The lovely Violet Le Beaux and Valerie of Dweam, have recently been writing a series of Sunday posts called Sneaker Sunday.  The idea is that once a week we should give our feet the treat they so badly deserve and spend at least one of the seven days in sneakers.  Given that we three are known for wearing elaborate and often sky high heels, this seems like a most sensible plan, however, unless I’m on a treadmill or climbing a mountain, I don’t wear sneakers. Generally I wear ballet flats for running around the house, but these don’t offer much in the way of support and often leave my legs aching worse than when I wear heels. I was determined to find a suitably SKM style solution, so I went on a quest.

A quick street snap of Violet Le Beaux and I on Sneaker Sunday heading out for clay pot lunch. Yum!

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Before I hit the shops wallet in hand, I decided I needed a plan of attack. I needed a rough idea of the sort of shoe that would work with my vintage-y outfits, the level of quality and support they would need to have, the sort of activities I wanted to do in them and just how much I was prepared to spend.

Firstly, what was I going to be doing in these shoes? Well I figured that I needed something I could walk in for hours on weekend shopping excursions, something I could dance in (I’m told that learning Swing Dancing in heels is not usually the thing and I’m a bit of a freak like that), and something that still looked good while doing all this.  The trick about flat shoes and me is that while they may *feel* comfortable on, they also make me feel like I’m a three foot tall lump. So to pass the psych test, they would have to be pretty special.

I knew that looking in sports stores was out of the question so I decided to look somewhere totally unattainable first. My 1940′s Sear’s footwear catalogue! Yep, totally unachievable because they don’t even make them anymore. But, what this did do was give me a strong mental image of the sort of shoes I wanted, the silhouette, the colours, the support style. It also told me that in order to find anything remotely like this in stores I needed to resort to my previous summer sandal hunting technique and target stores that catered for a much older (read retirement home) market. Here’s where I went…

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I headed to the Kumfs store at Westfield Doncaster.  Kumfs are a New Zealand brand known for their comfort shoes and quality construction. They are also known for not being particularly high trend but more classic, so perfect really.

And here are the those that have won the title of my “sneakers”. The “Bromley” from Kumfs.

These are without a doubt, the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned. They have amazing support and cushioning, good width, and a nice lower cut around the ankle which is more flattering on me.  A few of you who saw the photo of Violet and I on the weekend asked for details on the soles and their suitability for dancing.  For me these are perfect. They have no grip to speak of, but also aren’t as slippery as dancing on suede soles. It also means I don’t have to change shoes when I get to a dance as I do hate carrying shoes around.  They didn’t come cheap and from memory were about $240 AUD, but I am told they are currently on sale in store so there may be bargains to be had.  The thing that totally sold me on these though was that Kumfs has a 30 day,money back comfort guarantee! Who does that? Wear them for one month and if you don’t like them, they take them back and refund your money. The shoes also have a 12 month warranty, so spending good money on shoes I know I’ll wear for years to come seems like a very good investment to me.

While I was in store I was also on the hunt for another pair of shoes that could take the place of heels on days out where I have lots of walking to do, but still look good when I’m quite dressed up. And then I found them there too!  I came across these faux skin, wedge heels that have a distinctly 1940′s ‘cockroach stomper’ feel about them.  Once again these have a comfort factor of 100 and still look fantastic with my seamed stockings.

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Even though I have been wearing these with almost alarming regularity this last month, I don’t have a single outfit photo on file to show them to you in action!  (Must remedy that this week) they are called “Krista” and were also found in store at Westfield Doncaster.  Sadly, I haven’t found either of these models online to link you to, but it might be a case of calling your local store to see if they have them if you’re on the look out.

So there you go. Now each week I can participate in Sneaker Sunday, even if I don’t have a huge variety of ‘sneakers’ to showcase. Check out Violet Le Beaux and Dweam’s blog for more on Sneaker Sunday.

