Silver shoes have lost their sparkle

Although I have many many pairs of shoes, I have formed a bond and have a few favourites that I wear more often than the others. I have probably 20 pairs of party heels (ie tall, sparkly, open toed) but generally wear either the 3 pictured below or my pink Ramarims which you can read about here.

Unfortunately, I have owned the 3 above pairs for about 7 years, and the silver pair in particular are beginning to look very old and tired :(. Naturally, I have been on the hunt for a new pair of silver platform heels with a modest heel of around 10cm (Does anyone else struggle to find heels in this height??), but I have had no luck - until now!

I was wandering through Erina Fair, a local shopping centre and a pair of silver heels caught my eye in Pulp. Their likeness to my above favourites were uncanny, so I had to buy them!!

Here is the link if you are after further information.



What do you think? I think I might need to go back and buy the black pair, as again my black ones above are looking abit sad.
 
Grace xoxo

New Pair VS Old Pair

Old Pair

New Pair

Now Preaching to the Converted!

Finally, after years of buying shoes from Shoe Me Gorgeous  and months of reinforcing that Shoe Me Gorgeous has some great Pole Dancing shoes - I have converted 3 friends to the Shoe Me Gorgeous way of life!

Since 4 of us at work started a Pole Dancing class, I knew that Shoe Me Gorgeous would be the place to buy the shoes from when we were advanced enough. I am a Pole Dancing school drop out, only surviving 3 out of 4 classes and then not re-enrolling. The other girls in the office though have stuck with it since February this year and have graduated to wearing the sky high Pole shoes! Yay!!

Shoe Me Gorgeous recently had a mega sale on Pole Shoes and after a cheeky tag from me on to the Pole girls, they finally gave in and ordered 1 pair each - with free shipping mind you.

My favourites are the blue sparkly ones - which are your favourite?

My favourite pair

Sky High!

Some impromptu Pole moves in the office - after hours of course

Don't forget to Like Shoe Me Gorgeous on Facebook for constant sale updates.

Grace xo

Birthday Time!

Cannot believe it is time again for my annual birthday post! Why does time rush by so fast?

This year I did something a little different and actually took the day off work, so I couldn't wear my mismatching shoes, read about them below!
 
Check out my previous birthday posts here and here.

This year my Fiance' and I headed north to Harrington and Port Macquarie. Sadly not one pair of shoes were purchased on the trip, plenty of wine and food though haha. 
To top off a fantastic long weekend I had the below parcels waiting on my desk when I arrived at work, screaming to be opened!! This means it is my birthday all over again - yippeeeee!

I think next year I might keep my birthday on the DL, I am turning 30 eeeeeeek. Maybe I can celebrate the 9th anniversary of my 21st instead?

Grace xo

Shoe Me Gorgeous does it again

I know I constantly bang on about how good Shoe Me Gorgeous are check out the previous posts here, here and here, but Jess has seriously gone above and beyond AGAIN and the below two examples prove Shoe Me Gorgeous' excellent customer service, I really don't know why I bother shopping elsewhere!

As you may be aware, I purchased my first pair of KHB's, if you need a refresher the link is above. I have worn them a few times, and I still think they are the most comfortable shoe I have ever worn. I was wondering why with every step I took I heard a little squeak. On closer inspection I finally saw the reason - the heel tip was loose so pinching the stem of the heel with every step. Sad Face. I couldn't believe that I had finally been able to wear KHB's then they broke on me!!

Knowing that the Ramarim's that Shoe Me Gorgeous sell come with a 12 month warranty, I emailed Jess asking if there was anything Shoe Me Gorgeous or Ramarim could do and she immediately contacted her supplier.

Due to the KHB's being out of stock in my size, Jess has offered to pay for the repair bill at the cobbler!!! Fantastic!

The next example that proves how good Shoe Me Gorgeous are - You all know that I am getting married soon (Yipppeeee). Obviously I needed stunning heels and accessories to match, I found the shoes easily enough (read about them here), but I was struggling to find the little evening bag I wanted.

