New Irregular Choice Eternal Friend Unicorns

Hello, how have you all been this week? I've updated The Shoe Girl Diaries with what's been happening, but if you haven't read it, I'm back to blogging (hopefully). There's been loads going on since we last spoke that I wanted to blog about and I've bought a few things in the sale (and some non-sale stuff), but those posts take a little longer to prepare, so I'll get to them at some point. Actually I was taking photos of shoes for the blog today and a not funny thing happened. A rather speedy spider ran at me from across the room mid-shoot. I have no shame in admitting I'm the biggest wuss when it comes to eight legged creatures, so obviously rather than kill capture it, I ran! I plucked up the courage to sneak back in and saw it disappear behind a pile of stuff, so grabbed my camera, picked the shoes up off the floor and shut the door (because all spiders use open doors to get in and out)!! So that was the end of the picture-taking and I'm never venturing back in there until it's caught. Big baby, yep! The dude should know the shoe room is a sacred "invitation only" mecca (though not sacred enough it can't be killed in there). Anyway, speaking of shoes, in my absence, these little pups were released.

Irregular Choice Panda Shoe Comparison

I thought you'd be keen to see a side-by-side comparison of both colours of the Irregular Choice panda heels, if you were still debating which to buy. I initially promised this post last week, but I bought another pair, so wanted to combine all three.  The majority of photos are of Pin Yin, but I've thrown in some Tian Tian too.

Irregular Choice Tian Tian Panda Heels

Meet Irregular Choice 'Tian Tian', my third pair of panda heels for consideration! Yes, not content with two pairs, I've added another into the mix and I think these could be the pair I keep. They were actually the first pair I saw in a not so detailed sneaky photo earlier in the year. So I was surprised then, to find them not included in the four released the other week.

Irregular Choice: New 'Cherry Deer'

Hey ladies (I can't say that without adding "hey fellas, you know you're doing good 'cause they jealous", I used to love that song!), anyway, I have something you want to see...a new colourway of the 'Cherry Deer' fawn heels from Irregular Choice! I'm very excited because I haven't seen them in any of the previews, so was taken aback to find them today.  They are a muted, peachy beige with wine trim and just feel sooo perfectly autumnal.  The bow and cherries blend beautifully with these colours and the fawn heel fits in well, with it's earthy tones.  

Mid Week Must Haves

Hello, hope you're well? For my 'mid-week must haves', I turn my attention to shoes. Well it was only a matter of time really, wasn't it? Wedges in fact. Starting with the 'high street honey', which are by Iron Fist. I've had my eye on the Buns N' Roses range since before it launched and have made it my mission to own almost every item in the collection. Not only do I love the name, but florals and "bunicorns", hello!! So at the weekend I ordered a top and three pairs of shoes directly from IF (including these wedges), only to be slightly disappointed with my order when it arrived (super speedy delivery, I'll give them that). The top was fine, the shoes I really wanted were out of stock and the other pair don't fit, grrr. This pair were ok-ish in fit, I'm actually starting to think my feet have grown in the past few months of non-shoe wearing (gasp, say it isn't so). I'd have to pierce another hole in the strap and there's a little bit of a bulge over the vamp, but I think I'll keep them. I can't really be bothered with the hassle of sending them back. So now I'm on the search yet again, for the other two styles and I'm not sure if it's my feet or these are small made (my experience with IF in the past were, they were true to size). Any IF ladies help me out with your knowledge? Plus despite the hefty discount code I used, I still found these wedges cheaper here for £41 with 37% off afterwards. So altogether not a very successful order, though I continue to love the print and style and think they remain worthy of being in my mid week must-haves!  

Mid Week Must Haves (Wedges) by pinkhairedprincess

JC-I Don't Think So!

I'm sorry I've not been blogging much lately...I've been feeling really out of sorts. Anyhoo, I've been wanting to let rip about some shoe things that have been bugging me. Jeffrey Campbell, the fantabulous "affordable" shoe brand...that is, unless you live in the UK. Let me explain, Office have just received shipment of a fantastic new collection of JC. First thing that p'd me off; seeing my black suede Nightwalks cheaper than what I paid (even with free shipping from Solestruck) (grrr, I think £30+ is an excessive customs charge ParcelForce). The original Nightwalk aren't exactly 'new' now and at the time nobody in the UK had them and I figured wouldn't ever be getting them, so I had no choice but to order from America. I had no idea Office would be stocking them in 2012. Next thing, their Lita's are £120. They retail for just under $160 in the US which converted is around £100. It's annoying because I don't think a shoe costing £120 is 'affordable' which is a word often used to describe JC and although £20 is cheaper than a customs charge as I've experienced, it's still a lot extra to be asking for each shoe.

