Falling for Marina

Enter Marina, the very nice ankle boot from Peter Kaiser I found in the sales two days ago. I feel I am in love already.

I have been desperately looking for good shoes this winter, with little success till now. Most boots so fashionable at the moment are too long for me, and also the style is not according to my taste. Or, the shoes I spot have been a bit too expensive, my budget being as 'low' currently as allowing for max 200€ only, which excludes most lovelies from little shoe shops from within my reach unfortunately. I feel this is a lot to pay for boots, and I must say the prices have gone up considerably since we started using the Euro. I cannot imagine before not getting any kind of boots for under 1000 Fmk (~150 €) as is now the case. But now the sales have changed all that, even if I still didn't go to too many little boutiques but to the big department stores only.

Which I regret, since even though I prefer the anonymity in shopping that these big stores allow for, the selections of the little boutiques would be more according to my taste. I do need to find the perfect girlfriend or two for shopping! One needs an accompanying friend to go to these little shops, to lure the sales personnel away, since they rarely are of any use, not knowing either my taste nor wallet. Perhaps I can allure Ekaterina to start shopping with me..? She is so beautiful, and her taste is somewhat similar to mine. Small wonder, then that I am often taken to be Russian, I've been told this many times - and I am proud of it, for Russian women can truly be quite elegant and beautiful. I think I'll complete the impression by trying to take up the language again this spring.

These shoes were long overdue - I didn't have any such black stiefeletten, only brown ones. These will go beautifully with all black trousers and jeans that I have, maybe even with skirts.

Currently, I am at home with a flu - again. I developed a temperature last night, and I am so disappointed in it all, mainly for two reasons. 1) It is not too long ago that I was sick for two whole weeks the last time, I think three weeks ago or so; and 2) I cannot go anywhere wearing my new boots! Poor me!

Is this Christmas

...or not, it must be, for now I finally have these beauties, in black!

The sales have started, in other words, and I have been rummaging the city! I am sooo happy!

I bought this and that, including some morning robes in silk and a pair of ankle boots, make-up stuff, and so on and so on. It has been quite rewarding, to say the least.

I am now at home, and finally dared to take the boots off my feet after two hours ;) My cat was wondering. For her, the most intriguing thing about my new shoes is, apart from my excitement which she easily can sense, the smell of new leather, which she loves. She is a true kitten for sure!

I am currently watching this and that on tv, waiting to be picked up for my tennis lesson. There is a show on about Hollywood's beauty secrets. Because of this, and also because of a book I'm currently reading - a very entertaining "Two Lipsticks and a Lover - a Year in Suspenders" by Helena Frith Powell, a former model turned into mother of five living in Southern France - I have come to realise that I, too, have some "beauty secrets" I can't do without. These include: Dior moisturizing concealer; Dior hand cream; Dior facial creams; Stendhal eye cream; Chanel lipsticks, one for day and one for night; Guerlain creampowder eye shadows and blush; YSL light pen; Dior loose powder; Chanel nail polish at least in 5 different colours; YSL lipliner No 8, Versace lipstick in red. Hmm, I think that's it. And of course the various perfumes I'm used to, such as Chanel Allure, YSL Opium, Dior Poison, Kenzo Flower, Lancôme Ô, and Guerlain Chamade. New additions include Sonia Rykiel and Chanel Chance (a lovely gift with a meaning) as well as reacquinting with Estée Lauder's Beautiful (a gift; originally bought to me by my parents from their trip to N.Y.).

Yes, I think that's all

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ps. Now here is a record I'd like to find somewhere - I discovered this 70-something piece playing at the Chantal Thomass website and immediately fell for its strangeness

Snowwhite comez to town

These lovely white, laced boots would make one feel like a princess come to town, stepped right out of a fairytale. Truly impractical, they would be the perfect choice for anyone spoiled and surrounded by luxury.

Or perhaps exactly vice versa, these boots could in fact be the luxury for those who most need it. Such as myself, for instance.

I have hardly any idea what they could be worn with, except maybe with my brown-and-grey Marella tweed shorts, and the Georges Rech ivory cardigan with fur trimming around the neckline. Yes, and then some extraordinary stockings from Wolford. Hmm, that would in fact be a nice combination. Plus the perfect - and compulsory - accessory these boots clearly require: the taxi.

Li-li-li-lizardyyy

These lizard-printed boots, also have spiky heels. These
would complement my collections with the already existing green-coloured lizard boots with more angular, heavier heels. These boots would look very nice with many skirts that I have, I believe.

At the moment I don't even have a single pair or brown
coloured boots, so I would have a desperate need for them...also, I do not really own any pair that would go very well with skirts that I have (I would need a few new skirts also, for sure!). Instead, I tend to wear the boots with jeans, black or classic blue, or with black trousers with wide cuffs.

It is a bit hard to find good boots because I'm so petite, unfortunately. In general I like being of small size, but when it comes to finding appropriate boots or, say, a winter coat, I sometimes find myself regretting it. A trip to some nice shoe country down south could solve the problem, though. (Oh, and I could take those thighs too.)

Uu, spikyy!

Still ill (with a serious case of hives broken out now, I have no choice but stay at home, not to scare the kids on the streets), I have been sleeping for most of the time, reading quite an interesting book by Anchee Min on Madame Mao, or browsing online for this and that - by definition nothing useful. I promised that to myself as I fell ill.

So, among other things, I've been browsing the Victoria's secret collection this year, and come up with some beauties I really feel I should have.

In the picture, you find studded sinful niceties in silver. Very classic in a way, but also quite sexy. Could be worn even to work if long pants are covering the leg. I love the spiky heel - which might even turn out to be practical on the icy streets of wintery Finland. I mean it! I can picture myself, hacking my way up the hill with theses beauties on. Another type of ice-climbing, nah?

See how the heel curves outwards just a little bit at the end? This kind of detail just nails it. All I can think of now is, so how come I don't have them as yet??

More boots

Well, since I started, why not continue? So here some more boots I'd like to have.

I'm still (!) at home sick, apart from a trip to the doctor's today and abt 3 hrs at work. Even if I truly hate being ill, it kind of has put things in perspective. I'm not irreplaceable, things proceed without me, too. It's a very nice realisation.

