Today's Favorites - Church's Women's Collection

I walk by the Church's store, in Burlington Arcade, every morning and afternoon and am constantly impressed by their women's collection and always baffled by the men's collections. It's like they literally took all of the designer talent and put them onto the women's side of the company. On a constant basis there are always these uniquely fresh new styles on the women's side of the store, but on the men's side, it's the same 'ol boring, black and dark brown cap toes and penny loafers. I can understand that the classic black Church's shoe is a staple piece in the London working man's wardrobe, but a little bit of new designs and colorways would not detract from their image, at least in my mind, it would boost it! Because of that, and the fact that their women's shoes could pass as men's, I figured that I would share some of it with you. It's a shame that I could not find their newest model because it has been the best yet. It reminds me of a Paul Smith shoe really, in that it's classic (a cap toe) but also has it's modern twist by adding perforations throughout the entire upper, so that it does not look like your average, boring cap toe. It's quite nice really. That being, if your wife or girlfriend is looking for some new shoes (that look like men's), then I would steer her in the direction of Church's Spring/Summer 2011 line!

My Shoes #6 - Church's Spectators

 

You have to love a nice spectator. It's one of the few shoes that can be put to use during all of our beautiful four seasons and be worn with many different types of clothing. Not only can you pair them with a smart suit, or just some nice trousers and a button-up but best of all, they look great with a nice pair of jeans. Even though the weather here in England is dismal at it's best and the shoes have white leather on them, they still make for a go-to shoe in my autumn rotation. If you happen to buy a good pair with durable leather, then they are surprisingly easy to clean and will withstand dreadful weather. Therefore, even on a horribly rainy day such as today, I still bring them out and put them to use!!

My Shoes # 4 - Church's

Considering that I just did a post about blue suede shoes and I have been yearning to get these back (from being stored in Italy), I figured that I would show you all, my pair of blue suede's by Church's. I absolutely love these shoes!! Despite having a white sole, they are great all year round and compliment a lot of the clothing that I tend to wear. And like I said in the post below, it is very common to find blue suede shoes made in the plain-toe derby style, hence my pair here. Now I just need to get a pair of blue suede brogued wingtips and make a set of blue suede apron-toe's with a crepe sole and my collection will be complete!! As you can see from the pictures below, they are very easy to wear casually, great for day-to-day activities (such as walking around Rome) and are easy to transition from casual to semi-dress attire. A must-have for all shoe enthusiasts!!

When Great Companies Go Terribly Wrong!

It almost makes me sad to write this post and share the pictures that I have with you but I feel it is necessary to show what can and will happen if you try too hard to please every single customer. I was inspired to write this post the day that I saw Salvatore Ferragamo create, what in my mind, is the ultimate sin in the shoe world. Now I have seen so many ugly shoes in my time, especially when I worked on a very high-volume sales floor, that sold men's shoes, and nothing could have prepared me for what I saw by Ferragamo that day. I almost collapsed thinking that a company, like Ferragamo, who usually makes such great shoes could go so low to appeal to one, lonely, boring, small-minded customer. Now I had seen before, atrocious shoes made by other brands who like to 'stay on top' of the fashion world (which you will also see in this post) but never had I thought that a company so timeless and elegant would even think to create such an idea. Sadly, I was wrong........










 Shoes by: Ferragamo

The thing is, I love Ferragamo and that's why I was so shocked. What's weird about this though is the fact that the square-toe phenomenon is dead now and this came out way after it's boom. This probably frightened me even worse because it made me think to myself, 'Is this the direction they are heading?' All I can do is pray there this was some sort of mistake for which they made it. What did not surprise me is that the buyers (of the establishment) bought it. And that's why I hate them, the buyers of America who continue to think that they are going forward by buying this old, outdated crap. I can't blame them though because in their minds, there are still customers who want this horrible look and as sad as it is, as long as customers keep purchasing this, buyers will keep buying it. If only I could just permanently end the desire to want a square-toed shoe, I would have to brainwash 1/3 of the American male population.

