2DyeFor: Clarks

Showing posts with label Clarks. Show all posts

Sunday

What Mary Did Next.

A few weeks ago I clicked onto one of my all time favourite blogs - The Sartorialist - and was faced with a bit of a 'mind reading' moment. "If You're Thinking About .... Metallic Shoes" was the posts title and what followed was a collage of achingly cool folk in an array of metallic kicks, all looking superb. And the best thing was that yes, I had been thinking about metallic shoes. Brogues to be precise.

The Sartorialist

Now that Spring appears to be making (dare I say it?) early noises about its impending presence, thoughts have turned to my shoe wardrobe and much excitement has been had over the soon to be shedding of autumnal shades and welcoming back of some of my favourite, brighter pairs. However, over winter I have had one pair of shoes that I have dragged out time and time again - a pair of studded, black leather brogues from Zara. And while it pains me to say it I have had to come to terms with the fact that they are very seasonal and are best put away now we are coming into the brighter months - wearing them means running the risk of people assuming my feet are in mourning while my torso is enjoying the fresher air in a light sun dress.

So to tackle this I have come up with a great plan - metallic brogues! And after not too much searching I think I have found them.

The La Promenade metallic brogues by my guru Mary Portas for Clarks. You can guarantee they're good quality and will last for a long time to come. I love the snake skin effect on the leather and the tiny studs keep them trend driven but without being so obvious that, when fashions change, they are rendered unwearable. There's nothing worse than finding a great pair of shoes, loving them so much you buy them no matter the cost and then, next season, being unable to actually pair them with anything as they're in a time warp. These don't carry that risk - good quality leather and great flat shoes never go out of style. I'm almost too excited to style them with printed trousers and silk shirts for work but alas, until my next paycheck arrives I will simply have to wait it out.

This is most likely how I'll style mine.

Available here they also come in other colours and while you're there why not look at the rest of the collection? I appear to have become quite smitten with the La Lumiere heels. And, with so many summer weddings on the horizon for me, justifiable. No?

Tuesday

An Unlikely Icon.

I don't know about you but when 9PM rolled round last night I felt a little lost. Last week, every night, I spent a very happy 60 minutes watching Channel 4's incredible show Hotel GB. For those of you who missed it (shame on you) it was a pop up hotel in London staffed by some of the best known TV personalities regularly seen on Channel 4.

Mary Portas and Gordon Ramsey were co-Managers, Gok Wan ran the bar, Kirstie Allsop was Concierge and a veritable smörgåsbord of other celebs covered everything from the spa to cleaning the rooms.

Never again will I be able to picture Gordon Ramsey without the image of him on all fours asking poor Katie Piper about a 'back, sack and crack wax' popping up in my mind. *shudder*
If I wasn't already sure she is one of the best women to grace this earth the way she brushed Gordon's madness aside in such a ladylike manner would certainly have convinced me of her brilliance.

One thing I have gladly taken from the show though is a new style icon. Mary Portas. I know, I'm as surprised as you. I'm usually quite feminine in the way I dress - I like high heels, chiffon and lashings of mascara - but I couldn't help thinking, evening after evening how great she looked. And after being caught tweeting about it I was asked to feature a post about her screen style on my blog - it took me less than 0.86 seconds to agree to it!

Happily after some research I have found a few of the things she wore that I loved so much. Here's a closer look.

Mary about to give Paddy a black eye with hers!

The Spectacle ring in action.

Alternatives

Both rings are Swarovski but unfortunately the former has sold out (looks like I'm not the only one who got a new style crush last week) but there are similar styles here, here and here that are equally divine. Luckily the second is still in stock, although I'd imagine not for long. You can buy it here.

Mary tweeting about her boots.

Other things I loved were her patterned tights and great low heeled boots - fashionable yet comfortable enough to wear every day. Surely the holy grail of shoes.

The tights she wore were Mary Portas for Charnos (shop the collection here) and the boots were Mary and Clarks and are available here and here. I love these boots - I have a lot of meetings all over for my job so a heel I can run around in is essential. These might have to be my next investment.

All in all I'm thrilled I've found a new stylish woman to keep a beady eye on. Although I'm not sure that I shouldn't have known better - her partner's Melanie Rickey (of Grazia fame) for goodness sake, it's surely in her nature to be this cool, no?

Happy Feet

Mary. My idol. My mentor. My style inspiration (have you seen her Mawi jewellery collection?!) And one day? Hopefully my boss!

Yes, Portas has done it again - gone and brought out another shoe collection that will see me hot footing it (excuse the pun) to Clarks this weekend.