I joked to a colleague today who had met a computer security guru, Ross Anderson that to me, "as first association, 'Ross' denotes something quite different, namely, a very nice shoe manufacturer". It made him laugh, which in turn made me glad. So, it should not come as a surprise that in the first picture, lovely black mocha boots from this Ross are presented. I have actually tried them on, and they are very cool.

The second picture shows boots laced all up. This pair is from Rizzo, I've tried on something very similar by a label called Via Vai, or Vai Via, or...something. Very nice also. Kind of decent and seductive at the same time. The pair I tried on was very comfortable and I would have bought the pair, if the price weren't so high. Unfortunately, girl can't have everything! (or anything, as it often seems these days on the academic joke-of-a-salary).

I like laces, the way they look, but luckily there is a zip on the side - it would be quite tiresome to really lace them up in the morning! Would add yet another hour to my morning rituals (now taking abt 2 hrs, including getting out of bed, feeding cat, making the green tea and two pieces of rye bread, reading the newspaper, shower, playing with the cat, dressing, re-dressing, re-re-dressing (just kidding here!), going to the hallway with the cat, catching her, running for the bus) for sure.

So tired..

Again, at home, sick, down with a bad case of flu & high temperature. I've got the whole week of sick leave - doctor's orders - I looked so 'dead' at the doctor's office, she said.

Is it because I visited a friend's family with one of the kids recently recovered from a flu, or was it meeting my friend in the evening right afterwards, whose child had also been ill? Or was it walking home at 3 a.m. in the rain on Saturday night? Even if it was light rain, I remember feeling quite cold as the walk home seemed endless, with no taxis to catch. I kinda hate this "Little Xmas" season.

Anyway, this sick leave is welcome relief - I've been working way too many hours this autumn, and have been exhausted, and tense, for several weeks already. However, the input has not been wasted, since many things are proceeding now pretty well. Maybe I was not able to achieve it all, but, then again, who is?

I include here pictures of boots I'd like to have - since I'm way too tired to take any pictures, all I do is sleep, sleep, sleep...sometimes I read a little also: just finished a rather hilarious book by Gigi Levangie Grazer called Maneater, which I bought in Calgary on a business trip (no, no shoes bought unfortunately, just one wonderfully violet bag of the softest Canadian leather). About Gigi herself, now there's a role model for any shoe enthusiast (I don't know if she's really crazy abt shoes, even though several shoes are mentioned plenty of times throughout the book, but at least she married off well enough to afford any of her choice). The book was ok, not anything you could call 'great literature', but entertaining - and lightweight- enough for a flight over the Atlantic.

Now that I'm finished with that piece, I'm doing two things: a) thinking of writing something a bit similar of my own b) concentrating on lovely book by Donald Sassoon on Mona Lisa, the painting. The former is just some play of a sick mind (literally!), whereas the latter is very, very entertaining - almost like reading a detective!

Otherwise, Saturday was quite nice, started by getting up around 1 p.m, followed by shopping tour of two hours or so, then an hour of tennis with my friend and the coach, and then sauna and dinner at my friend's house, from where I took a taxi home to quickly change, feed le cat and then rush into a nightclub where my friend was desperately expecting me, all alone, surrounded by men she did not want to get to know! I immediately bought her a drink when I arrived - that was by far the least I could do, having put her into the situation!

There was supposed to be some stand-up comedians performing; however, it all looked a bit dull so we decided to try something else instead. We ended up in an old jazz club nearby. It was crowded, but we felt terribly misplaced - too young to be there, a surprising feeling these days. My friend made a sarcastic comment about there being hope for decades to come, still. It was hardly a consolation. Things got even worse when minutes after our arrival, the band that was playing announced a change on the piano, none less than my former ex, the Jazz Pianist. Shit! He noticed me almost immediately, and things were not helped my being grabbed to the dance floor by some eager middle-aged man. I felt awful, I knew that my ex would think I'm trying to show off. Or something.

It took a while to get away from the man (only thing that helped was to point to him that my young 'friend' was on the piano - an immediate downer to someone of his age, or anyone: a former tennis champion and current jazz virtuoso is not an easy combination to most) and return to my friend. She insisted I go say hi to my ex during their next break. I opposed, since we didn't end it all with a whistle but with a blow (or something). Yet, as I soon saw him standing right behind us, I went over to exhange some words with him. Mistake. He was grudgy, and left almost immediately. Oh well, who cares, anyway?

Soon my friend already had to go home, her nanny was determined to leave at 2 a.m. I stayed behind, talking to a nice guy who didn't try anything. Quite a relief, even if such behaviour always leaves a girl feeling a bit odd. Of course, the Jazz Pianist would come there during the next break, since he thought I was with this guy and got jealous. We talked some, he told he got some nice grant, but got mad when I enquired about any girlfriend..and left.

Well, he still holds some grudges, it's easy to see, but then what: I never really understood him. I always liked his playing, so soft, and could easily recognize the change on the piano with my back turned. I could not help but think back to some of the good times we had, involving Russian champagne, a certain red dress, reclining on his grande piano, and, naturally - some jazz. In memoriam...I think I'll buy his solo album - the one for which I helped to pick the right versions of some of the pieces. I think I'll enjoy, listening. I prefer things the way they are, now. Come to think of it, my life truly has become a lot more enjoyable during the passing year, even if health-wise it has not been one of the best ones.

To end with, the last picture shows a very nice design of flowers gilted on leather boots. These boots would look their best in brown, worn with sleek or not-so-sleek skirts, or with jeans.

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ps. 1st, 3rd and 4th boots from Victoria's secret, 2nd from Dumond. I'd prefer the 1st in black or burgundy, the 2nd in black, the 4th in brown

Summer rain

...at last, after such long season of dryness! But why just now, when I'm in a hurry to some place, and must rush to the bus stop, wearing my new white shoes from 'PK Paker', and when its pouring heavily and incessantly?! The shoes will be ruined!

But I must go. So I open my navy blue polka dot umbrella which I bought in Düsseldorf and which I love (even if that love is somewhat clouded at the moment because of the foreseeable damage of the rain) - and try to take the least wet route to the bus stop. But to no avail, not only is it terribly wet everywhere, but also the bus never appears! And, while I'm waiting for the next one, with my shoes all wet, the rain naturally deceases, and sun starts shining again. Yep. My typical luck.