Top Two: Prada
Bottom Two: Gucci

It makes you wonder if companies will make shoes exclusively for certain countries just to appeal to their needs. This obviously does occur but to what scale is my question? If they happen to make a shoe that does not seem to respond well in it's original intended point of distribution, do you think they might create some sort of recall and then send it to some 3rd world country to try it's luck there? It wouldn't surprise me. What did surprise me though is that I saw that horrible studded shoe by Prada (upper left) in it's own boutique in Midtown Manhattan. I thought to myself, 'What normal, Prada wearing man would wear this?' I sure hope that sales were not satisfactory on that one. And Gucci!! Out of all the designers, they are my favorite and yet to think that they would make a corner-kicker sneaker that looks like those frighteningly cheap shoes that you find all over England that are trying to imitate Italian shoes. I guess Gucci is giving them headway to continue doing so, when in fact no one in Italy wears shoes like those. It just makes you wonder, will every company make crap to just appease certain people even though it's not stuff that they would want to produce?? I could understand making this atrocious stuff, if it is what you have always been making or if it is what you like, but to switch it up like Ferragamo did, just doesn't make sense. Don't have integrity for so many years and then all of the sudden just stop so that you can make a few extra bucks during a recession or to appeal to a minority of people that are not your actual target market.

Shoes by: Church's

Even a classic company like Church's will make some very ugly stuff, like that boot on the left that looks like it belongs in some Goth shop. Who are they trying to appeal to with this boot. The average Englishman?? I don't think so. Now Dolce & Gabbana are known for just making shoes that are outlandish and that look like they just arrived from space. But what was funny is when I found a picture of them and instead of wearing the racy stuff they usually make they are just wearing some very classic shoes. Domenico is wearing some basic black oxfords and Stefano is wearing some very elegant burgundy velour loafers, nothing like the stuff that they usually make. The point of this post: Stick to what you know and who you would really like to sell to. Don't try and appease everyone, or your company will begin to lack in direction. Integrity is the most important thing in branding!! Don't loose it!

The Allure Of Two-Toned Shoes

Have you ever walked down the street wearing a pair of two-toned shoes and happen to notice that 90% of the people that you walk by have checked out your shoes. Now depending on the rest of your outfit they could be thinking, "man, that guy/girl is wearing some ugly ass shit" or "wow, they have great style!" It's an invigorating feeling not knowing whether people are judging you or praising you, but nonetheless they sure as hell are going to be noticing you when you are wearing two-toned shoes. There is a certain attraction about them that just compels the eyes to follow and when done well, like most things, will stand out and will increase the chances of people considering that you have style.As you see above, here is one style of shoe (by Stefano Bemer) that has several different color options to them and considering this is where I received the style from I threw in my blue shoe as well to show another color option. What's great about styles like these is that they allow you to create the most intriguing outfits, ones that stand out from the masses and separate you from the rest of the herd. Plus they are just beautiful because of the fact that they are unique and that you don't see them very often since many people are afraid to wear something so bold. At least you still find a decent amount of spectators being made by many different brands, especially the classic American and English companies. Below you will see another set of shoes (spectators) by Stefano Bemer.
What I particularly liked about this line was the fact that you saw color options that are extremely rare like the green on light brown combo or the black on red one. Time and time again you see the same black on white or light brown on white and while you can find some elegant shoes in those color pairings it's nice to see the different color combo's that can be created and even nicer to see someone wearing them and incorporating them into an outfit. Unfortunately when it comes to spectators I only have the classic black on white option but at least I have my blue shoes that help me stand out from the norm. But for the beginners out there who aren't ready to jump into wearing the less common color options such as red and blue I will post some pictures below of some easy outfits to wear with the common spectator.



















The picture on the left provides an idea of how to wear a pair of two-toned shoes in a more casual way while the picture on the right gives you a slightly dressier option. I just used very basic examples for you to give an idea of how easy it is to do. To get more complex with the outfit would be more subjective and therefore I will leave you to the imagining of one. To pair these with a suit is fairly simple and therefore did not take pictures for examples, sorry. Anyway for those who might be interested, the shoes that I am wearing are by Church's.

It's even nice when you see this idea incorporated into women's shoes. While of course their shoes are naturally more colorful then men's are you still tend to find many women wearing bold colored shoes but mostly in one color as opposed to two bold colors distinctly together. Ladies and gentlemen may your next shoe purchase be a bold two-toned pair of shoes!