Friends with benefits

It is quite true that women dress for other women. “I wore these because I knew they’d make you smile,” said my dear friend Miss Lovely when she turned up for lunch on Thursday in a pair of marvelous glitter ankle boots (above). With their smart Cuban heels and zips up both sides, they are a neat take on the Giuseppe Zanotti glitter bootees below – but without the $895 price tag. 

In fact these are “Ambush” ankleboots from the a/w 2011 collection by Topshop, and a perfect pre-Christmas pick-me-up on a wintery afternoon in London’s West End.

Lovely is the owner of vintage fashion website Lovely’s Vintage Emporium, so an eye for beautiful clothes and canny shopping sense come with the territory. She describes the website as a “modern, trends-led, magazine-like approach to vintage.” And she currently has a section called Christmas Gifts that curates a really clever selection of jewellery, accessories, and vintage fashion pieces from the 1930s onwards. LVE ships internationally, so if you need suggestions for truly original gift ideas, check it out (I have my eye on the 1970s Yves Saint Laurent bottle green t-bar heels...) 
lovelysvintageemporium.com

Vintage advantage

Back in London, one of the summer's hot tickets was Wayne Hemingway's Vintage festival at the Southbank Centre. I went along with my dear friend Miss Lovely of Lovely's Vintage Emporium fame. A celebration of art, fashion, culture and design from the 1920s to the 1980s, the event took over the Royal Festival Hall with live music, craft workshops, and Londoners having lots of dress-up fun. 

The spirit of the festival is creativity and originality. Mixing real vintage with clever new pieces is a great way to achieve the look, as demonstrated above. These red patent Mary Janes are pure flapper, and a perfect complement to their owner's period tea dress. Pretty nifty for last season's Kurt Geiger.

  

 A problem with old shoes is, of course, finding a pair in good condition. These original 1970s co-respondents (above) are not just extremely smart, but also almost box-fresh. Which is particularly impressive given the combination of patent leather with cream suede uppers.       

"Vintage is about classic design that stands the test of time," says Wayne Hemingway. These Lady Dragon Hearts (Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa, as if I need to add...) are just a year old, but your Shoeblogger is pretty certain they are future collector's items.