A lady on the bus stop tells me as a small consolation that she has been caught by every rain this summer. This is possible since it has only rained maybe five times at maximum lately. It is the driest summer in 100 years now, if I'm correct. But still she managed to be under each shower, without an umbrella. Poor her. Still, I find it awfully mean towards me that I too should at least in part share her fate - especially so since I'm wearing the most comfy yet elegant new shoes.

Material for bitterness? Yep.

I could see this coming, however, so I photographed these beauties well in time. I just knew they would be destroyed by Mother Nature soon enough. Some things are just too good to last, right? So here they are, documented. In loving memory,

Blue velvet

Once again, the title of a film seems adequate to describe the topic of this entry: my blue suede & gold sandalettes by Folies.

The shoes are Italian. I have had them for at least 10 years, but only worn them maybe 5 times. The golden heel seems too extravagant for most occasions - or it used to be so. These days shoes have become so decorative that such hindrances are vanishing, and even this type of shoes, intended originally for the festive occasions of the night time and the mood reminiscent of the sinister hues of the film by David Lynch (with the amazingly beautiful Isabella Rossellini) , could easily be worn to work. Earlier, I would never have done that (well, stll haven't, but now I could consider it ;)).

A few days back my feet were so sore* that I was more or less forced into wearing them - most other shoes were hurting too much. This made me realise just how comfortable they are - the suede is so soft, the lining is very even and nice to the foot, and the heel is of very steady height. The shoes used to have gold 'pins' in the front, but I have unfortunately taken them off at some point, thinking they were too flashy. These days I wouldn't think that way at all, and tried to find the pins but to no avail, and I suppose I've trashed them.

As I was looking for the pins, I needed to climb a ladder to reach all the closets - and of course my cat would climb them too, despite my effort to stop her. When she reached the top of the ladder, which was packed with boxes et things of various sorts, she actually fell! Luckily, she landed more or less on her feet, and, looking quite embarrassed, withdrew herself to her pillow on the window sill.

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*will tell why later on :)

"Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho...

...The sailor with the navy blue eyes"!

These are my 'sailor sandals', and I have very blue eyes, so that explains the title for this post, taken from some sailor song, now doesn't it? ;)

These navy blue sandals always look very fresh. They are also very comfortable, and I like navy blue a lot. When I was younger, it was one of my favourite colours.

However, the colour is spoilt to a great extent, since it is the standard colour for all kinds of uniforms - Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with white) worn by sailors in the Royal Navy of the U.K. since 1748. So wearing a navy blue suit is therefore usually not a good idea, since people will think you are part of the staff and act accordingly, asking you for this and that!

Navy blue might not suit me that well, but I will wear it anyway. I especially like to wear this pair with a polka dot skirt of the same colour, or to pair them with red pants, for example. And why not with white.

I wore these shoes a few days back, when I went to a doctor's appointment - the third time this week, I have been very ill once again, with a temperature going all the way up to 40°C! It appears I'm allergic to penicillin :/ So the whole week was wasted on that...luckily I have now recovered. At first, the doctor thought I had nephropathia epidemica, which would have been quite scary!

The corrected diagnosis was a 'mere' allergic reaction...which also could have been deadly, since I also got the worst symptom, the Anaphylactic reaction, and had trouble breathing - but luckily it was not as severe as it could have been. But it left my bronchial tubes aching, still, and feeling extremely tired.

(2.8.06) Later on, I have been confused by the whole accident - it is so strange to think that what happened was actually quite dangerous. It kinda struck me only now...Life is fragile.

Finding Fio

As I was looking for the red espadrilles for a previous photo shoot, stashed somewhere away for this summer already, I ran into this pair of 'Fio' sandalettes in a delicious café au lait hue.

The pair was bought back in 2003, in Düsseldorf (yes, it's one of the five (or was it four..)). They used to have looong leather strands to tie around the ankle, but they broke down at some point and the shoes became unusable. Or so I thought - today I pulled off what remained of the strands, and it seems they might be used also as is. Well, we'll see about that, maybe they are "Fio the Fenix", and rise from the ashes to a brand new life ;)

At least I can wear them at home, or utilise the 'taxi-accessory' to move about with these on!

This shot was an immediate success, at least in my eyes, with very little post-processing with Photoshop needed.

Woman in red

Red is a colour that, with shoes (and probably with everything else) has something very specific about it. It is a very strong and bright colour that is connected with both love and aggression. It is also sometimes considered sinful, at least in the western culture.

I have always liked this colour, but wear it rather seldom. Currently, now that it is summertime, I feel ok with my nails short and painted with "Indian red", as the label on the side of the nail polish bottle claims - a simple, pure, clear red that only seems appropriate in summer, or maybe also when worn with mere black outfits. My red linen dress I have already described, and I also have one favourite bag from Laura Ashley with beautiful printed decorations on leather and made in India.

I used to have just one pair of red shoes - or two, to be exact, if we also count my espadrilles - but the ones I have are loafers and do not really incorporate the essential red shoe. I've always wanted to have high-heeled red stilettos, but never bought a pair. Why? Maybe I always considered it too much, maybe there weren't good models available....I don't know. What I do know is that I was hugely jealous when one of my dearest friends, Katja, or Ekaterina as she comes from Russia originally, described her latest purchase of exactly such real type red shoes to me a few years back! But for one reason or the other, I till this day do not own such a pair. Strange!

I am a little bit closer to this goal, however, since I ran into quite a pretty pair of red shoes at the summer sales at one point. A pair from this mysterious "PK Paker" from Spain, it has some very nice ideas on the top and is quite comfortable to wear - also to work. And, last but not least, these shoes present a perfect match to my red leather bag :)

My cat also likes red, even though I read somewhere that cats cannot see red, really. But somehow she still seems to prefer the red toys to play with, the red ribbons, even the red shoes...or does she? According to this little picture series, she might still consider the outdoors far more exciting than a pair of some such strange objects, red or not!


ps. the title of this entry of course refers to the film classic with the same name

Finally!

I love the colour turquoise, and many times before saw beautiful shoes in that colour, but for some reason, I never got hold of them. Either they were too expensive, or not fitting, and so on. But now, finally, when I went to actually find a red belt, I ran into these sweetiepies first thing after I stepped into the store.

With just one pair left in exactly my size, the 10€ price was hardly a hindrance! Yes, you heard right - that is what remained after a 85% price reduction :)

I do love the summer sales!