Over the last few outfit posts you will have seen a few extremely cute new additions to my wardrobe like this stunning purple cardigan and these bow bangles. Each of these pieces are by local Melbourne label Friends of Couture.  I absolutely love Friends of Couture and you will have seen me wearing their pieces for some time now, remember this little lamb cardigan? Occasionally you come across a collection that you think to yourself, ” Oh that is all so me, I just have to have it!”, well that is the way I feel about everything FOC does.  They have a brilliant knack of combining vintage inspirations with super cute detail and modern chic, which  is why when they invited me to review their latest collection, Paris After Dark, I jumped at the opportunity.

Jo Matheson, (chief designer) and Candice DeVille aka Super  Kawaii Mama

Nicole looks stunning in the “Little Red Ridinghood” dress is azure blue with the red striped Matelot top underneath.

Paris After Dark is the new Autumn Winter 2010 range by Friends of Coutures head designer Jo Matheson.  Inspired by the romance of vintage lines and a strong traditionally French colour palette, Jo has created something that is both wearable, collectable and very very head turning. The collection takes a journey from the flirty and feminine lines of sweet floral chiffon with a distinctly 1930′s flavour and meanders through to stunning, slightly puffed sleeved cardigan with beaded art deco detailing. I particularly love the Hotel DeVille cardigan in a soft, buttery cream wool with deep blue beading.  There are the iconic pieces that take wardrobe staples and give them just that much more punch by creating a strongly waisted silhouette and drenching you in azure blue; as well as classic boat necked tee’s with stripes that Gigi would have been proud to wear.

Jo Matheson is responsible for the beautiful Paris After Dark collection.

Hotel DeVille Cardigan (left) clearly must have been named after me! Little Drummer Girl cardigan (right).

The feminine detailing doesn’t stop at the figure flattering cuts, but continues through to corsages, bows (that can even be worn in the hair!), tulle skirts and the softest of soft cropped angora cardigans. (I don’t know about you, but the snuggle factor of angora wins me over every time.)  I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to find a local, accessible label that knows how to combine current trends with timeless classics in such a seamless way. For example, they’ve taken the military feel (so popular in that Balmain jacket) and managed to capture the essence of the style in soft, wearable cardigans that make the most of our assets without having to cash in any to buy them!

When I start to think about “Paris After Dark”, my mind drifts to Parisian bordellos (clearly I watch too many films), smoky eyed women in sumptuous fabrics, with kissable lips and strokable hips.  Jo has woven this intensity and edginess into some of the darker pieces in the range using velvet and sequins (bows!), strong shoulder lines and strategically placed zippers. While our Parisian girl by day may be all feminine pinks or jaunty stripes, at night her walk takes on just a little more wiggle in body con electric blue, violet and black.

Oh, and for those of you who have been drooling over my high waisted jeans… let me tell you, this collection has the most amazing pair of wide legged, high waisted black pants, Sartori.  With flat fronts, button detailing, even button on suspenders; when I tried these on, they fit like a glove and I even gave a little Squee in the dressing room.  You are going to LOVE them. ( Watch out for an outfit post with them next week.)

See them on the left? Awesome Sartori pants!

Friends of Couture pieces get my seal of approval for not only being infinitely stylish and cute, but also for their quality. I’ve worn some of their pieces over and over and over again in the last three years, washing the knit wear and popping it back on the next day, and they have kept their shape, their colour and their edge. I can’t say that for a lot of modern pieces in my wardrobe, especially not those others of a comparative price.

Yes, I could go on and on about how fab this range is, but you really must see it for yourself.  If you are in Melbourne you can head straight to the stores at:

225 Chapel street, Prahan

186 Sydney Road, Brunswick

Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Melbourne CBD 311 Swanston Street, Melbourne

And, because one can’t possibly not share something this good with the rest of the world, you can get your hands on some of these fantastic pieces for a ONE DAY ONLY 20% off Valentines Day Sale in the online store!! Just enter “bemyvalentine” at the coupon section at the checkout for 20% off on ALL stock!