Just in time for the rising temperatures these beauties have landed in store:

My personal favourite is the wedge at the top and upon further research I found this is actually available in not one but two colours. Lucky us!

The vibrant yellow is perfect to add a twist of cool to a relaxed weekend look and the lilac paired with some DVF and MJ and you're bar ready, don't you agree?

Left:

Right:

Of course it's also festival season so I thought it only fair I show some festival looks with the stunning sandals involved.

Left:

Dress | Jane Norman
Headdress |River Island
Bag | Oasis
Shoes | Mary Portas for Clarks

Right:

Top | Miss Selfridge
Shorts | jades24.com
Bag | Rafe New York
Shoes | Mary Portas for Clarks

The former is infinitely more likely for me as I have no time to attend any festivals this summer. So a Sazerac with a side of DVF it is!

Friday

Fantastic Florals

When I recently heard that two of my favourite things (British heritage and shoes) were collaborating I think I let out an actual squeal of excitement.

Liberty and Clarks.

Inspired by my recent purchases I decided to first browse their website and I was thrilled. Now, I'd be lying if I said I loved every single design but then that's the point - the range caters for so many looks that I think, really, there's something for everyone - and even handbags!

My top styles are all below. Especially the desert boots. I've never been a huge fan of that shape of shoe before but suddenly it's all I can think about; with denim cutoffs and a chiffon button up. Oh, yes please.

I think this collab is genius. For such a quintessentially British icon as Liberty to join forces with one of the original high street giants is fantastic. Let's be honest - in this current economy every shop needs all the help it can get to draw folks in and get them spending. Which is why their Manchester store surprised me.

When I went in yesterday evening on a hunt for the hi tops and desert boots (both out of stock) there was nothing to immediately point me in the direction of the Liberty collection.

In fact, upon further inspection the collection wasn't even all together but dotted around the shop with styles similar to each shoe. I really feel Clarks have missed a trick here - they could do with large signage indicating the collaboration and a set area for the entire collection to look its best.

Liberty is a dripping with British heritage; synonymous with class and style. So why not use this to get people into their shops? I think it's mad! And the only way I would have known the Liberty pieces (if I hadn't already Googled them) was via a couple of tiny purple boxes by the odd shoe with the Liberty logo on them. I have to say - I expected more.

That said I just think the hi-tops are beyond cool. I want them now with rolled up denim. And the flats are so great for work and in seasonal pastel they're surely a winning style. Finally the bag - I'm led to believe that the tapestry look will be huge for A/W '12 so why not get into Clarks now and snap this up? A season ahead of itself; this looks set to see you right through.

I highly recommend having a look because, as I said, there really is something for everyone. For a direct link to the entire collection click here (but be warned..get ready to click 'Add to Basket' several times.)

Happy shopping!

Tuesday

So, you thought you knew Clarks...

I think we can all be clear on one thing. While I work in fashion and adore it, believe me, I do; shoes are just...my thing. 

No sooner had I shared some images of my ever growing heel collection than I was coveting yet more pairs.

And from a very unlikely, to me, source.

We all know Clarks. Of course we do - a high street staple courtesy of whom most of us probably acquired our first school shoes. I think it was even them who informed me I have 'wider' than average feet. A fact that has plagued me ever since - but as you can tell from my last post, hasn't held me back on the buying front at all.

When I think of the British high street Clarks is up there with M&S, HMV, Selfridges...I'd like to go on but unfortunately the current economic crisis appears to be having a somewhat less than ideal effect on our once thriving main shopping strips.

That is why when I saw the new S/S '12 collection from Clarks I decided to buy into it - to support the Great British high street and keep these giants in business - as well they should be.

Truth be told it was a single pair of metallic flats that got my attention. They are so wonderful I feel as though I might be walking slightly off the ground when they're on my feet. They're real all year round-ers. Great with a floral summer dress, even better with a sharp female tux and an attitude to match - think Janelle Monae.

Never one to turn down a good pair of leather flat sandals I couldn't resist the following either...the silver were too much like my earlier blogged about Marni pair so I opted for the darker shades but seriously - how great are these going to look in 4 weeks time when I'm strolling through Barcelona, sunglasses on, legs out? I can hardly wait.

I stopped at this point - concerned after my recent spending sprees that my bank manager might call to voice his opinion.

But these are next on my wish list. A pair of ACTUALLY NICE flatforms and what I suspect may well be the perfect height wedge - all shiny and luring me to wear them.

And if that wasn't enough to convince you to pop in and take a look for yourself just you wait until A/W '12 lands. Full on classic British heritage designs with tweed, suede, leather and prints 2dyefor (see what I did there?!)

The post on that won't be far away...