I again contacted Jess to see if she knew of anywhere that would stock the particular bag I was after, and sure enough she came to the rescue and found me a lovely bag through one her contacts.

Thanks again Jess for solving my shoe dilemma & being so accessible to your customers, we love it!!!

Grace x

 

Boohoo.com was a Boo Hoo experience for me :(

Recently while my fiance' was away for the weekend, I managed to purchase 7 pairs of shoes in one weekend (6 pairs were online) check out my page here.
The second batch of shoes (read about the first pair that arrived here) arrived yesterday from Boohoo.com
I was not very familiar with Boohoo.com, and thought it was time I checked them out, so at 1230am I was laying in bed with my Ipad and filling my shopping basket with interesting shoes that I haven't seen available in Australia yet.

I stumbled across a pair of "Festival Feet" which I had never seen anywhere before, not dissimilar to shower caps surgeons wear on their feet in Grey's Anatomy. Essentially they keep all the mud and grass off your favourite trainers and make you look super cool ;) check out mine below. What do you think?! Have you seen these in Australia before? I don't really frequent festivals, so probably wouldn't have seen them in any case.

Festival Feet

  For all of these shoes it was $38.40 AUD which I thought was an absolute bargain.

However, now to the reason why it was a "Boo Hoo" experience for me:

• When I processed my order for 3 pairs of shoes and the festival feet, it went through fine. THEN I received a random refund to my account and emails stating that one pair of shoes I ordered wasn't in stock. These were the ones I wanted the most and if I had known this prior, I would probably not have piled up my basket with other shoes to get me to the free shipping cap haha.
• When I unpacked the items yesterday the boxes were crushed. Not BooHoo's fault but maybe packaging international deliveries better would help this.
• Then I tried on all the shoes including the festival feet and the tie on the $8 festival feet tore off - not that I was ever going to actually wear them, but I expected them to be hardy enough for a drunken muddy paddock festival adventure, not break apart with me tying them up in my office.

Have you had an experience like this with an online shop?

Grace x
 

Another eBay Bargain :D

You may have seen that I purchased 7 pairs of shoes over the weekend...well, the first of my online purchases arrived today and it did not disappoint!

I just happened to be eBaying my favourite searches; 'heels', 'ramarim', 'pink + sparkly' etc and what should I find? Some Ramarim's from an Australian seller (Love Harlow) at a rock bottom price!!!

Love Harlow is a Sydney based online store + an eBay store. In my experience they offer extremely fast delivery and lovely customer service (which reminds me, I need to go leave feedback haha) check out Love Harlow here.  Feel free to give them a like on Facebook as well. They have some lovely heels (limited sizes though) and there were a few handbags that caught my eye, definitely worth a look!

Tell me, what are your eBay search words? How often do you check eBay for bargains?

Grace xo

Finally own a pair of KHBs :D

I have shivered through countless winters without owning a pair of knee high boots (KHBs), lets face it and call a spade a spade - because I was too fat!

You may recall about 18 months ago I embarked on a weightloss adventure - check it out in a previous post here. I can now proudly say that I have lost 24kgs - yippee! The only downfall of losing weight that I can see is my feet did shrink, but every cloud has a silver lining - complete shoedrobe update time :D.

Now that I have lost all the weight, my calf muscles FINALLY fit in KHBs, so I knew I had to have a pair this winter, and with spring just around the corner I knew a quick decision would be a good one, if I could manage it!

Obviously, my first choice was to see what Shoe Me Gorgeous had to offer and off course they had the boots for me, it was a true "Hallelujah" moment when I saw them! However, buying them would mean they would be the most expensive pair of shoes I owned. Before splurging on them I had a lot to consider, after all I have a wedding & honeymoon to save for. Thankfully, after checking on them on a nightly basis for the following two weeks, my lovely fiance' encouraged me to buy them "they represent how far you have come in your weight loss journey, you deserve them". Not needing any further convincing from my fiance' and knowing that Shoe Me Gorgeous has a great returns policy I bought them that evening hehe.