Case in point, Harvey Nichols who are very reasonably priced for their little selection of JC's. They charge £95 for their plain Lita's, which I think is excellent and at the same time ridiculous to see the exact same pair elsewhere for an extra £25. It's tough though, because you don't know which retailers will get which styles/colours and may have to buy the more expensive one because that's your only option. This leads onto my next point; Office have several 'exclusives' in this new line including the white crochet Lita and black Rockaway. By 'exclusive', I would expect them to be available elsewhere around the world, but within the UK, Office would be the only place to find this particular colourway. Wrong! Both styles can be found on the Harvey Nicks website for £100 each, when they are £120 and £135 respectively from Office. Exclusive my bum! This is particularly annoying, not only that they are sold elsewhere cheaper, but that this retailer is tricking the customer into thinking this is the only place you can get your hands on these. Don't be fooled, still look around-yes, I realise it takes time, as I've done it myself for their "exclusive" Cat Lita's! Haven't found them anywhere else btw.

It's not just Office though. Zalando have also got new stock including silver glitter, brown leather and butterfly Lita's at £164.95 each. What?! They retail for exactly the same price as 'regular' Lita's, why are they priced higher here? Even more ludicrous, the brown distressed leather sells for £120 on the same website! Are plain leather really worth an extra £45? Have they pushed their prices up due to the popularity of the brand? Zalando do offer free shipping on all orders (they'd need to at that price) and Office are currently providing free shipping with all JC's.

I think it's great to see Jeffrey Campbell being recognised in the UK, but I'm not fond of these prices as it makes it very difficult to buy multiple pairs and I grudge paying more than the brand recommended retail price. I would like to see somewhere like ASOS stocking JC because I reckon they would perhaps be more fair with their pricing. My advice is to still shop around, check this is definitely the best price you can get and look into buying from eBay and/or overseas. It doesn't always pay off, in the case of the Nightwalks, but it's still worth researching.

Zalando Shoe Shopping

If you live in the UK and haven't seen the Zalando advert on the telly, where have you been hiding? Or do you just watch BBC?! Advertised as the shoe shop you shouldn't tell your girlfriend/wife/sister about because of the many benefits and unique customer service and therefore likelihood of owning an entire room filled with shoes...hmm, where have I seen that before? Oh right it's called my bedroom! Well, I just had to check it out!

It's part of this new breed of what I'd call 'easy shop' sites, that house numerous brands (600 in fact) under one roof. This is obviously great when you're buying across different brands as you would only pay postage once. However the price you see for the shoe is the price you pay-there is no delivery charge and all returns are free (30 days) which I strongly root for when it comes to buying footwear online.
So what do you get? Well there's actually more than shoes, there's clothing, beauty and accessories (men's and children's too), but for footwear you'll find brands such as Feud, Fly, Miss L Fire, Melissa, Iron Fist, Shellys, Minna Parikka, Miss Sixty and even Jeffrey Campbell.

There's the usual ease of searching for a product whereby you can narrow it down by category, size, brand, colour, price and even heel type or fabric/material. You can also hover over the style to see which sizes it's available in, without having to click on it and lose your place in a long list, which I find very helpful.
Once on the individual shoe page you get a multi angle view as well as being able to magnify every detail. I got quite upset though when I realised these gorgeous green Menbur courts in this image had sold out, as I've had my eye on them since first visiting the site (would've gone lovely with my Pearl Lowe lace prom dress too). Anyway, there's also a section about the brand and customer reviews as well as other related items you may be interested in.
There's also a handy notification service if you like an item, but it's out of stock in your size. Just click your size and input your email address and name and you'll receive an email when/if the item is restocked. I've already used this service for these beautiful Minna Parikka 'Dahlia' platforms.....gorgeous aren't they? Oh and did I mention there's a matching bag? Damn that 'you might also like' tool! So anyway, I can vouch it does work. I can't speak for the overall service or speed of delivery though, as I haven't yet placed an order. Note the word 'yet'!!
They also have a Facebook page, YouTube channel (which I haven't yet checked out) and twitter, along with their own blog. There's international sites available, so it's UK only peeps for purchasing through the UK site. You can also sign up to their newsletter and you'll receive £5 off your next order. I'm very much in favour of these easy-shop websites, shopping should be hassle free and it's great to add another one to my favourites. Have you or do you think you'll maybe purchase from there in the future? Let me know.