Nothing beats a great pair of Converse high tops. Everyone needs a pair in their closet, it is the absolute must-have cheap, perfect shoe. I have a few pairs, one plaid pair from when I was 14, that is completely falling apart (I’d like to have them bronzed), a pair of denim Converse that my friend Daniel re-designed by splattering bleach all over them (it makes a nice pattern) and a pair of plain red ones. If was in the market for a new pair (when am I not in the market for a new pair of shoes?) I’d take these blue ones. I love that they are completely blue, aside from the sole. The blue label, laces, and lace holes make them look…different. In a cool way.

It is a shoe-love weekend!

Image from Hypebeast.

Next week Selfridges, London’s famous department store, is opening a large space called the Forever Shop, a shop that will sell iconic design classics. The collection will feature clothing, accessories, books, and homewares, curated by the likes of Sir Paul Smith and Elle Decoration editor Michelle Ogundehin, as well as the store’s Creative Director, Allanah Weston. The idea is to offer pieces that are classic and never go out of style, I guess this fits in quite well with the current economic climate, and consumer’s desire to invest in more quality pieces. It is also slightly ironic that the Forever Shop is replacing Selfridge’ Wonder Room, whose concept was ultra-luxury, ridiculously expensive pieces, like $20,000 bags and skull rings.

Here are a few of the items that the store will sell:

Le carré d'Hermès

Converse high tops.

Bic lighters.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

The Georg Jensen Koppel pitcher

Tom Dixon Mirror Ball light

Here’s what I would add to the fashion list:

Chanel 2.55 bag

Hermès Chaine d'Ancre bracelet

Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress

Salvatore Ferragamo ballet flat

Cartier Trinity ring

Hunter Wellington boots

Burberry trenchcoat

Adidas tracksuit

Rayban Wayfarer

What would be on your list?

Today’s post is really three mini posts about shoes, a pair that I sort of want, a pair that is really cool, and a pair that terrifies me.

Let’s start with the pair I want…

I have been toying with the idea of buying a pair of trainers from the brand Alife for a few years. I really like their giant, colourful shoes, but also know that they will be extremely unflattering, and will make me look ridiculous. On a more recent trip into the Gastown store, I found a pair that would be quite practical for my trip to London and Turkey at Easter. (I need to clear up that I am not the person who travels with a giant backpack and running shoes on, that is obviously not me. But since I am going to be doing touristy things with my Mom in Turkey, and I don’t know what their streets are like, I was thinking, maybe I should wear flats… Also, I only want to bring two pairs of shoes to my Europe trip, one pair or flats and one pair of heels, and a very limited wardrobe, so I have space for the shoes and clothing I am going to buy, which will be a lot.In fact, I may just fly over with two outfits, and buy the rest.)

Here are the shoes I like.

The ones I want are actually in suede and have a black upper and a black sole. They look more like a shoe than a trainer.

But can I find them in my size? No. Apparently they do very limited women’s sizes, they do very limited runs, and basically its really hard to find the pair you want. I have never walked into that store in Gastown and been able to try on a pair of nice shoes in my size, which I find extremely frustrating

The notion of exclusivity works in many situations…a lot of brands have limited edition products that are very sought-after and sell out quite quickly. But I don’t think a brand should make it impossible for a customer to get anything in their size. Its ridiculous. Even the Alife website doesn’t have many products, and virtually nothing in my size. Plus, the sales guy in the Gastown store was supposed to try and find a pair for me and call me back. Haven’t got that call yet…You may need to wait 2 years to get some Hermes bags, but you can definitely walk into any Hermes store and get some sort of bag…

(the Alife images were take from this and this website, as the Alife website doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe this is part of their “exclusivity” factor.) I think I’ll bring Converse to London.

Now onto the shoes I love. Melissa is a Brazilian brand that makes rubber shoes. It is anther one of those totally underrated Brazilian brands that are not widely available internationally (Osklen and Rosa Cha would be two other such brands.) Melissa is slowly starting to penetrate the European and North American markets, but, like most export brands, the prices are totally inflated here and the selection is not very big.

Here are some of the cool Melissa shoes. They are made completely from rubber and are VERY reasonably priced.

And here are some of the collaborations they have done recenty, including Vivienne Westwood, Zaha Hadid, and J Maskrey.

Top row left, Zaha Hadid for Melissa, top row centre and right, J Maskrey for Melissa, bottom row, Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa.

And here are the amazing boots I spotted yesterday on Diane Pernet’s blog. (I forgot to mention another plus about Melissa, the shoes are made out of recyclable plastic.)

The downside is, these one are only available at Galeries Lafayette, which is a department store in Paris, so I won’t be getting a pair…

The last shoe story I want to talk about (save the worst for last) is the news that Jimmy Choo will be doing a collaboration with Ugg Boots. Now, I’d like to start by saying I have tagged the word Jimmy Choo FAR to much in this blog. The brand is overrated and has been ruined by celebrities and WAGS. I should be using this blog to talk about the shoes I love, like Roger Vivier (my wedding shoes were by him), Finsk and Chie Mihara (my favorite “wearable” brands) and other fantastic footwear brands like Guiseppe Zanotti, Sergio Rossi, Azzedine Alaïa, Charlotte Olympia, Sigerson Morrison, and Camilla Skovgaard. In the future I am going to try and spend more of my time talking about brands I love and not brands I don’t like.

So, Jimmy Choo is an overrated brands, and Ugg is second most disgusting shoe in the market (after Crocs) and are only acceptable as chalet fashion. Apparently Carine Roitfeld (editor of French Vogue) does nto allow her staff to wear Uggs at work. And THAT is one of the reasons why I think she is great.

Two celebrity favourites combined into one shoe. Maybe they deserve each other.

Apparently Tamara Mellon (Jimmy Choo) agreed to do the Ugg collaboration, as it is the “only footwear brand she wears other than Jimmy Choo.” Good for her, they are still disgusting. The fashion world is wondering what they are going to look like, there are quite a few speculative collages out there, but what we do know is that they are coming out in October and they will cost $595 to $795 per pair. Yes, over 500 dollars for a disgusting pair of shoes. SHOCKING.