bespoke Upper Street design. If blues and greys are the predominant hue, then try a gladiator sandal in blue snakeskin and suede, adding a touch of bronze for contrast. Neutral girls will love these coral & tan leather d’Orsay pointed courts with coral fronts and black snake ankle strap.

Cobalt bronze gladiator sandal, Coral & tan leather pointed court

Diversify In Your Design
Step outside your comfort zone and try the same colour blocking design in a different shoe shape. If you’re a ballet flat girl by day then design a pair of statement pointed courts for evening using our extensive collection of snakeskin shades. Or turn your everyday shoes into something fabulous like these multi snakeskin panelled ballet flats or try a similar design using our new Limited Edition Snakeskin shades for SS12. Hurry though as they’re only available until August 2012.

Multi snake ballet flat, Python red & turquoise snakeskin pointed court

For more inspiration take a look at the colour section of our Design Guides or browse our extensive shoe gallery and don’t forget you can come and visit our Upper Street Studio in London. Whether you’d like to try shoes on before ordering, view our samples and material swatches or need help with designing your shoes, we’re help to help you.

To book a VIP appointment please email iloveshoes@upperstreet.com or call us on 0845 680 9365.

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

Gucci catwalk image from: janetdolce

Blue suede crossover sandal

The first thing that goes through practically every shoe lover’s mind when the sun comes out is “When can I start wearing sandals?” If ever there were a versatile shoe then the summer sandal must surely be it. Build up the right collection and you’re guaranteed to have statement heels to see you through every social occasion for the warmer months. At Upper Street the sandal comes in many beautiful guises with colour, texture, shape and finish all just waiting to be brought together into your perfect pair of heels.

We’ve put together four looks to go with sandal styles that echo the SS11 trends and will have your feet looking sizzlingly stylish this season.

Platforms are here to stay and when they come in the form of a sandal, look perfect paired with skirts, dresses, jeans and trousers.

Camel suede & eau satin strappy sandal

For an evening summer cocktail party, think easy glamour. Silk trousers and a shimmer top cry out to be finished off with sandals in gorgeous muted tones of camel suede and eau satin with a touch of Swarovski crystal diamante on the ankle strap.

Whether its a formal occasion or a casual affair with friends and family, summer socials in the garden demand florals.

White patent yellow snake flower sandal

Echo the zingy citrus print of this gorgeous maxi dress with a yellow snake flower atop some shiny white patent sandals with a yellow snake platform and heel.

Everyone loves a day at the races  - it’s the perfect excuse to dress up, put on your favourite heels and place your bets!

Ruby patent with nude bow

Whilst sipping champagne and cheering on the the winner, channel Carrie Bradshaw in brights, ruffle and a corsage. A ruby patent sandal with a nude toned bow will set every shoe loving heart a flutter.

A statement sandal is a must have for a summer wedding. By choosing an Upper Street design you can pull together your outfit and then pick and choose the colours that you want to accent.

These gorgeous gladiators in camel and orange snake with alternating embellished suede straps compliment the orange and nude tones with the dress and accessories beautifully. The perfect stand out wedding guest shoes.

Take a look at our sandal inspiration gallery and start designing your perfect pair today.

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 Source: Net-A-Porter, My-Wardrobe.com, John Lewis

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.”

Monochrome snake d’Orsay

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.”

Turquoise coral sandal

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!”

Purple bronze gladiator

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.

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It’s usually about now that the impatience for warmer weather turns our thoughts towards planning a few additions to our spring wardrobe. To help encourage that sun to show it’s face a little early, here at Upper Street we thought we’d take a look at what we consider to be the key trends for Spring Summer 2011.

Colour Block

Colour blocking works best when executed with simple shapes and if you’re not brave enough to colour block the brights then why not try neutrals? To dip your toe into this trend, try some tonal colour blocking with these burgundy, purple and violet leather platform court shoes.

Brights

Don’t be scared of brights – wear them in head to toe hues, work them with a ladylike silhouette or add in a zingy accessory or two. A pair of patent d’Orsay courts in yellow with a tangerine ankle strap will add extra sunshine to your day. Take a look at our recent trend report for the Bright Blues for some ideas to inspire when designing your unique shoe.

The New Nudes

From blush to putty and petal through to camel, our new beautiful nude shades are a graceful alternative to the abundance of colour this season. Fluid jersey and delicate chiffon in these makeup tones are the perfect partners for these soft suede and camel snake gladiator sandals. Look out for our new shade of nude patent coming soon.

70′s Revival

For a 70′s revival channel Ali MacGraw in Love Story by day and Studio 54 Halston-esque glamour for evening. The maxi dress is a great way to work the 70′s trend, just add in something as simple as a floppy hat, straw bag or a summery platform sandal in camel snake to complete the look.

As the weather warms up, we’ll be looking in more detail at how to work the Spring Summer 2011 trends into some ultra covetable shoe designs. Check back soon to ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward this season.

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: Offers4U, Reiss, Style.com, Net-A-Porter,