The shoes are in suede leather, and they are Chinese! My first shoes from that country, I believe. No wonder the EU, especially the Italian and French - the traditional shoe-producing countries - want to create new rules against Chinese shoe import. According to Herald Tribune on July 4, "Under the European plan, which is still being discussed with the member countries and is subject to ministerial approval, the EU would put only normal duties on 140 million pairs of leather shoes from China and on 95 million pairs from Vietnam, according to figures from the Reuters news agency. For imports above those volumes, Europe could add a duty of 23 percent in the case of China, and 29.5 percent in the case of Vietnam".

Well, if 10€ is the end result, I can understand their case, for they will soon be in trouble!

..oh, and I never did buy the red belt I went for...

back to work

My summer vacations are unfortunately over, so it's back to work work work again! The summer has been great, though, the weather being quite hot and sunny almost every day. I went to the countryside for a week or so, which was just so great. Also my cat was able to accompany us, which I was very happy about. She, however, didn't much care for the outdoors, but would rather observe us grilling food or ourselves, in the sun, through the cottage windows. During the week, her favourite spot became the tv, on top of which she was lying and watching us go about in the terrace, or, to her obvious horror, swimming! :) At times, we would disappear altogether, as we took to the lake with the boat, and returning, once again, with no fish caught.

I managed a whole week with only 4 pairs of shoes: the Estonian ones (which I didn't even use), red high-heeled espadrille legwrap sandals, orange flats (also from Estonia actually) and brand new golden flip-flop sandals by Dumond. (Well, on top of that, I do have 1 pair stashed at the summer cottage, an old pair of black Bruno Magli sandals that are very comfortable and classy.) I will provide pictures once I find the time and energy to take them.*

My countryside garderobe grew essentially before the trip. The extensive shopping done before the actual trip was a nice addition to the overall pleasure, in fact ;) I made great purchases from Mango and Vero Moda for easy-to-wear, casual clothes just right for the occasion - not to mention a beautiful gold-embroidered shirt by Marella. I think I now have become a regular customer at the two stores mentioned, since I'm so happy with what I found!

Back to the city, I have rummaged about in the sales some more, and found even more nice shoes: 3 pairs by a new 'acquaintance', Spanish shoemaker 'PK Paker' - the label looks suspiciously similar to "Peter Kaiser" - red, white, and duck egg green. With a 70% price reduction, I consider them a real bargain. I could have bought more, but...I guess a girl can't have everything :)

Anyways, this takes away my worry about running out of shoes to picture for my blog - I now realise that will never happen....!

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*...which happened during my sick leave between 26-28.7.

No time...

...to photograph shoes at the moment, mostly due to too much work - but I have been actively wearing my summer shoes lately, now that the summer is finally blooming. The temperature is reaching +30 degrees, and I was sun-bathing for a full 10 hours this Sunday! And no, I did not burn myself. However, at this heat, wearing my secret flower shoes was not such a good idea after all...

The outcome: I have sores all over, and cannot wear most of my shoes currently :/ Oh well, it's worth it anyway!

Before my Sunday-stupidities, I also managed to finally wear my silver shoes! Namely, on Saturday evening I was invited to a friend's house for home-made hamburgers, drinks, and a lot of soccer watching (the world championship games are on, and my friend is very, very fond of soccer). The food was delicious, and the company was hilarious. We started the evening with a small bottle of champagne to celebrate certain achievement of mine.. it was such a nice evening!

To accompany the shoes, I wore a long silk skirt from Laura Ashley and a silk knit top from Sand, and covered my bare shoulders with a classical blue jeans jacket from RL Polo as we were sitting on the roof terrace at some point, smoking and sipping at our drinks. The weather was absolutely perfect, and so was our mood. She was on vacation already, whereas for me this haven was welcome relief after a hectic week at work. The last tram took me away once I finally dared to part.

Little Summer Blackies

Hmm, it seems I don't have much to do on Sundays - or, I am evading some things I ought to be doing. Anyways, here's one more pair of shoes presented.

These little black beauties are a mixture of canvas and leather. This means they do not give in at all, which in turn means that they are not too comfortable. However, they are very cute. The heel is of triangle form, adding a nice little detail to the design. The sandals are, again, by Bruno Magli, which explains their classical look - a look that can be combined with more or less anything and everything, especially all business style clothing. These shoes will always be in style, I believe.

Two pairs of whites

White is not an easy colour when it comes to shoes. It can often look tacky or tasteless, and for the most, it is only appropriate during summer time. Years ago, I always had a white garderobe for the summer which I loved, but at some point I gave that up for some reason. I guess I just got bored with that solution. Recently, I have thought I might revive the tradition, for it is quite classy in a way. Also, during the heat it is very comfortable.

However, even when I had my summer whites, I never actually had white shoes. Instead, I paired the whites with brown leather - some of the nicest sandals I ever had, actually (still miss them!). But now when I no longer wear the whites, I happen to own whole two pairs of white shoes, both of which I have been using frequently.

The first pair is from Pons Quintana and was purchased in Luxemburg few years back. They are very very comfortable, because they are hand-woven they adjust to the foot perfectly. The heel is not that high, maybe about 6 cm. They are tied to the feet with long leather cords, and it is up to the wearer if the cord is tight just around the ankle or up the leg. I use both ways depending on what I wear them with. I often pair these shoes with my red linen dress by Armand Ventilo bought during the same trip, or with a white embroidered linen skirt from Laura Ashley that is so sweet.

The other white pair was a gift, a souvenir, from a friend. She visited Pristina in Kosovo where one of her friends was working, and found these beauties in the local market place. She immediately gave me a call when she spotted them, asking me if I want her to bring them to me. Of course I wanted them, for a ridiculous price of 15 euros they were a true bargain, according to her description! And that they were - they are maybe a bit tasteless in a way, but I don't care! Men love them, and also women always notice these shoes :) I often wear them if I go out. The band that would go behind the ankle is too tight so I have placed it over the shoe - it is in fact an unnecessary addition to the shoe.

So these are my two pairs of whites - both quite usable in their own way, and both with some dear memories attached to them.

Estonian charm

I am currently at home, having been ill over a week now and slowly recovering from what seems like the worst case of flu I've had in a very long time. I feel dreadfully weak - with the slightest effort my heart starts to bounce heavily and I immediately feel very tired. I have little appetite, and cannot taste anything, which feels quite funny actually. I've tried the strongest tastes, but not even chili can make my tastebuds work - or at least not communicate any message to the gourmet part of my brain..or any part for that matter.

