Matalan Shoe Haul

Soooo excited to show you my lovely new shoes...first stop was Matalan, who hardly had any size 5's-so the choice for trying on was limited. Lots of high heeled gladiator styles, some satin polka dot or leopard print peep-toes and these lovely bow front platforms (below). £14 and in either black, electric blue or bright pink. They are very similar to some Topshop styles I've seen before. I just had to get both the pink and blue.The mega excitement though was over these Christian Louboutin for Philip Lim knock-offs (real deal above). They are just fantabulous. I remember seeing a purple pair in Look magazine a while back and thinking 'they are a pretty shoe, but I would be able to resist if I saw them in real life'. Oh no, not a chance! They had patent black (slightly crackled effect) or matte orange (exactly the same shade as above). These are a little bit on the small side (slightly narrow at the toe), although I still fitted my normal size 5. There was no 5 in the orange and the 6 was broken, so I had to get the black. Another girl was also trying them on at the same time as me and we were 'oohing' and 'aahing' over each others feet! They are just such a statement shoe and actually kinda remind me of an updated version of the Matalan ribbon platforms from a few years back. They look like a good quality, well-made shoe and I don't think you'd ever guess they cost under £20. £18 to be exact, except mine lost their price ticket and the lady put them through for £14, excellent!! I'm quite tempted to go and find other Matalans now and see if they have any other colours of them. They have a concealed platform, skinny really high stiletto heel, pointed toe and 4 thin straps across the foot. One strap goes around the ankle and the other 3 thread through the back of the ruffle detail.Before I had tried these on I was going to buy snakeskin Terry De Havilland style wedges and black patent (also available in grey) Gucci S/S '09 style platforms (see pic below), however I managed to put them both back (I'm so strong!). The black had a little bit too much toe cleavage for me (although my Mum loved them) and I didn't really *need* the wedges.Next was TK Maxx which was pretty rubbish. The shoe shelves were fully stocked until you got to the size 5's. I did try on a pair of brown crocodile platforms which had a gold plastic sole and layer of the platform (do you kinda know what I mean?). They had a strappy front with little bow detail and were just beautiful on. You really rocked when you walked in them. I tried on 3 different pairs until I got the right fit, then we looked around the clothes etc and as I went to pay for them, something crazy happened. I actually said out loud 'do I really need these?' My Mum had just finished saying that she thought they were the most beautiful pair of shoes she had seen...and she was right, they were lovely, but not amazingly unique and so I put them back. I told you, I am so strong!

(Gucci and Philip Lim pics from Vogue.co.uk and Elle.com)