Irregular Choice Alice: My Cup Of Tea (Pink)

The 2nd Alice instalment from Irregular Choice launched last Friday and my haul arrived this week. I honestly could've cried happy tears with how stunning all my purchases were (sorry, not sorry for spamming Instagram with all the snaps and videos). I've said this before, but even after all the character heels I own and hundreds (well more realistically, thousands) of shoes I've owned in my adult life, I still have to pinch myself to believe that these things really exist and that they are here in my hands. So many times they are shoes of dreams, fantasy shoes you didn't think could be reality and yet here they are. It's extraordinary. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be reviewing each of the styles I tried (3 boots and these heels in two colourways) and of course I'll attempt to wear them for Shoesday Tuesday on The Shoe Girl Diaries with more fit information. So I'm going to begin with My Cup Of Tea, which I actually bought as a possible backup (only keeping one colour) and because I wanted to try a different size too.

They are the highest heel in this collection (at 5 1/4") and you'll notice it's a reappearance of the teacup and teapot heel that we saw on All Mad Here (AMH) and One Lump Or Two? (OLOT?) in the first collection. The heel is exactly the same in height, structure and colour. Remember this one is super heavy-my wrists actually weep just picking them up! Though the heel seems quite cumbersome, this doesn't translate when wearing them. The rounded shape actually manages to mostly keep in line with the actual shoe, so you're not bothered by the issue on the likes of R2D2 or the dinosaurs of clinking heels when walking. The heel does stick out the back of the shoe a little, I'll pop a photo on my Facebook later, but it's minimal and doesn't appear as problematic as the flamingo (you just fear that head hooking on something). The handles of both the teapot and teacup are safely tucked under the sole of the shoe, the spout of the teapot sticks out the back, but again has been designed so it's minimal and it's not long or thin enough that it looks breakable. I'd still advise taking a slight side step down stairs and obviously if you repeatedly scrape them, the paint will lift. The actual print does appear to be a little more blurry looking this time. I've compared it to the first edition and the floral print was sharp, it's softer on this, but it's like that on them all, so perhaps has been applied in a different way this time (maybe to help prevent chipping).
As with the first teapot heels, these shoes come with a cake platform. Mmmm jammy sponge and icing! This measures 1" and again is identical to the originals. The platform (and indeed shoe) have a very curved shape, the base of the heel is reasonably small considering the chunky feel of the heel (as you can see it widens in the middle) but still provides a nice steady base.
The soles differ from right to left foot, but are of two images we saw in the first collection (the dormouse in the teapot and the Mad Hatter) and indeed featured on OLOT? and AMH. The inners are the same again, the pale blue with all-over Alice In Wonderland print and embroidered branding. I forgot to photograph the box but once more they were all in the same style as the first collection, which you can see here.
So onto the shoes themselves and the basic court shape is the same as OLOT? but this time features a short t-bar up the front, which fastens with a buckled strap across the middle of the foot. Although the buckle isn't small, it's really a struggle to fasten. It took me a good 5-10 minutes to undo the buckle when they arrived, it was just so stiff.  Though with repeated use it seems to be easing up a little. The strap is so thick (the outer glitter material, padding and the lining, plus piped edges) and I think this is the cause. The uppers feature sparkling darker pink hearts with the background a paler, warmer pink (it can photograph quite cool, but in reality is a little more peachy toned). I was surprised to find this sparkled too, I thought it was just the hearts. It's a subtle, small twinkle, which flashes yellow and green.
On the lower toe of the shoe, there's glitter that's anything but subtle. The large, multi-coloured section has scalloped edging and is really quite stunning. The toe is softly pointed and the whole front is upturned. It can be quite tricky to get your toes far enough in because of this. There's not a lot of front and because of the steep angle, your foot kind of refuses to go in and along and inevitably your toes scrunch up. This is usually fixed with some pressing and adjusting once on. Now as for sizing, these are a 5/38 (my usual) and I bought the other pair in a 6/39 (OLOT? I bought in a 6 and AMH a 5, after the 6 were huge). At first I thought the 6 were the better fit, but actually I tried them both on properly today and I'm finding the 5 better. This seems weird because the shoe feels shallow (like there's not much depth at the front and that the shoe doesn't come far up your heel at the back) yet the uppers gape on top of my foot. The sides aren't too bad, but it's obvious on top. You can still almost see it in the 5, but obviously it worsens in the 6. I think it's because of the angle your foot sits compared to your toes. I do have the toe curling under thing happening more in the smaller size, but for me, I'm happier keeping the size 5.
Finally, at the back of the shoe, there's a massive triple bow. The bottom bow is made from the same oil-slick pink used on the Savan swan heels recently.  Above that is the same chunky glitter that appears on the front of the shoe and on top is a slimmer pink glitter bow (not as large glitter as the one beneath). This adds some serious height, depth and width to the shoe. I mentioned the heels weren't an issue when walking, but the bows do clash, though act as a great reminder to keep your feet apart. I actually struggled to place the shoes close together for these photos as the bows imposed on each other. You'll see on the image I put up on Facebook how high all these bows sit and how far they stick out from the shoe towards the back too. They feel pretty solidly sewn on, so none of this is an issue, but if bows aren't your thing, you're not going to be keen on these.
Once more you find yourself flabbergasted that these shoes are wearable.  I'm not sure if it's this whimsical heel or the overall shoe, but they look so impressive, you find yourself assuming they are ornamental.  Yet it's entirely possible to walk in them and wear them!  I'm still deciding which pair to keep, I love the extra glitter and bows on this pair, but am feeling the colours more in the green ones.  I've already photographed them too, so that will be the next review and you can help me decide!  What do you think, did you check out the collection or buy anything this time?  My list of stockists is still there if you're seeking a particular size and you can find the pink My Cup Of Tea here.

Post contains affiliate links.  No items were gifted and I wasn't sponsored to write this post.