Being Ramarim brand, I knew they would be comfortable, soft and well made, and when they arrived today they lived up to all expectations. I almost cried happy tears in the office today when they fit PERFECTLY! Check out my Ramarim collage below, even Magic my cat approves of my KHBs.

I now own 3 pairs of Ramarims (View my previous review here) - I really don't understand how Ramarim are able to constantly make the most comfortable heels I have ever worn despite them all being different styles. It must be the equivalent to the "KFC 11 secret herbs and spices" of the shoe world. Why other shoe creators haven't tried to mimic Ramarim's brilliance is beyond me?!

Do yourself a favour and make sure you check out Shoe Me Gorgeous' Ramarim sale at the moment. There are some crazy bargains to be had. Trust me they are seriously worth the price; your feet, back and legs will thank you 1000 times over.

I get excited every time I see a "Ramarim" box - this one was huge too perfect huggable size!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Magic provides an approval nod

Such a smooth soft leather & "Room to move" buckles

  
Grace xox

Socks Optional

I have always been an advocate of wearing socks with joggers, to the point where I would 'forget' my socks on days I had planned to go to the gym and then enforced my 'no socks no gym' policy haha.

Since recently being introduced to Zoots triathlon shoes by my boss (check out the pic here) I was a big fan, they are so light, colourful, airy and comfortable, with one issue...because they are triathlon shoes, they have small holes in the sole so any residual water from the swim leg can drain out, this feature then works in reverse if you walk in a puddle!!!! 
I knew I had to find a locally available version (I can only find Zoots on UK website Wiggle.com) without holes in the sole, so I don't need to dodge every puddle I see.
 
My search took me all the way to Betts in Belconnen ACT (we didn't go specially to find shoes, my Fiance' and I went to the snow for a weekend haha) and there they were, the brightest and lightest slip on joggers I have ever seen, and on special for only $29.99 if you don't mind.

They are Airflex brand, which is carried by Betts. However, you can buy Airflex directly from their website and from Airflex stores in major shopping precincts.

Airflex and Betts both have sales at the moment so both of their websites are worth a peek.


http://www.betts.com.au/for-her/x-rated.html
http://www.airflex.com.au/women/0624-1897901.html







I can now say that I live dangerously and regularly wear no socks with joggers like these!

Grace xox
 

How to "shoe" a man away from your car

Ever lent your car to your partner only to have him return it with strange aromas, bad music and the mirror out of place? Get these new number plates from MyPlates (Order Fee: $295 (+ Applicable Annual Fees)) and it will solve all of the above hehe.

Check out the TV commercials below, they gave me a good chuckle.
Digging for gold
Air time

 
These plates are part of MyPlates' Le Chic range, they feature girly pictures and colours, and apparently repulse your partner from driving your car.
There is also an entire website dedicated to 'ManProofing' your car, check it out here, it is worth a look, you can even send your partner an 'official warning' that you are considering manproofing your car if he doesn't pick up his game.

Do you think that having girly number plates would stop your partner using your car and farting in it? I have had bright pink personalised plates on my red Mazda SP23 and it hasn't deterred Trent from taking my car anywhere!

Grace xoxo

When have you had to Soldier On?

You would all be familiar with the Codral Cold and Flu advertisement, if not check it out here. Not only does Audrey's heel break off her ankle boot, she continues on her walk at differing heights and then encounters a street full of marbles! If only Audrey had read
Wiki How's 9 step list on how to deal with a broken high heel, she would have had a spare pair of shoes and still made it to the party.
  
This made me wonder, surely other shoe lovers out there must have been in this situation before? Please let me know if you have!

My fashionable workmate, who discovered the heels in my very first post here, had a similar situation, she broke her heel walking down the stairs at work, it could have been a catastrophic situation, but thankfully the shoe was the only casualty.


Despite my years of weighing way more than I should and buying 'cheap' shoes I cannot recall a time where this has happened to me - please correct me if I am wrong haha.

