'Tennis' & 'Fashion' go backHAND in backHand

Not my image :)

I am a fan of tennis, but do not follow it religiously. However, every year I do tend to watch matches played during the Australian Open. 

Honestly, who would have thought that it's 'crisp whites' only that we used to see + the occassional mullet, would turn into the huge rectangle colourful catwalk that it is today? 

Not only that, but the fact that it appears to be the men leading in the tennis fashion headlines lately. Awesome!!

One of my favourite tennis players and all around great human being is Roger Federer. Not only is he a remarkable tennis player with a delightful on and off the court presence, the icing on the delicious Swiss cake is his impeccable fashion sense (Yes, I admit it, R Fed crush up in ere!!!!). 

Check out his outfit from this year's Australian Open - I really love the dash of fluro pink.

 

It kind of reminds me of my netburners that I improved by adding pink laces (which I cannot wear for netball anymore, find out why here) So now they are used for playing volleyball and my lunchtime walkies if the temperature is below 25 degrees haha.

Asics Gel Netburners - best netball shoe around!

Lunchtime Walkies

 
Another reason why I love his outfit - the shoes that started this blog are fluro pink - check out my first post here.


Who was your best dressed for the Australian Open?? Anyone else maybe have a crush on R Fed??




Grace xo

Bambi in heels...not a good look

I was watching a fashion highlight show from the Golden Globes, and I was shocked and appalled by what I saw! Check this out, especially at 1min 25.
Lena Dunham Struggling to Walk


You may think I am being harsh, but there is countless footage of Lena severely struggling to wear her 6inch Louboutin's, check it out on Youtube when she accepted her two awards.

I feel this is an abomination for the following reasons:
1. Lena's dress is so long you cannot even see the shoes that are beautiful yet causing Lena considerable pain.
2. Lena has been nominated for months and should have trained to walk in them.
3. Lena should have wore more comfortable shoes for an evening that she was going to be on her feet the majority of the time.

Here is a link to a video where she has finally taken her shoes off -
Shoes are off! 


What do you think? Am I being too harsh?

Either way, I think the show looks interesting and Lena seems like a great person, she just needs to be more vocal to her stylist about her heel wearing abilities!

Grace xo

Melbourne Mini Shoe Safari

For his Christmas and birthday present, I took my loverrrrrly boyfriend to Melbourne for a long weekend and to the cricket. Besides all the excitement a weekend away and a day at the cricket (:P) can bring, thankfully I also had a very exciting time squeezing in a spot of shopping one afternoon.

You may recall from a previous post here that I took back my previous sentiments about Melbourne being shocking for shopping and declared my love for the city and the shopping. I also mentioned the bad experience I had at Harbourtown a previous time I had been there. Well guess what? After another visit I have changed my mind about Harbourtown as well!!

There was little spare time in our busy schedule, so I knew I had to make this brief (2 hour) shopping expedition count. I bid farewell to my boyfriend and hopped on the free city circle tram to Docklands, which is where Harbourtown is. Harbourtown, on a sunny day it is a great place to be, as it is all outside and there is little cover between shops, if there is inclement weather on the cards either postpone your visit or take a poncho!

I found a shoe shop within the first few minutes called "Famous Footwear" ordinarily I would just have a look in the window in shops like this as I have found the quality of the shoes to be sub par on occasion. However, I noticed these bright stilettos and an all-around inviting window display so I headed in.

I then found a brand of shoe I love called "London Rebel" one of the most reliable and comfortable brand I wear and very reasonably priced for the quality. So I purchased this red pair for $9.99 and this pair of flats (OMG flats, I never buy flats) for $9.99. What do you think? I found the red ones on Shoe Shed website for $24.95 (RRP $49.95), so got an awesome bargain there! 
The only two bad things about this store - The first, they DO NOT have an online store :( . However, the website does say "coming soon", so fingers crossed. The second, they only have stores in QLD and VIC.

I then took my shoe safari to Betts, I didn't find anything that was what I was after...I am not surprised as I never really know what I am after haha.

I continued to Novo and tried on a few pairs, I didn't realise until I saw them (have a squiz below), but I was definitely after a 3inch open toed wedge, not only an addition to my wedge collection but a comfy wedge to wear that isn't in my fluro range, see my previous post here These were only $25, I found them in the Novo online store as well if you are interested here.

What do you think of my purchases? Have you also had a fun time shopping in Melbourne?

I had such a great weekend, but I think next time a Melbourne Marathon Safari is in order ;-)

xo 

Finally! I am back on top...

If you are a regular reader, you will know about my constant ankle problems and my journey back to the top...of my high heels :) if you are unfamiliar you can check it out here.

I actually went back to work last Wednesday after the festive season shut down, but decided that I would aim to get back in my regular comfort shoes, which are usually around 4inchs, stiletto and pointy, this week. These are the heels I chose to wear (Gold bling Guess heels!!), for obvious reasons I felt like they were appropriate and a 'gold star' of sorts for being good and doing as my physio said.

 

Needless to say, pretty much living in thongs and small wedges for the entirety of my break and wearing flatish shoes to work since my most recent ankle sprain, I was definitely feeling the 'pinch' in my ankle, achilles and calf muscle yesterday from wearing these bad boys and from wearing the heels that inspired this blog, today.

The pain made me think two thoughts simultaneously:

1. What stretches and exercises can I do to help this?

2. Dammmmnit, my physio was right "High heels are pretty, but they can also pretty harmful to your body".

So rather than see my physio again and tell him he was right, I decided to research some quick easy stretches you can do to ensure you give your ankles and legs the best chance to wear high heels successfully with minimal pain. These were the best ones I found (Please bear in mind I am not a physio so take care when doing these and seek professional advice if you are unsure):

1. Calf stretch - Link to method

2. Achilles stretch - starts in the same method as described above. However, you slowly bend the knee of the extended leg.

3. Air Counting - Balance on one leg, with the other leg draw the numbers 1-20 in the air with your foot. This helps strengthen the muscles in the support leg / foot, which in turn enables you to react better to potential high heel death wobbles. Detailed here in a previous post.

How do you ensure your high heel wearing foot and ankle health?? Please share your experiences with me and help other members of our community :)

Grace xo

PSD - Post sales depression

Again, without making fun of a serious disorder in our society, I currently have PSD.

I was one of those cool/lame people on Boxing Day that, after a full Christmas Day packed with food & fun, woke up at 7am to get myself to the highly advertised sales.

I spent a few hours at Tuggerah Westfield and went into every shop that sold shoes (David Jones, Betts, Rubi etc) and DID NOT FIND ONE PAIR for my collection. I couldn't even cheer myself up by visiting my husband Max Brenner (maxbrenner.com.au) because it didn't open until 10am, so I got a pedicure @ Professionail (pic below) & headed home...just in time for the cricket as well...yay :(

For just about everyday since then I have shopped in person or online and still have not found anything awesome, unique, not too high, not too low but just right.

Where do you find the best shoe deals? What was your best Boxing Day bargain? Help me get out of this current funk I am in!!!


Grace xo