So, I have not much to do, being too weak for most things - I just sleep and watch some tv if I'm up - but now I decided I am strong enough to update my shoe blog just a little bit. I've been longing to photograph the blue silk shoes and also these beauties found in Estonia two years ago - for I absolutely adore them. They were a gift from my then boyfriend: when we were visiting the capital of Estonia, Tallinn, with another couple in the summer of 2004, my boyfriend told me that he would buy me anything I want! So I found these wonderful shoes in one of my favourite colours (as well as some other shoes, lingerie and a very nice bikini). Here I have pictured the shoes on the window sill over my lamb skin suede jacket in similar colour - I often do wear them together. These shoes have earned me a lot of compliments from other women, and whenever I wear them, my feet are almost burning from the envious looks they collect! So I really love them, and remember the generosity of their giver :)

The Estonian women are quite feminine and love beautiful clothes and especially high heels, much more than their Finnish counterparts - but for few exceptions, such as I. Shopping in Tallinn is great fun for I like the selections there more, and the prices are often more affordable than in Finland. What I also always buy in the old town is many bunches of flowers - they can endure the short trip back to Helsinki easily, and will give pleasure for at least a week or so for me and my cat, originally from Tallinn, who seems to love the scent of the flowers of her native country strikingly much. It is practically impossible to keep her nose away from the buds for a second!

Something blue...

"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" is an old wedding tradition according to which the bride needs to wear all of the above to be lucky in the marriage, as well as in life in general. Being somewhat superstitious, I always thought that should I marry, I would abide to the rule. So, when I bought these blue silk shoes from Bruno Magli long ago, I thought I could use them for that 'something blue'. However, time has passed and I remain an old maid - and I thought, what a waste to keep such a lovely pair in the closet, so I started wearing them anyway :)

Till now, I have been able to match the pair with blue-and-white striped underwear, and here they lie over a silk dress in similar blue hue I found in the sales last summer, bought for a friend's wedding (but not worn, I chose something else the last minute). They also look quite nice with a pair of blue jeans. They have started to look a bit worn, so now they would qualify also for the 'something old' part (as would their wearer...)! In any case, I'm not too sure if they would do for such good bridal shoes anyway, since they tend to slip away and might not be too good to dance with.. :)

Butterfly sandals

I have indulged in another shoe purchase last week. I was only accompanying a colleague in a local supermarket where he wanted to find comfortable sandals to be worn at work. In the IT field where I work, most engineers tend to wear something from Birkenstock (or equivalent) for work. Needless to say, I don't - my choice is something a bit more feminine (then again, I'm not an engineer). In fact, I'd rather drop dead than be caught in something so hideous! Also, my feet are so used to heels that if I wear flats for longer periods, my knees will start to ache. So I was born to wear heels. Quod erat demonstrandum. ;D

Anyway, as I was standing by while my colleague was trying on his sandals, I got so bored that I wandered off towards the ladies' section. And lo' and behold! These pink&gold sandalettes with strass butterflies attached to the front were glittering in the shelf. Trying them on was hardly necessary - the mental decision to get them was more or less instantaenous. However, I stayed firm at first, wanting to visit some other stores that I knew of in order to see if this type of shoe could be found elsewhere, so that I could choose among a selection.

A quick rampage through the main stores in the city center soon proved that they were one of a kind, so I went back, tried them on once more to somehow justify the purchase, and headed to the counter.

They are quite lovely and can be worn cosily at home with lingerie. They might be perfect also for some special evenings during summer - for example, if going out to dine in some flashy restaurant or to a posh night club.

Miss Pinky

Today, even though it is Saturday, I had to travel to the airport for some work-related business. We, a colleague and I, went to collect one of our summer interns, arriving fresh from India - a young student first time outside the borders of his native country.

The day was hot by local standards, temperature rising up till 22 °C, so I wore my ivory linen suit by Episode (don't know if the label still exists) which always feels so adequate to fight the heat. Since I was travelling by car, I realised that for this mission, I would be able to use my fabric-coated Brazilian summer sandals that are otherwise so 'demanding' - they endure no rain, for example.

Meeting these youngsters (there will be four of them) has been such a pleasure: for them, this is all a big adventure, being so far away from home, somewhere as exotic and remote as Finland is for the most. It will be a pleasure to follow their enthusiasm and vigor while their stay in this Northern destination.

Practical, everyday shoes (sic)

May has finally arrived and the summer with it. The 1st of May celebrations are now behind us. The weather was exceptionally warm and sunny throughout the season holidays, at least in the Southern part of Finland, where I have been living all my life.

Along with the summer, the shopping for new summer shoes is also reaching its climax. All the shops seem filled with a multitude of choices in every colour and type to suit every taste. I too have been shoeshop-hopping frequently, trying on this and that, but it took only one glimpse at this very pair to set my mind on having them. For I had a definite need for them. The colour, light leathery brown, is perfect for my purposes, and matches with almost everything. The heel is somewhat high, but the shoes are quite steady and even longer distances are not impossible. They gave me just one blister when first worn; since then they've been behaving surprisingly well.

These shoes are Italian, by the label 'Gino Ventori' - and very affordable. Still, I had to wait for my paycheck on the last of April to be able to collect them! Thank God for the reserving policy ;) I plan to wear - and already have - these shoes on a daily basis. This was also the case yesterday, when I arrived at work at 9 am, left at 5:30 pm to meet a dear friend, visited a few bars and finally played billiard for an hour or two till way after midnight! At some point we learned that there had been a huge fire in the city center - some pyromaniac had burned down the old railroad warehouses doomed to be torn down starting in May. At first we wouldn't believe it, and thought it was some weird joke. However, it turned out to be true. The city center was filled with smoke, and thousands of people were witnessing what they referred to as reminiscent of the 'final day of doom' according to the local newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. It was quite terrifying, since such havoc* is uncommon in our peaceful country.

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*(addition on July 27) In fact, the investigation so far shows no signs of such a pyromaniac; instead, it seems the whole incident was purely accidental! I truly hope that it was. However, another pyromania has taken place since then: the beautiful old church of Porvoo was set on fire on May 29 by some idiotic youngsters. Even if the roof was not original, the heart of an art historian is turned upside down by such stupidity.

