Shoeper Shoe Challenge #1 - Asos Heels

Saturday was a momentous occasion - The Hairy Drummer and I went out together for the first time since The Hairy Baby was born. True, it was literally only round the corner to a friend's house for a bit of a birthday party and a Just Dance-off but out is out. I took the opportunity to kick off my Shoeper Shoe Challenge and saved my first pair - these heels from Asos.

I got them last year in the sale and had never worn them. At the time when I bought them, I think I had a crazy pregnant lady bout of just needing to buy SOMETHING that I liked and looked a bit glamorous. I wore them like this.

Ignore the cheesy smile, I was a leeetle bit tipsy....

This is one of my favourite outfits at the moment because it's effortless but looks casually glam. The top is from Topshop, again in the sale. I'd had my eye on it from when it first came out though I could never justify the full price tag. When I hunted it down during the sales, they only had a size 16 left but it's the kind of top where bigger is better I think. The vest top underneath is from Primarni and the super skinny jeans are from New Look.

Oscars 2011: CRAZY WIN! Sharon Stone

I was disappointed with Helena Bonham Carter. She told us she was going to look a hot mess and she didn't. It was like the Baftas. It made me yearn for her mismatched shoes from the Golden Globes which seems so long ago now. I was mourning the lack of crazy.

Then Sharon Stone turned up. POW!

Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

I don't even know why she was there (is she a member of the Academy?) but boy, am I glad she was. Her hair was BOUFFANT. Her dress was tight then tied together and FEATHERY. The buttons down the side looked like a really bad seam.

And she STARED. In a FIERCE way.

Amazing.

Oscars 2011: WIN! Melissa Leo

To tell the truth I couldn't tell you an awful lot about Melissa Leo other than I know she ran her own 'For your consideration' campaign which I admire. She made it damn clear she wanted to win without simpering and hiding behind "Oh but I won't win because I'm in such ah-may-zing company" whilst secretly hoping all those bitches come down with a 24 hour bug so they can't be there and then you'd have to win because no one likes someone collecting an award on someone's behalf. And she swore in her acceptance speech which apparently NEVER happens which is surprising in itself. Or maybe I'm more potty mouthed than Oscar nominated actors.

Anyway, her dress.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Although it's by Marc Bouwer, it looks like Melissa made it herself at some arts and crafts day. I like it. The gold underlay is subliminal, all "Hey Academy dudes! You KNOW I want to win and I AM golden like an actual award. AWARD ME!". And I like her shoes - they are certainly not made from a doily.

Oscars 2011: FAIL! Anne Hathaway

John Shearer/Getty Images

Why is she always in red? Why is it always Valentino? Why is it always a dress that would've been amazing except for the random bouffy bits? Why won't she do anything different??

Oscars 2011: WIN(ish)! Cate Blanchett

I'm erring on the side of WIN! for Cate Blanchett in Givenchy here but it's a close call.

Matt Sayles/AP

I thought the dress was white when I first saw it but it is in fact lilac. The detail at the hips is, unlike Nicole Kidman's, flattering although I'm not sure that Cate Blanchett needs to frame her boobs. And the shoulder cape type thing going on is.... I just don't know. But if anyone can carry it off, it's her, right?

Oscars 2011: FAIL! Scarlett Johansson

I'm afraid there's nothing about this that I like. NOTHING.

Matt Sayles/AP

The hair? Looks unwashed and undone. The make up? Way to make it look like you've not had any sleep for a week. The dress? Dolce and Gabbana raiding the bedspread cupboard of an old lady.

Oscars 2011: FAIL! Nicole Kidman

Matt Sayles/AP

Let's start with the positives. Her shoes are a pretty colour. And her hair is back to being red which suits her much better than blonde. And her necklace is nice.

That's it. Because we can't but help look at the dress and wonder what went wrong. On paper it seems perfect - Christian Dior, Nicole Kidman, the Oscars. But it doesn't. It's too long in a bad way and the weird sticky out bit at the waist looks unnecessary. It looks a bit like a table cloth that was hastily stapled together in some kind of Changing Rooms nightmare. Wait, did Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen dress her? Is that what the problem is here?

Oscars 2011: WIN! Natalie Portman

Ok, so it's no secret I totally love Natalie Portman anyway but seriously, just look at her!

Matt Sayles/AP

She stuck to Rodarte for the dress which has left many people struggling to say nice things apart from "Well, she has a lovely pregnancy glow". Look, she's quite pregnant. Frankly it's almost impossible to wear anything that doesn't make you feel like some kind of ginormo freak so what if it isn't as edgy as some of their other designs? She looks comfortable but glamorous which is exactly the kind of look you want when you stagger up to collect an award.

Oscar Party!

The girls and I decided to blow off the Oscars this year to just stay home and have our own Oscar party. You know, to be low key ;)

Getting Bella ready for her big night...

(i have a treatment in my hair, that's why it looks so greasy)

On the super exclusive brown carpet. The paparazzi was insane!

(my dress is Lanvin for H&M, Leah's is vintage)

The shoes!!