***EDIT: Just to clarify they do sell online and will ship to ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! So get in there while the Aussie dollar is still a bargain!***

So yay for awesome new designs and a great big yay for special sales too!!

You’d think I would have run out of things to show you from Singapore by now, but no. (In fact I still have lots from pre- Singapore trip that I haven’t even gotten around to yet!)

I am a magpie. That is to say that I endeavor to have nothing in my life that is neither useful nor beautiful (thank you William Morris), but darn it, I just keep on finding little knick nacks that serve both those purposes. Mind you, when you are quickly taken in by the cute, the shiny and the moderately useful (USB fan anyone), is is hard not to be a shopping magpie.

I haven’t even gotten around to photographing any of the clothes or shoes I found in Singapore, so I’ll save those to be measured out when styled in various outfit posts. Instead I’ll show you just what manages to creep into the “useful or beautiful” category!

Just to kick off the hilarity of this shopping trip, I stumbled upon Butt-on Trendy Undies. Now seriously, what the hell is that?!  Are they undies you button on to become a trend setter, or perhaps perhaps it is intended as a pun on “right on”? And when did undies become a trend statement? Sheesh, I must be so behind the times. LOL – did you see what I did there? “Behind the times!” Seriously.. perhaps I should start my own underwear store with marketing talent like that!

Anyway…. while wandering around the basement of Far East Mall, I came across the real world shops that are being run by what is know as “Blog Shops.” I wasn’t all that familiar with the concept of Blog Shops before the Nuffnang awards, but when I saw that introduced as a category I did a little looking around. It seems that there are a number of stylish and entrepreneurial bloggers out there who are retailing their own choice of clothing through a blog platform.  Not specifically pieces made or designed by them, by things that are sourced by them from different manufacturers and presented with their own spin. The clever bloggers have taken their ideas a step further, pooling their resources to set up “Best of Blog Shops” in a few different locations.  That way they can all share the space, the overheads and the work! I picked up a few fantastic pieces from Tracyeinny.

But then as you can clearly see, I then went mad and indulged in my favorite Asian destination shopping pastime… finding more cute sparkly things!

An incredibly cute USB fan (that has actually been coming in handy on these 35 degree days) and my very first Decotti set!!!

I am so very excited to try this one out and already have some ideas for it that to my knowledge, have never been seen before!

Let’s see now – Candy in awesome tins ( a small selection of the many I brought back), Cute Pokemon figurine sitting on top of a notebook that looks like strawberry chocolate, more food related stationery products, and yet more notebooks to perk up the daily To Do lists with a Miffy pen to wobble whilst I write.

An exceedingly useful ruby toned bejeweled Bearbrick – you mean you don’t have one too?

More polish for my famously over the top, bejeweled, bedazzled manicures.

Shills facial bubble peel – just because the packaging was brilliant, not because of any inherent beautification factor that I know of.

Another sparkly ring, purchased in duplicated for a Power Twins moment; and a delicate and gorgeous Swarovski bracelet about which I have nothing clever to add as it was probably the most practical of all the purchases.

Yep, my penchant for Kawaii is all but satiated… until next time!

What better way to kick off Spring but with a fabulous new dress? Okay, I am one day early, but I like to be prepared.

I was tempted to give you a huge selection of all the pretties that caught my eye as I’ve shopped around, but I’ve narrowed it down to my current favorites.  While I do love shopping for original vintage, there are times that call for reproductions and vintage inspired pieces.  So rather than looking for vintage one of a kinds, I’ve put together a short and sweet selection that you can also order for yourself should the mood take you.  I’m already looking forward to chardonnay lunches, BBQ parties, marketing on sunny mornings and after work cocktails in these outfits.

Super Spy Dress from Heartbreaker

Wing Bust Dress by Whirling Turban

Vivien of Holloway Halter dress

Bettie Page dress by Blue Velvet Vintage

How can I pick just one?!