Grace xox

My Fiance's Shoe Journey

When we first started dating, Trent owned four pairs of shoes, one of the pairs he owned and proudly wore were grandpa thongs similar to these.

 

Thankfully our third date was a shopping outing and a visit to Max Brenner, while we were there I took him to buy a pair of Havaianas and happily threw out his grandpa thongs there and then in the shopping center. I thought there were going to be tears and not just happy ones from me haha.

A few months later Trent moved in. Some of you may be aware that I used to display my pretty shoes around my house see pic below, and when Trent first moved in he jokingly placed his size 12 trainers in pride of place on my TV...unacceptable for three reasons 1. They were stinky. 2. They knocked over my other shoes and 3. They were not pink or sparkly!!

Since I confessed to buying three pairs of shoes in one online sale - seen here - I don't think I have purchased any shoes (I may have but I don't remember if I did haha). To get my fix, I have without realising, encouraged Trent to buy three pairs of shoes in the past week.

Two lovely pairs of Julius Marlow dressy shoes, one pair for work and the second pair for our wedding :D both pairs were reduced beyond recognition and were further reduced with the 'buy one get one half price' at the Comfort Shoe Warehouse at Erina (really worth a visit especially if you know a male who is a size 12 or over!) The third pair was purchased today and is a great pair of casual shoes from Pulp reduced from $50 to $20. Check them out here.  

Now Trent aka 'Shoeaholic' is the proud owner of more than 15 pairs of shoes <gasp>. Not bad for the man that owned four pairs of questionable shoes when we met!

Is there a man in your life that loves shoes as much as you but pretends not to? hehe

Grace xoxox

Shoes can be slippery little suckers

Last Friday night was our engagement party - we had a fantastic night celebrating with family and friends.

Even though I have +150 pairs of shoes 4 of which would look great with my engagement party dress, the Thursday night before the party, I went home via late night shopping. I had been looking at the below bad boys from Betts for a few weeks and watched them fall lower and lower in price, so I knew I had to buy them when I saw them for the 4th time and only paid $19.99!

I was concerned with the sole of the shoe, as it was very shiny and was on the slippery side in the shop. The shop assistant reminded me about the non slip soles you can have added to the shoe, and being only $5 ($19.95 with 2 x heel grips and 2 x party feet "Black Caviar Race Ready Pack" check them out here) I purchased them and the shop assistant puts them on for you, which is great!

Despite having these additions on my soles, I arrived at the venue for our party and almost broke my neck as I stepped onto the floor! Already having one ankle surgery around a year ago (read about it here), I knew the last thing I wanted was another one and flat shoes for 2 months. I quickly walked back home in my flats (like these ones, but black), and then ended up wearing one of my other pairs that matched the outfit.

I finally made it back to the party, I was a teeny bit frazzled but ended up having a fantastic night in these babies - another Betts special from a few years ago. It was a perfect night!  

So glad I have so many pairs of shoes to choose from in an instant, that I took some flats to walk in and that we live a 2 minute stroll from the venue!

And to top it off, the bulk of our guests were none the wiser to my shoedrobe malfunction - although once I had a few celebratory champagnes, I began telling everyone haha. 

What ways do you have to make your shoes non slip? I have used the old 'scratch your soles on rough concrete' and hair spray when I played indoor netball. Have you done any of these or tried the stick on non slip soles?

Grace xox

Baby Giraffes all over Sydney

I spent the weekend in Sydney with my lovely Fiance. We went the non traditional route for our Valentines Day and went on a Ghost Tour of the Rocks - which was really good by the way!

Whilst we were waiting for the tour to start, we sat in Circular Quay and people watched. I was genuinely appalled by the amount of women I saw wearing high heels that they could not walk in, I refer to these as 'Baby Giraffes' or 'Bambis', I mentioned 'Bambis' in a previous post here referring to Lena Dunham.