 (YSL, Bordello, DSquared2)

Leah took home the Oscar for Best Hair and Makeup

I won for Best Shoes, a new category this year ;)

Bella (8) swept the Oscars with Best Actress, Best Director, Best Song, Best Cinematography, and Cutiest Cutie Pie. Congrats!

 We were all so honored!

Bella couldn't contain her emotion

Leah, usually reserved, shed tears of joy!

And I'm a total ham.

Damien, Leah's very talented son, made our awesome Oscar statue but wanted nothing to do with our silly girly photo sesh.

Thank you, and goodnight!

On A Mission

Today I have one goal... to go to LA and find these.

Christian Louboutin's Daffodil. AMAZING!!!!!!!! Even more amazing in person, I promise you. I should have bought them the second they arrived in the store, but I didn't, and now they're sold out. Woe is me.

Just look at them. Pure sex. hahaha! When I tried them on I called them tranny hooker shoes. I love them. I want them. I NEED them in my life. Why oh why do I have this sick obsession with shoes?? Why couldn't I love something less expensive like... stamps? Oh to be a stamp collector.

Oh, and here's miss Beyonce in her Daffodils (a $3,000something version) covered in stones. It looks like she's taken about 5 steps in them by the scratches on the bottom.

And, no big deal, her turquoise snake or lizard (I'm not sure which) pair.

...bitch.

;)

Shoe Of The Day: Keanah by Ted Baker

I love these. I've had my eye on them for a while in the pale/dark pink colour but it's the grey and yellow that really tugs at my heartstrings. They're cute but sassy, fashionable but classic. Yes, they're £80 but that'd be £80 well spent in my opinion.

Especially if you wore them with this dress from Awear.


'Keanah' by Ted Baker, £80 at Asos

Bebe Fall 2011 Runway Show

I don't really do runway coverage since I figure you guys can go to one of the big blogs for that... UNLESS it's a show that I designed the shoes for! Like this one :)

These runway shoes are part of my first collection for bebe. They picked this pointy toe pump in lots of bright colors. Cobalt, Red, Fuchsia, Yellow and Black- all with silver metal heels and toe caps.

It's hard to tell from the photos but the pumps are cut super low on the inside... SO sexy! What do you think about pointy silhouettes making a big comeback??

This dress is so cool...

I love how feminine and flirty the bebe collection looks. With that perfect edge of rocker chic. I'm excited to be working with them and am loving their direction!

The boot below is my favorite shoe in the whole collection! I wish there were better photos of the shoes :( I'll try to get some asap...

Valentines Schmalentines

Ben was gone on a business trip this Valentines Day so I was feeling pretty anti... hence the 3 day late post.

Instead of lighting some candles and staying home alone in the dark with my favorite dudes, Ben and Jerry, I got my ass up and put on some Valentine inspired footwear (adding a black heart necklace to match my mood) and headed out with some friends to the comedy club to see Harland Williams. 

I heart these shoes! Unfortunately there half a size too small but they were the last pair on sale a while ago and I just had to get them. Some things are worth a little pain...

(blazer- Bebe, top- Villains&Vagabonds, leggings- Charley 5.0, scarf and shoes- Alexander McQueen) 

Quick! 15% Off Dresses At Dorothy Perkins 3pm-10pm

Ok so buying a dress or two isn't in the spirit of Frugal February but if you want to buy something, dorothyperkins.com have 15% off all dresses today only from 3pm until 10pm.

I'd buy this one....

NES Takes The Challenge: The Shoeper Shoe Challenge!

So I've already locked my bank card away in the name of Frugal February. It's going well, I haven't bought anything unnecessary. Mainly because I really don't have any money to spare at the moment.

I wanted something else to keep me occupied though so I signed up to Amber The Shoeperwoman's Shoeper Shoe Challenge. You can read the full set of rules here to see what I'm letting myself in for. Basically, from today until this time next year, I have to try and wear every single pair of shoes I currently own plus any others that I buy. At the end of the year, any shoes I haven't worn must be got rid of.

Sounds easy right?

These are my shoes. Well, some of them at least - I think I've got about 29 pairs altogether:

Shoes, shoes, pretty pretty shoes.

There's shoes in there that I have never worn. Ever. And I've had them for a while. There's also shoes I've had for years and not worn for years. It's a good way of shaking up my wardrobe. I'll admit that for convenience, jeans and a tee with some Cons slung on has kind of become my Mummy uniform. But that's boring. It doesn't give me much chance to wear any of my other very lovely clothes and shoes. I'm looking forward to it.

Less Stretch, More Sass

With all these leggings and jeggings and sweat pants that look like skinny jeans and jeans that stretch to 10x their original size, it's hard to wear anything else. I've gotten so comfortable with comfort. Every once in a while though, I like to pull out the true denim. The stiff, heavy kind. 

My legs were so confused with all that breathing room...

(jeans- Dittos, top- F21, bag- Alexander Wang, necklace- Obey, glasses- Norma Kamali, shoes- Charles Jourdan)

I love these shoes! There is so much WOOD ;) shown for Spring trends and I just love the color on this. The rust leather and tonal bottom.... great. Plus my sistergirlfriend Jess designed them so I extra love them!