Showing posts with label shoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shoes. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Who wants a pair of Skechers GOwalk shoes?

CONTEST CLOSED

Now that I've established that I love my Skechers GOwalk 2 shoes, I wanted to share with you the day I checked out their Glorietta store. It's super siksik with great finds!













But since I love my Skechers GOwalk 2 best, that's what I'm giving away to one super lucky reader*! Yes, I'm giving away a pair of the comfiest shoes!!!


Monday, June 09, 2014

Heels hurt? Ni-QUA's fun foldable flats to the rescue!

I'm pregnant so I haven't been wearing heels for a long while now. It's not safe, I know, so don't worry about me! But I'm writing this post because I still remember how it feels to be on heels all day and then your feet start to swell up in pain and suffering, and all you want to do is wear comfy flats.

Yung tipong pumuputok na ang mga ugat sa paa mo na pain.

Here's a cute solution from proudly Pinoy brand Ni-QUA: the Ella Foldable Flats!

I love that it comes in a big nylon pouch. Kasi other foldable flats in the market come in these tiny pouches, which begs the question: Saan ko lalagay yung heels ko??? With the roomy polka-dot pouch, that's not an issue.
Kasya heels ko!

Of course, the best thing about the Ella Flats is it's very comfy. The sole is flexible but it's not super thin. Other foldable flats have soles that are super manipis so your feet have no protection from the ground. As in, nararamdaman mo lahat ng groove, crack, bato at basura when you walk around. So sure, you may not be in heels anymore but yung paa mo naman is in another kind of pain.

Look at how relaxed my feet are! Super comfy and really fun on my feet. I love it!
No more ugat!
The Ni-QUA Ella Flats come in neon pink, neon orange, neon blue, neon green and neon yellow. If you're not into blinding brights, the Ella Flats also come in brown and red, capped at the toe by animal prints. Really cute! Shop now!

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Monday, April 21, 2014

How to make sandals

I try to learn something new every year. I guess it should be "I try to learn something new every day" but I'm a mom and, believe me, I learn something new about myself, my kids, my husband, about life and about God every single day! So I try to take up something so completely far off from my everyday life. Last year, it was doll-making. This year, I learned how to make shoes. Or sandals, to be more specific. It is one of the most difficult things I've ever done!

The idea came to me suddenly as I was idly scrolling down my Facebook feed last month. I'm subscribed to the page of Craft MNL, which hosts regular crafts workshops. I'm actually not a crafty person. I'll do the occasional homemade cards but that's about it! Still, I subscribed to Craft MNL because I wanted to learn a skill, in case the world decides it doesn't need writers anymore haha. Anyway, I saw that Craft MNL had partnered with Renegade Folk to offer a shoemaking workshop, and I signed up!

The fee to the workshop is Php 3,000. The style of shoes we were going to make is called Summer Breeze and it's for sale on the Renegade Folk website for Php 1,450. So the workshop fee is actually Php 1,550 and that covers the venue, the tools (cutter, hammer, screwdrivers) and the instructor fee.

There were lots of straps since we were making strappy sandals. There was plain leather (silver, neon yellow, nude) and snakeskin leather (pink, nude). I chose pink, of course!

The soles were already pre-cut and pre-holed. Hehe, I made that term up. We had to squeeze the straps into the holes. That was not easy at all. We had to use screwdrivers to make the holes bigger.

Then we used a special set of pliers to pull the strap through the hole. All you need is half an inch of strap for each hole. Snip away the extra length.

Two holes down, eight more to go! That's just one shoe! My fingers were not happy at all, even though I looked happy in the photo haha

Yup, the bottom holes are for two straps each so that was an extra difficult step. Anyway, once all straps are in, you fit a foot form into the sandal, tighten the straps around it, then cut off the excess straps.

Tada!

Here are the instructors from Renegade Folk and my classmates, too. 

So here's the assembled shoe. The insole with the straps, welt, outsole and heel.

Being pregnant, I had to step out of the room when it was time to apply the rugby to the welt. Our instructor (I forgot his name!) had to do that step for me. I do think that that was one failing of the workshop—the venue. Since we were going to be working with rugby, we should've been outdoors, or at least in a well-ventilated garage. Inhaling rugby fumes is not good!

Anyway, after applying the rugby and letting its sticky magic work for a few minutes, you help the sticky process out by hammering the welt and insole together. I suppose this is to get rid of air bubbles? The hammering step wasn't explained but hammer away we did! I also hit my thumb with the hammer. Ouch.