Cowboy boots

Cowboy boots suddenly became fashionable last fall after very long time. Since I'm not that trendy, really, I don't think I would have bought any - but it happens that I already owned a pair. Last summer, when visiting my Dad in the countryside where he spends half of the year, I was rummaging through the contents of the attic at random, just to kill time - and ran into this pair.

I was pleased to find them, carefully packed away who knows when by my Mother, now deceased. I had forgotten all about them, and would have thought that they'd be out with the garbage long ago already.

It is so funny sometimes, to be lucky enough still to get new mementos about the loved ones, who are no longer with us. One truly treasures such moments in life. I do, at least.

my green little lizard feet

...carried me with ease, through the sunny park, to my friend's place, last evening, to celebrate the graduation of her, one of my best friends, and her sister, from the university.

The spring is finally here, and the temperature is rising rapidly. I realised it would be perhaps the last chance to wear my green Portuguese lizard boots before it would be too hot. These fabric boots are one of my two stretch boots, which means they always fit well since they adjust to the shape of the calf.

The evening proved a success, there were a lot of nice people and some maybe not that nice, but I had a strange air of detachment that protected me from any malicious intentions. Nothing or noone could could have disturbed my mood - especially since I had the chance to talk with some quite interesting individuals, while avoiding the not-so-interesting ones. My friend, of course, was as radiant as ever, and had made the best of servings, as she always does.

All in all, the night was very pleasurable, and made me understand a thing or two about myself and also of others. So enjoyable it was that we actually missed the last tram home when we finally dared to leave. So I walked to the city center with a new acquaintance, a young girl who was fun to be with, and as I had seen to it that she reached home safely, I was prepared to walk the 2 km distance to mine. However, even though I would not have minded to get some fresh air, a tram suddenly appeared when I was walking by a tram stop - and I realised we had in fact not missed the last tram, but the second to last.

The Secret

In 2002, I had the chance to participate in a most interesting workshop in Germany (not in Düsseldorf this time, but in a wonderful medieval castle somewhere else), and on my way back stayed for the weekend in the lovely city of Luxemburg for the first time in my life. It was July, so it was very warm and the weather was quite splendid for the both two days I spent in this small but vivacious capital of the state of Luxemburg. I visited the tunnels inside the ancient city wall, as well as some art museums, like the lovely Villa Vauban in the midst of a beautiful flower garden, and the exciting Casino Luxembourg - a former gambling house turned into the museum of contemporary art - just to mention a few.

In the shops, there were sales, so I let myself be carried away with one of my favourite hobbies, shopping (if you hadn't guessed this by now, I should wonder!). There I learnt how different the manners and customs can be in Finland as compared with middle Europe - there were no mirrors inside the dressing cabinets, but the customer has to step outside and be judged by anyone who happens to be around! The sales person would, of course, say anything nice and flattering about the most hideous combinations - as long as the customer would buy, seemed to be the goal. In Finland, one can stay in the privacy of the cabinet, since the mirrors are placed inside them, and judge for oneself - which is good or bad, depending on the individual likings and the level ot taste of the current occupant of the cabinet ;)

In the shops and also on terraces where I wanted to order something, I soon realised that there is a language in existence I never knew of before - that of luxemburg, or letzeburg, as the locals seem to call it. It sounded like a mixture of French and German, and I guess that is exactly what it is. In any case, I couldn't understand a word of it.

I ended up buying, if I remember correctly, two pairs of shoes (and a lot of clothes): white hand-woven shoes by Pons Quintana, and this shiny purple pair by Freelance that I often wear at home. These little sandals have a secret - underneath the shoe there is a lovely little flower embroidered to the sole, something the wearer alone gets to know! But now I am sharing the secret with you.

Soft and sweet

Today is Sunday, and I have been cleaning my wardrobes, taking out summer gear and packing winter stuff away. This also goes for my shoes - I have opened the shoe boxes where I store my summer shoes when they are not in use, and replaced the winter versions with summer ones in my shoe rack in the hallway. The rack is quite full now, since I have so many more summer shoes. Small wonder, for during the summer time, one can really play with all types and kinds, with whatever material, and the leather sole is not such a problem anymore. The summer shoes also tend to be colourful and softer and more open - meaning that it's time to start thinking about a thorough pedicure!

One of my favourite summer sandals are my currently only shoes from Bally. The cream colour nicely enhances the fact that the leather used for these sandals is very soft - the shoes are a pleasure to wear, and can be matched with most things. I've worn them for years, and originally they were bought to replace a very similar pair by Bruno Magli that I used as long as I only could. Practically the only difference to them is in colour - they were tanned brown. I regret I didn't save them and take them to a shoe maker, and order them to make a similar pair. Luckily though, I found these creamies soon enough. The heel is about 4-5 cm, so there is no strain in wearing the pair. The heels are also of very hard material, and make a distinctive 'clickety-clack' sound when I walk - different from any other shoes that I have - and I really love it, for some reason.

During summer, I wear these sandals very frequently if only the weather allows for it, often with my long white linen dress from Marella, or with my jungle grey RL polo safari shorts. Can't wait! Today, I already wore them when letting my cat peak into the staircase in the house that I currently live in, just to hear the familiar sound I'm strangely so fond of :)

Beetle juic...I mean shoes

These shoes were coined beetle shoes - Koppikset in Finnish - by a former boyfriend. I find the name quite appropriate since it is so descriptive, and have used it ever since, even if their 'christener' is long gone from my life :)

These beetles have served me well, having been my favourite night scouting shoes until the ankle straps were broken. They have been waiting to get fixed, but till now I have failed to act on this matter - I'm just so lazy sometimes. But many times I leave for the town, I regret this neglicenge. For they are great shoes.

Again, the origin of the shoes is not clear. Somehow, I have the feeling they might be Spanish. However, the label Paolo Santini sounds more Italian. Somewhat surprisingly, the web page does not clearly reveal the origin of the label. If I've understood correctly, the shoes are actually Austrian.

ps. 'Beetle Juice' was originally a strange and intriguing film by Tim Burton, made back in 1988.

A night out

These evening shoes I use quite often during the summer period, as you can see for yourselves from the picture - it is obvious that they have seen a night or two. The ankle 'straps' are quite handy in that they make certain that the shoe stays on, no matter what. Revealing or hiding the strap, depending on the outfit, truly changes how these versatile shoes appear: when hidden, the shoes look quite classy and elegant, but when revealed, the look diverts more towards the kinky side.

