Hanging with the Humble hipsters

This month, your Shoeblogger has been spending more time than usual in Hipster Heaven (or, as The Royal Mail refers to it, London E2.) The photography exhibition I’ve been curating, Modern Love, opened on April 12th at Theprintspace gallery in Shoreditch (click here for info about the exhibition and here for the gallery’s site. The exhibition is currently open to the public, so please do check it out). Plus a succession of friends and visitors passing through town post-Easter means that I have been shuttling between Da Bush and The ’Ditch (ahem) on an almost-daily basis. 

 Sunday’s excuse to go east was the Humble Sale, hosted by style site What I Wore Today. For those unfamiliar with the term, a “jumble sale” is where people get together to sell personal stuff – be it unwanted clothes, old books, home-made cakes, whatever – generally with the aim of raising money for charity. This weekend’s event was a small but carefully put-together event (I can’t use the word “curated” twice in one post) – hence “Humble” – with proceeds going to the British Heart Foundation.

There were some great pairs of shoes, though sadly the grey Miu Miu ankle boots (above) weren’t my size. I did score a rather excellent t-shirt, though, thanks to Shade, wearer of the red Ralph Lauren deck shoes below and purveyor of very cool clothes via iwhoretees.com

From Old Street to Spitalfields and Brick Lane, where the spring sunshine and an ever-expanding street market made for a festival atmosphere. Floral patterns, bright colours, and bare skin were the order of the day.

I particularly liked the multi-coloured Superga plimsolls (top), and the blue-banded Ferragamo flats (above) teamed with hot pink blossoming capri pants.

Even the girls opting to go a tad more covered-up were keeping it cute. How sweet are these black, white and orange Mary Janes worn with grey chevron-patterned tights? Ditto the brown suede moccasins with grey fake-fur muffs. 

The Magic of Marc

Should you have the good fortune to be in Paris between now and September 16th, then run – don’t walk – to the Museé des Arts décoratifs in the Louvre, and the Louis Vuitton exhibition celebrating Marc Jacobs’ fifteen years as Creative Director.

“More an invitation to analysis than a traditional retrospective,” according to the organisers, “the parallel stories of Vuitton and Jacobs permit an in-depth look at the fashion industry during two decisive periods, one beginning with 19th-century industrialisation and the other peaking in 21st-century globalisation.” 

Or, in Shoeblogger-speak, it’s simply a magical show. 

The lower gallery is all about the history and heritage of Louis Vuitton, trunk-makers (yes, it’s an exhibition of suitcases. You’ll love it.) Upstairs is “Marc World” (which comes with a warning that some parts of this dispay “may not be suitable for the sensibilities of children.” Although les petites Parisiennes gazing at the ostrich- and badger-headed mannequins and S&M film clips on Tuesday afternoon seemed quite unfazed, I must say.) 

In fact, while the presentation is certainly fetishistic – from the clips of Belle de Jour to the boots displayed on a ring of legs that slowly open and close (above) – the overall tone of the exhibition is playful and fun. It’s not big but it’s perfectly formed, and you can easily spend half an afternoon mesmerised by Dan Hillier and Tom Werber’s Victorian winged lady zoetrope (thanks to @Hollytorious for that heads up), Christian Borstlap’s seafaring luggage animation, and the audio clips of Marc Jacobs talking about his work and passions.

And the shoes, of course, are TDF.

www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Easter chick chic

Easter bonnets are all very well, but what fashionista wouldn’t get a lot more eggs-cited (sorry) about a gorgeous new pair of Easter stilettos? 

I blogged about Sportmax’s pastel pink and coffee s/s2012 heels a few weeks ago, here. These “Adagio” pumps (above and below), again Sportmax, were called in for a shoot by my friend Katya Z. We adored their petrol finish and couldn’t choose between the burnt-orange-shading-into-maraschino or ultraviolet-meets-viridian versions.

Whichever pair the Easter bunny brings (a girl can dream...) here’s how to wear them, as modeled by super-cool young Russian playwright Sasha Denisova:

Take one cream jacket (Givenchy), throw it over a loose sweater (Reed Krakoff) and white blouse (Acne), with ankle-skimming black pants by 3.1 Philip Lim. Add a dash of  cultural cred – in Sasha’s case, a nomination for Best Experimental Production for her play, Light My Fire, in this year’s Golden Mask theatre awards – an interview in the April issue of Russian Vogue, and, of course, a super-slim blonde cigarette (this is Moscow after all). To paraphrase Mr Irving Berlin, you'll be the chicest lady in the Easter parade.

Disco (queen) fever

There are two kinds of shoes in the world: Sensible Shoes, and Crazies. These blush-gold glitter espadrille-heel wedges definitely fall into the latter category (probably taking their wearer along and breaking her ankle into the bargain.)

I tripped over them in that shining emporium of chic, Primark in Hammersmith. They were rolling about on the floor in a pile of faux-Uggs and chunky nude patent stiletto pumps. It was as if Marie Antoinette had her Ville D’Avray spiked, got thrown into a time machine, paused in 1980 to pick up Olivia Newton-John (Xanadu-era), and they emerged in an episode of TOWIE – in the wrong place, at the wrong time, but somehow still... not completely wrong.

Natch, I tried them on. They are bloody uncomfortable. Head said, “Don’t be ridiculous. Where could you wear them?” Heart said, “A place where nobody dared to go / They call it Xanadu-ooo-oooo...” Sometimes it’s just easier not to argue, know what I mean?