"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.