Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

You all deserve an update... Shoes!

Wow, it has been more than a month since I last went on this blog. Most of you know that I'm doing a course in footwear design at London College of Fashion (which merged with Cordwainer's). Assignments are coming up in a huge stack but thought of posting some of the places I have visited, items I have collected and prototypes I've made the last few weeks.

Here are some of the exhibits made from the graduates from Royal College of the Arts. These works are still under display at Victoria and Albert Museum under the name of the exhibition, 'Future Fashion Now'. Shoes, garments and sketchbooks...





Before we go further, I'll just mention a little about food...

With another group of people, I went to eat french crepes at a cafe called 'The Kensington Crêperiè' (http://www.kensingtoncreperie.com) located at South Kensington and it was the best I've tasted...no other crepes I've tried...well here anyway compare to this! Of course I had share these crepes with a friend...and I didn't get to try the first crepe on the left. If I had one crepe for myself, I would not be able to try both the savory and sweet crepes! You could smell the crepes from far!


For a few days of last month, there was 'guerrilla' ice cream store constructed at London's Selfridges. Here are the interior... Good ice cream it was..in a decent size...three flavours as pictured...I can't remember the name of the flavours though... However, the store has been pulled down as well, it is 'guerrilla'!


Alright, now to the 'fashion' side of things... This is one side of the pair of boots I obtained while I was at Notting Hill earlier last month. They cost £30. The store owner got these pair of boots from a theatre that was closing down. The pair of boots belonged to 'Rebecca Parker'. She got the shoes repaired, replacing the soles. I admit, it was difficult to walk in these shoes but I guess I need to stretch it a bit. It's the only pair of shoes I have that fit my calves. I'm wondering...should I keep the laces red or change them to purple?


This is one side of mules I constructed (with loads of help from the tutor...in case you are wondering...yes I made a pair!)...when I attended a weekend course at another school called Prescott and Mackay (http://www.prescottandmackay.co.uk/). I thought it was a great weekend course to take if you don't have the time to do a full-time course. Most of the classmates I met had a real high interest in shoe making and the class was fun. I though this class was beneficial for my research. I'm learning a different technique at LCF and it's good to learn different ways. Also, at LCF, I'm learning other aspects of shoe making like pattern cutting which was not covered in the two day course at Prescott and MacKay.


Here is a mini-mock up I did with the tissue-thin paper (the type you use to wrap presents) with my foot last. This is one of the mock-up I'm doing for my current project. I hope it works out. I normally use paper to drape and experiment with designs. I wonder if this sort of effect works with leather? Only one way to find out...experiment!


Just end this entry with this 'street art' I found while walking along Hoxton, spotted by my friend, Grace. This is a piece of work done by 'Johnathan Darby' (I have a feeling I spelt the name wrongly...if it doesn't look right, let me know!). Do you think this is inspiring?



Sunday, May 11, 2008

Vintage Shopping: Shoes

From time to time, I have the urge and sometimes the tendency to shop for vintage or second hand items. Most of the times, they are accessories!

Reading one entry from 'Fashionation' made me have that kind of urge again. This linked to a second hand shoe shop called 'Calypso' from Berlin, Germany. I was amazed to see (from the photographs the amount of shoes placed in the store.

Link (for the entry): http://fashionation.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/berlin-calypso/
Link to the shop website (mostly in German but easy to navigate): http://www.calypsoshoes.com/

It also made me remember some pairs of shoes I managed to get the last few years.....to be honest, the last two years!

From Liverpool, England
£10 (around S$28 or S$30)




From Florence, Italy
Versace
€140 for two pairs (around S$280 - not sure of the exact exchange rate)


I bargained my way through. The lady at the stall charged me €100 for each pair of shoes. It was either I paid €160 with credit card or €140 in cash.

I got these Versace shoes by chance when I was around Florence last year and it was a temporary space selling vintage goods.

Usually, I would get vintage items when I'm outside of Singapore. Normally, there's no particular place I would get the items. However, I've got one recommendation.

Go to 'Beyond Retro' (http://www.beyondretro.com/) when you are in London! Two lovely local girls told me about the place after purchasing one of their clothing designs at a local market. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to explore the vintage store as I got a little lost and got to the store half an hour near closing time! At least I managed to snag a blue dress!



The blue dress (part of it....). The collar is the main reason why I got the dress and it was an impluse purchase! £14 (as I recall...)

In Singapore, I seldom get vintage items as most of the items are imported from Australia or England! However, people seem to know this website called 'Dust Bunny Vintage' (http://dustbunnyvintage.com/db/) and 'Granny's Day Out' (http://www.grannysdayout.com/) which the online shopping hasn't been lauched on the website...yet.

I've only been to 'House of Japan' which is along Haji Lane (http://www.theurbanwire.com/stories/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=372&Itemid=79 - an old blog entry but still true to what is there!). Most of the stuff are quite good (great range of kimonos!), however, I've got a little problem with dust and heat around the air (my nose starts to itch (which I doubt will happen to everyone!). Now, House of Japan would be the only reason why I would go back to Haji Lane (as I think the orginality of its vibe (mysterious and underground) is lacking these days and becoming another ordinary shopping district!)

If anyone knows a great vintage place in Singapore, please let me know (and I'm not talking about those charity shops, which I think are great actually!).

It's just all about luck, getting your hands dirty (at some cases) and how open your mind is!

...and the stuff I've shown on this entry....it's not all I have from vintage clothing shopping and shopping for it will never stop!