I fail to remember the label of these shoes, since it dropped out long ago - and there is no sign of the origin either. Last time I wore them was last fall, when my boyfriend and I went to listen to a jam session called 'Mike's Monster jam' at midnight one Sunday in a local rock club called On the Rocks.

Goldie goldie

Well, since I already have presented my bronze and silver shoes, the last one to step on stage are, naturally, the golden ones. So here they are, my golden ballerinas - very flashy, very impractical in that sense - but luckily I just read in some fashion magazine that metal colour shoes should be the thing this summer. So maybe I dare to wear them :)

These cutiepies were found last summer, too, as I went shopping and just dropped by to browse the selections at a store more favoured by the young, the Swedish Nilson shoe store. However, I could not resist the golden opportunity. The shoes were made in Brazil.

During the same shopping day, I also found a very nice beige twinset, with glittery decorations on the chest, from Marella - they go well with this pair, as with almost everything else. A nice day it was!

Silver Shoes

These silver shoes from Rizzo are very much the same style as the bronze ones purchased in Düsseldorf, the only differences being an even lower heel of different shape, and the missing bands. Despite the label, they too were made in Italy. Also these shoes however remain still to be used for the first time. It seems to be the case with most flat shoes - I just wear them very seldom, if at all.

The plan for these shoes is to pair them with all-black - for example, long pants and jacket - a suit, most probably. Icy pink might also provide for a good combination. This summer, I plan to use them if I go the theatre or to a concert, or maybe when I go to have dinner or drinks in the evenings with friends or with that special someone.

The shoes were purchased from a shoe shop under the very same name, the Swedish Rizzo, in Helsinki city center last summer. This shop has a rather nice collection of shoes, both from Rizzo and from several other quite nice labels, too.

For the rainy days

In Finland, there is a shoe designer who is, for some reason, quite popular in general. His name is Pertti Palmroth and the shoes he makes are rather practical, with a wider sole that fits the Finnish shape of foot well, I guess. I do not like their shoes that much, they are too 'down-to-earth' to suit my taste, and my foot is better suited for other shapes, but it seems it is practically impossible not to own a pair of Palmroths if you happen to live in Finland. Mine is a pair of black boots in an imitation of some sort of reptile skin. The material is plastic, so these boots can be used as rubber boots - and in fact that is exactly how I use them. (I use actual rubber boots only if I go to the countryside, if even then.) This spring has been exceptionally rainy, so I have had to use them a lot, unfortunately! There have been but few sunny days till now.

The heels are very sturdy, so the boots are very comfortable to wear and walk even longer distances. The upper part is moulded to reflect the curve of leg, and the fit is quite appropriate - it should be, since the material does not give in at all. I usually wear these boots with long pants, so they are only partly visible. I don't have that much good to say about the pair except that they are practical and have a certain place in my shoe collection, but men seem to like them surprisingly much - I guess 'black boots' - even of this kind - have a special meaning to them.

MiniMilano

At some point of my life, I always seemed to end up in Düsseldorf, Germany, for one reason or the other. Either I was flying up to meet a friend, travelling on the train with the Interrail card, first with a best friend and then with a boyfriend, and later, the business trips to this city I had learned to know so well I didn't need a map anymore, became a routine.

I found it a bit funny that of all the cities of Europe, I should be returning to this particular one like a bumerang. And funnier even, though it is the fashion city of Germany, I never was engaged in any fashion-related things there - except of course indulging in extensive shopping activities each and every time I was visiting there.

So, once more in 2003 as I was working for Nokia I set foot in this nice and modern city once again. During my spare time I soon discovered Italy inside Germany: a lovely little shoe shop called 'MiniMilano' became the target of my pilgrimages from then on. The shop was full of wonderful shoes of all kinds - since it was April and the summer was approaching, the collections were at their best.

I ended up buying a full five pairs of shoes with different styles and heel heights, all beautiful in their own way. It was a hard choice though, I could have emptied the shop if only I had stayed any longer than the 5 days planned. The shopping was annoying though in one respect: visa or any other credit cards that I had were not accepted in most small shops, including this one. Since I had long forgotten my PIN numbers for any of my cards, I was forced to take money via my hotel - which is not too cheap, nor handy. I did feel like a shop-a-holic - or like a little girl at a candy store - at some point, when returning to the hotel counter, again and again, for just a little bit more shoe money :D

In any case, these lovely bronze and glitter mules have not yet been worn, though they truly are pretty. Perhaps this somewhat surprising negligence is due to the heel being only about 2 cm, since I rarely wish to use any type of flats. But I will find the occasion, eventually - that I can guarantee!

The Hairy Ones

Today, as I left for the city center in order to find some food, I had to reason long and hard with myself not to wear my fabulous new black and hairy Brazilian Dumond shoes. A recent purchase and really more suited to the fall time, I was still anxious to wear the pair even once before they'd be hopelessly 'last season' in the utmost literal sense of this common phrase.

The foreseeable discomfort of high heels approaching 10 cm combined with the relative roughness of the unworn material made me give up on the idea finally, and settle for my cute little black ballerina shoes by Unisa instead. Luckily so, since once I reached the center, the clouds that seemed to have appeared from nowhere were heavy with water and already dripping some. I found rescue in the city tunnels, where the only shops open during holidays are located. It started pouring heavily and I had to take the tram back home.

I guess I'll have to be reasonable and wait for the fall time this time. The shoes were a real bargain, sold at a ridiculously low price in winter sales - and even more so, since they are a perfect match to a Francesco Biasia bag of similar hairy cow leather purchased some two years ago and serving as the bag for the fall-winter season for me ever since. In any case, as I was trying these black beauties on, I realised how great they will look with patterned legwear - flowers seemed an extremely nice choice, and I have no doubt so will geometrical ones be, too. I take it this means I can claim fully licensed for extensive legwear shopping the coming fall ;)

In the train

It is Easter time, so I went to visit my Father in Lahti, where I originally come from. I took the train, both directions, leaving Helsinki on Saturday evening and again returning yesterday in the Sunday afternoon. Both times, the train was quite full, which surprised me. After all, the holidays had started already several days earlier, and I expected the train to be rather empty, since everyone had already left or would yet not return. I proved myself wrong - the train was packed on both occasions, mostly with youngsters, probably not wanting to spend the whole Easter vacation at their parents' house, but just a day or two, out of a sense of obligation.

