Bah Hum Bug!

Christmas ornaments annoy me. I'm a grumpy christmas person, it's stressful and I bore easily. But I do like coloured glass. And gold. Things that sparkle. And gleam. Yes, A very (late) Bah Hum Bug to all.

Bourgeoisie Pomp!

Where to start with this chantilly pompadour of a shoe?  High tea anyone? The bourgeoisie of Italian haute couture it seems. Yes it's fun and frivilious, whimsical even but...hmmmm I kind of want to eat it rather than wear it. Whipped cream please.

And now for something almost completely different.

Royal Jewels

The holy mother Prada and it's ROYAL JEWELS.  Pretty and sparkly, ultra fem and fabulous.  I'd kick for it! Gaudy in a grandma 1960s way but have some imagination you know these will look stunning when you are decked out for NYE.  

And these are the real royal jewels...Enjoy and drool! 

Sergio Rossi Goes Memphis.

I never use pictures that aren't my own...but this time it was an emergency. (Picture comes from the folks at Sergio Rossi).  

Sergio Rossi has gone Memphis.  And for once I'm not complaining.  For some of the younger folks let me explain a little.  It was an 80s design movement led by Ettore Sottsass. The inspiration came from 50s kitsch  mixed in with a futuristic pop art style. Seeing it for the first time as a relatively stupid 18 year old, it disturbed   me intensely by its ridiculous joie de vivre. I recalled 'oh yeah that movie, that Danny Devito and Bette Midler film, Ruthless People' and it seemed to make some sort of  seasick sense but only to convey how the nouveau riche have bad taste.  But now after 11 years it means something else to me.  It's a celebration of pure creativity, of coming together and doing something new, different, a development of design.  I finally understand what my 1st year Professors were talking about.  Design should not be shut up in that dark box to decay with the dust and mould, the same square, the same rectangle, oh no we can't produce a circle, God forbid we try something new, God forbid we come together to produce a new house of thought.  And that my fellow sacrificers is the difference between cultures.  In Italy one is allowed to ACTUALLY design.  In Italy you don't get laughed at for experimenting, trying, being creative, doing something DIFFERENT, damn just being fabulous here is a normality, one gets praised, called intelligent for being a designer or artist.

Creativity has nothing to do with money. You do it because it is a need, a release of a bubbling colourful energy deep inside the soul.  Some people create children and others create objects, wearable art, write books, create cakes.  For  goodness sake, people start things because it's normal to strike out, follow a dream.  Why aren't people doing their Oprah 'aha' moments?

Hmmmm ranty therapy is over, to the shoe.

Errrrrrr...This pump, is a symbol of a new wonderful expression of design art. Delicate and bold, strong and distinctive. Mixed textures, pattern and materials.  This baby already for me has caused such an internal design stir I don't think I need to say more.

Car Shoe

I like these fancy tassle loafers, maybe its the snake skin or maybe it's because it has a grandious buccanneer  fru fru appeal to it.  All I can hear when I look at these is Peter Ustinov's voice laughing in a 'aha, aha' kind of way.  The question is Sacrificers would you be caught dead wearin' em'?

Chicken liver pip squeak, mate!

What a Croc of....

A good structured crocodile bag is like having a tall, strong man about the house.  It doesn't fall to pieces, reliable and can reach the 'top drawer'.  Yeah thats right, Structured crocodile bags are top drawer. It looks like it popped out of a 1950s Vogue.  Take me back. Anyone up for some time travel?

 

Men's Oxford Brogue - A.Testoni

Luxury has a price tag. As a footwear designer I can appreciate such beauty in craftmanship, thought and time. So let me break it down, these aren't that expensive when you think about it.

The basics; handcrafted in Italy (refined hand - like Pygmalion sculpting Galatea), Italian leather, a fine Nappa (usually a full grain, unsplit-kid skin - it means it's like butter).

A little more detail; piping border (I once designed a pair of shoes that took the stitching lady one hour to only do the left...get it?).  Welt stitching on sole, this is not a fake bullshit stamped get em' in, get em' out type of sole.  This is the real deal.  The sole ain't made of some hocus pocus plastic this is VERO CUOIO bitches.  The brogue detail, all punched by hand and let's not forget the modellist. A serious profession that takes sweat, blood and tears to master, they are in my opinion better than any designer. And let's not forget the finishing (i've been to some of the best factories in Italy, they have been so amazing I could have eaten off the floor, the attention to detail, the love that poured into every shoe to achieve perfection made me weep - of course if I had a heart). Look at the pictures,  Delicious!

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In case you are a non believer. It sure put a spell on me. Enjoy another master. Screamin Jay....