Comme il Faut

I'd just bought two pairs of Burjus and I'd just paid for my second Open University module when the slightly tipsy sounding Gisele emailed me from Argentina to ask if I still wanted a pair of tango shoes bringing back.

They're just over £100.  Is that OK?

It wasn't really OK - my bank account was looking barer than Mother Hubbard's cupboard but Christmas was just around the corner and I did deserve a nice present...

I emailed her back with my instructions:

Size 39*. 
You can choose the style.  
Here's a link to my Dance Shoes board on Pinterest for an idea of what I like.
Nothing too ordinary.

It was about a week before I got a cryptic message back:

OMG have just bought you the most amaaahhhhhzing shoes! 
Even Adam is impressed.

And Adam is a boy!! I think she was drunk again but she was on her honeymoon, so I reckon that's allowed.

It turns out that when you buy expensive shoes, you get what you pay for.

Check out the shoe bag(s) on this!

Each shoe is packed away in its own individual pocket of satin finish shoe bag.  AND it comes with an over the shoulder bag to put them away in, making them easier to carry and easier to store all those little extras that I usually cram into my shoe bag: hand sanitiser, fan, perfume, brush etc.

The individual shoe pockets give your precious shoes just that little extra protection and might well be something that I'm converted to as my taste in shoes is obviously getting a bit more expensive of late...

Naturally I will have to replace these shoe bags with my own hand-made version, because I shouldn't really be seen carrying anything but a Mambo Delight bag around with me, but for now, they're working out just nicely.

Oh - I nearly forgot!  The shoes:

That's right - they don't match!  And they certainly get a reaction - from people who just can't stop staring, to those who aren't quite sure, but don't really know how to tell me.  Regardless of whether people like them or not - they always comment.

My first proper pair of tango shoes are pretty special. When I worked in a shoe shop, I used to tell the children who didn't like their new trainers,  that they would make them run faster.  I don't think that these shoes actually make me dance better - but with the placement of the heel being in the optimum place, I genuinely think that they make it easier for me to keep my weight forward when I'm dancing.  

So now I just need to work on the posture, balance, leg extension, embrace etc... because when I'm wearing these babies, there's always going to be someone in the room looking at my feet. Hopefully they'll be so dazzled by the shoes they won't notice my clumsy footwork!

*Just in case anyone was thinking of buying me some shoes, I'm usually a size 40, but Comme il Faut come up bigger.  Thank you!

Burjus

Well hello there!  It's been a while hasn't it?

A New Year's Day sale on Etsy reminded me of my poor neglected shop and I realised that there's barely anything in there at the moment.  I keep buying fabric, but I never get round to pulling the sewing machine out of its nest in the bottom of the wardrobe unless someone's commissioned me to make something. So if you want something, do get in touch...

I'm intending to make more things this year. I was going to start this weekend, but I got a 5 season boxset of Dexter for Christmas, which means I've spent the weekend getting to know a loveable serial killer instead.  But soon.  I promise!

The good thing about not having blogged since September is that I've got a lot of things saved up to tell you about.  But don't worry, I'm intending to break it down into a series of several shorter posts.

I'll start with my not-so-new shoes.  While I was at the Berlin Salsa Congress taking a few awesome classes with Victor and Burju (amongst others), I got a marketing email telling me where there were some Burju shoes on sale, so I bit the bullet and ordered my first pair (Black Pearl), which happen to be the ones on the business card:

Apart from being the most comfy things I've had on my dancing feet, since my jazz shoes, they also draw a fair few compliments from strangers, my favourite of which was "Cracking shoes luv."  I was so wowed by my first pair, that I got straight back online and ordered a second, this time the Anyas:

Being a more luxury range than I usually buy, they come with a higher quality, branded shoe bag:

As you can see - it's windowed! 

The obvious advantage of this is that you can see which pair of shoes you're picking up as you leave the house so there's less chance of turning up to that party with shoes that clash with your outfit.  Also,  it makes it easier for you to stare at your pretty, pretty shoes.

However, once you've finished dancing the night away in a warm venue, and you carefully put your shoes in their bag, the window does tend to steam up, which suggests it's not quite as breathable as your sweaty shoes probably need.  

The solution? Ask me to make a shoe bag to match your shoes - then you won't need a window to see what's inside!

Halloween

A week ago I woke up from an afternoon nap to find an email from someone at instructables.

She'd seen last year's halloween costume on Craftster and wanted me to enter it into the Instructables Halloween costume contest.

So I did.  I reckon you should vote for me.

Argentinian Flag tango bag anyone?

I seem to be making a lot of shoe bags for myself lately, and not many for my shop. I do have a good excuse though...

My design process for shoe bags is quite... freestyle.  I get the fabric and sew it together, hoping for the best.  As a result, the first attempt isn't always perfect, so I keep it for myself.

For my Argentinian flag tango shoe bag, I was experimenting with the best way to create the sun beams, which got better as I made my way around the circumference of the sun.

Now, not only do I have a lovely new home for my tango shoes, but I'm good to go should anyone request an Argentinian flag shoe bag in future...

Gingham on the Inside

Doctor Who was back on our screens a few Saturdays ago - which was a perfect excuse to delay starting work on my latest OU assignment.  After all, I thought, it's only 45 minutes.  I can get cracking on my design work afterwards.

Instead of watching Doctor Who and then working on my assignment, I watched Doctor Who, and then spent 4 hours making a TARDIS shoe bag and ordering TARDIS coloured shoes from ebay to match:

And no, it's not bigger on the inside - it's gingham on the inside!

The shoes are TPS, and a style I've ordered before in gold so I didn't expect there to be any problems with them.  I took them out for a test-dance on Wednesday and they were okay... But the glittery straps are glittery on both sides, which makes them a bit scratchy around the toes, and I leave a trail of glitter everywhere I dance. Brings a new meaning to the phrase twinkle toes!

I'm not sure they'll look quite as fabulous for very long (once the glitter has all fallen off), but for now, I'll just enjoy being thoroughly coordinated.

Mini Moos

My Moo cards arrived on Friday.

I was in the middle of OU assignment chaos at the time, but it didn't stop me from taking a few minutes to stare at them and say "Oooh! Ahhhh!"

They're very pretty :)

Lime Green shoes

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been topping up my shoe supplies in preparation for the Berlin Salsa Congress, so I've been doing a lot of browsing on Ebay.

Here's a conversation I had with my boyfriend as a result:

Terrier Playnet Shoes

Leanne: Look at these lime green ones

Paul: You could wear them with some neon hotpants



Which is why I shouldn't take fashion advice from him.