On my way there, I was concentrating on a crochet project, long overdue, for a summer pullover, minding my own business, and the journey went swiftly and with no occurrences worth mentioning. On returning, however, I chose to sit in the restaurant carriage - even though I really enjoyed visiting my Dad, I felt tired since I hadn't slept well during my stay, if at all. And in any case, it is usually stressful to be on the travel, however short-lived. So I felt exhausted and decided I needed a drink.

In the restaurant car, there were again quite a bunch of people, some heavily drunk, and the noise was remarkable. However, I was determined to sit down and started glimpsing for a free seat with least bad options, while standing in line for the beer, my choice for the day. Finally, I sat down next to a middle-aged lady and opposite a young girl.

The girl was beautiful in a way that spoke of intelligence, probably a university student. She tried to look mysterious, and had, in a demonstrative fashion, placed a book with an intimidating title on the table, 'The Geography of Fear' by Finnish writer Anja Kauranen, popular among the younger readers at least. Not reading, the girl was keeping close watch of her fellow travellers and every now and then making notes to a small red notebook, placed in her lap, in tiny yet decorative handwriting. She reminded me of myself as a 'fervent young intellectual' as I liked to see myself in those days, and I smiled in secret. In any case, she had created a clever ensemble of how to pose herself to the eyes of others, and I could but admire the outcome, despite its apparent naiveté. Or maybe I have just become cynical?

Some men were making comments to us on the next table, but we didn't much care about those lads. Rather, the hassle provided me and the middle-aged lady the excuse to start talking to each other. She turned out a colourful personality, having also visited her parent, namely her mother, and was more or less in the same state as myself. We talked about this and that - why I mention all this here is that finally, we ended up talking about shoes. She too was an enthusiast, and started commenting on my brown, well-worn Peter Kaiser shoes which I had chosen to wear for the trip, for their comfort. We shared opinions about appropriate usage of high heels - when to choose them and when not to choose them, and about taxis as a more or less obligatory accessory to any pair of very high ones. We also exchanged some hidden secrets of the trade (since wearing high heels can be compared to labour at times) - on how to ease the pain and lessen the dangers of wearing heels.

It was a fun trip, thanks to this lady, and it felt like it was over almost too soon. Here the practical German shoes are pictured with my cat, who just wouldn't stay outside the camera range but wanted the attention the shoes were annoyingly receiving, instead of her. So she became the most perfect accessory to complete the setting for this little still life :)

Lilac Dreams

Lilac is one of my favourite colours. So happy I was when encountering these beauties while 'just passing thru' (as if!) the shoe department at one of the big department stores in the city center. For -70% reduction on the original price, it was not hard to decide whether or not to buy them!

Here placed over my lilac summer pashmina scarf, these Italian Aventura suede and sparkle shoes remain yet unused. The softness of the material, together with a heel of only 6 cm are a guarantee that they can be worn for hours. The ties can be bound in two different ways around the ankle, which makes these sandalettes even more versatile. I do hope summer will come soon!

If I were to...

...get married, these dream boots by Lars Wallin for Rizzo would make me want to tie the commitment during winter time!*

The 'pompom shoes' are quite tempting, too. Do I need to get married to wear them, or can I just wear them? ;)

Update on May 6th: I have visited the new Rizzo store in Kamppi shopping center, and seen some of these bridal shoes for real !! The boots were unfortunately missing, but the pom-pom shoes were there, as were the ones with the heart decoration, too.

In any case, both shoes still remain but a dream - at least for now!

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* update in June: I have now seen also the boots in Rizzo store, and to my surprise, they were not of leather, but of satin! Maybe they are in fact more beautiful in that material, but this also means, they are in fact intended more for the summer, I guess.

Gentle is the night

These are perhaps my most worn evening shoes. Black suede with sparkles on top and buckles, they are classy and flashy at the same time. And, as most BM shoes, they too are very soft and gentle to the feet - ideal shoes for the evening out, in other words!

These versatile fall and winter time shoes can be worn with evening dresses, black trousers, cocktail dresses and even with my tightly fitting black RL stretch jeans.

When did I wear them last? I can't seem to recall..I was planning to wear them in March for a dinner party, but had to cancel due to falling ill at the last minute :/

Metallic, metallic, metallic!

Again, a pair of shoes I was so wanting to buy for quite some time. This 'mary jane' pair is by Penelope - not an expensive label but quite dashing anyway, with metallic shine of the violet extraordinaire - at least it had a special attaching power to me! Apparently the label is or at least has been produced by Spanish Lola shoes. Going through their catalogues makes me want to move to Spain instantly.

Finally, I gave in, after having stepped into the store to try these sweeties on for umpteen times. The heels are quite high, so long-distance walking is not an option. But then again, beauty knows no pain.

These shoes are great when paired with my D&G 80-retro style black jeans - and for that matter, with anything black!

Orange sparkle from Marella

Here are my orange sparkle sandals from Marella, with a matching handbag. For the picture, they were placed over the orange silk gown by iblues, with which they are to match, once I get the chance to wear the set in the first place! I truly hope the approching summer will give me the satisfaction of having an 'orange sparkle' night out!

Also, the orange shoes and bag might suit very well with an ivory or white suit, or why not with black or even brown. Hmm, many possibilities here!

Polka Dot CJ's

I bought my first Charles Jourdan shoes as a special birthday gift for myself in 2002. I had admired them for some time in a local shop in Helsinki, now disappeared, and then finally decided I could indulge in buying them for such a special occasion.

It is true what they say about CJ shoes - they are extremely comfortable and steady to wear, even with heels as high as 10 cm. First time worn for an exhibition opening at the museum of contemporary art Helsinki called Kiasma, accompanied with pink RL jeans and Burberry top, they have since then been a constant source of compliments and joy in a variety of occasions.

One of the most memorable was when I dressed in all-black one summer night last year, with classical long sleek trousers by Marella, a flattering sleeveless knit top by Caractère found in Tallinn, and, finally, with my CJ's on my feet - and, after first meeting with a group of friends, later went on to have drinks with my boyfriend in the heart of the city at midnight, with just the two of us. Très French, indeed.