Here is a collage of some of the worst. One girl was obviously running for a boat and was barefoot, but then to save face she stopped, put on her strappy heels and then continued running! Barefoot in Sydney = death wish. Running in heels on brick tiles = broken ankle. I wonder if she made it to the boat?



How many Baby Giraffes have you seen lately? I must admit the Baby Giraffe can be any age, the woman in the red pants was over 60.

Yes I love shoes, but I feel like I am sensible in wearing them and I do not consider myself a Bambi or Baby Giraffe. If only these above ladies had the hindsight about their aching balls of their feet, blisters, sprained ankles and Bambi walk, they may have thought it was a better idea to buy a set of these for the trek to their location. 

Not only would this help their Bambi walk, but it will also help their long term health!! 

I have seen the Havaianas vending machines in Sydney, but this is the first flat shoe vending machine I have seen. For only $20 you have a pair of comfy runaround shoes that fold up and fit in your handbag - so convenient.

I have multiple pairs of these shoes - Black, Silver and my pink ones below that arrived on Friday, which I think are going to fit nicely into my wedding bag hehe.

Grace xox

 

 

I think I found them!

You can call off the search party, I think I have found my wedding shoes!

My previous post here, was about my worry of purchasing 100s of pairs before finding them haha.

The search took me through 1000s of eBay pages, 100s of shoe websites and multiple shoe stores. During the search, I came across "Desire Shoes & Fashion". I was surprised I hadn't seen their page in my Facebook suggestions over the past few years, but I was excited to have discovered a new Aus based shoe shop!

After a few days - I was naughty and sent an inquiry email to see when they were shipped - THE shoes arrived and it was a complete 'Aaaaahhhh' or 'Hallelujah' moment, they are beautiful and perfect for my strut down the aisle.

Shayna and Karen from Desire Shoes & Fashion have a great user friendly website, fantastic online customer service and large product offering - what more could any shoe lover want?!?!?!

Feel free to check out their website and see if you can find the shoes you think I purchased hehe.

What is the consensus, do you think I will end up with more Wedding shoes after this post??

Grace xo

At this rate I'll end up with 24 pairs of wedding shoes!

Sooo... We have been engaged for 4 weeks, and I already have 2 pairs of potential wedding shoes, being a numbers lady, if I continue to find further potentials at the same rate, I will end up with 24 pairs and be around $2k out of pocket!!! Uh oh.

I have been told numerous times that I will end up with multiple wedding dresses (my sister had 3 wedding dresses at one point!) being a shoe girl, maybe multiple pairs are my destiny? 

Have you ever purchased multiple pairs of shoes for the one occasion?

Grace xo

2013 Out with a Bang - 2014 Off to a Crackin' Start

You may not have heard that Trenny Wenny proposed to me on NYE :D Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!! Check out my pink bling below, ONE of a kind mind you, he did so well, absolutely perfect for The Pink Platform Stiletto hehe.

We were on board a cruise ship on NYE, far from family and phone reception, so we were able to enjoy our engagement for a few days on our own before announcing to our friends and family - which was nice. During the few days, we planned our engagement party, wedding and honeymoon. How organised am I?!?!

Since being back (roughly a week), we have booked in our engagement party, sent out invitations for engagement party and our wedding AND I went wedding dress shopping and found THE ONE, in the first shop and it was the first dress I tried on. Did this happen to you when you were dress shopping?

Most importantly now, I need the perfect pair of high heels to wear, I am thinking pink, fuchsia pink, sparkly with a moderate heel height of around 10cm with a 2cm platform. I have purchased a pair already online, but waiting to see the colour in person before deciding if they are THE ONES. Have you seen a pair of heels like the ones described above? I would love to hear from you if you have.

I have over a year to sort out the heels, I have entertained the thought of designing my own and having them made, I wrote this post about two shoe business "Shoes of Prey" and "Figgie Shoes" in Nov 2012, this would mean my shoes would be ONE of a kind just like my engagement ring!! Have you ever had shoes made, or used one of these businesses?

I am so excited for the next 12 months yeeeeeeeeee!

Grace xo