Once you've hammered in the welt to the insole, the straps underneath will make the welt bulge out. This is not going to be comfortable to your feet so you take a sharp knife or a cutter to level the material. This is careful work. You can slice yourself! After my hammer-meets-thumb incident, I did this slicing step very carefully.

And here it is! My almost finished sandals! Pretty! We had to leave them with the Renegade Folk people so that they can finish it by sanding the sides so that all the soles are perfectly aligned. But I took a photo of me wearing my new sandals (that I made myself!) and shared it with all my Instagram and Facebook followers:
Excuse the swollen pregnant feet and ankles! I insisted on getting my real shoe size (US 6) since my feet always go back to normal two to three months after giving birth. So there! I now know how to make sandals. I have a deeper appreciation for all my shoes now. Also, I am never going to buy cheap shoes ever again. The amount of work that goes into a single pair is amazing. That work should be compensated well so I guess cheap shoes mean the brand is paying slave wages to their shoemakers!

To shop from Renegade Folk, click here.

To check out Craft MNL's workshops, click here.

Now you know what to do this summer!

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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Topaz Fashion: My top picks from schu's new shoes!

I am on shoe-shopping mode. I haven't bought shoes in a while, mostly because there was no reason to buy new shoes last year since I hardly went out last year.

Woah. Did I just say there was no reason to buy new shoes? There is always a reason to buy new shoes! Who is this woman who says there's no reason to buy new shoes?!

Well, the old me must've stirred from her style slumber because I feel the itch to scratch the credit card on shoe shopping, and the first shoes that caught my eye are schu's new styles. Here are my favorites:

For daytime events...

For nighttime events...

For errands...

For meetings...

For when I want to feel pretty...

There are so many more colors and styles so perfect for the summer! You can check out all of Chocolate schubar's Spring-Summer 2014 line and the TYCA line at their Facebook page. But be warned: That's what I did and now I'm a mess, just thinking about shoes! All the styles are available at all schu shops so I guess I'll bump into you at schu if you shop for shoes, too!

*all photos grabbed from schu's Facebook page

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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Topaz Fashion: Nicole Kidman in Jimmy Choo

I was planning to post some outfits from the last few months (I keep forgetting to do outfit posts!) but I got lazy to color correct and I got depressed at how skinny I was pre-pregnancy haha so how about we feature Jimmy Choo's Spring Summer 2014 campaign starring one of my favorite Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman!

Nicole, who is 10 years older than me, inspires me with her still hot body. I wish she hadn't messed with her face so much, though. When I was reading Lord of the Rings, I always imagined Galadriel to look like Nicole Kidman. The elfin features, the stature, the figure, the grace. I have loved her beauty forever (see my favorite magazine covers of her below) but, hey, it's her face not mine. I would love to have that body, though. 




Back to Jimmy Choo! The inspiration for Jimmy Choo's SS collection is "nature unleashed." Nicole is lounging in a neon jungle. 

"Appearing to float above the ground, she is captivating 
wearing the flame Damsen sandals (750 euros)." 

 "Reclining seductively, she clutches the Charlize in 
neon lime matt python (1395 euros) with the Keane rope sandals."

"Wearing the Tamber shoe (895 euros) with the python Anna bag (2450 euros), 
she is captured by Sølve Sundsbø’s lens like an exotic butterfly in flight."  

The ad campaign will be seen in the March issues of fashion magazines globally, but because you're lucky, you get to see the photos here first! You can also catch the exclusive behind-the-scenes film here. I like that in this video, Nicole still looks like Nicole. In the photos, her face looks kinda distorted.  

More fabulousness at www.jimmychoo.com. Enjoy!

*ad campaign images courtesy of Visions & Expressions

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Friday, July 26, 2013

Topaz Fashion: I love that LeBunny Bleu is so affordable!

I was at LeBunny Bleu's launch party yesterday and, boy, was it packed! I didn't realize that the shoe brand was that much of a fashionista favorite! Here's a few snaps from yesterday:
Patty Laurel hosted the event. She also babysat my baby stroller so I could shop. Thanks, Patty!
Patty with Michelle Chan and my friend, Zerline Chan Ortiz-Luiz, the stylish women who
brought in LeBunny Bleu (and Quirks, too!)

Sorry, I forgot to bring my camera so I had to use my Blackberry. Sad. It's a good thing Le Bunny Bleu gave us photos of their super cute shoes! Here are just a few styles. There are a lot more. There's Oxfords, brogues, espadrilles, boat shoes and loafers, too.

The numbers on the photos aren't the prices, okay? I put the price in the captions. I'm sooo happy the shoes are reasonably priced!
Linda Heel, P2795

Angela Ballet Flat, P2795

Cotton Slip-On, P1995

Spring Tassel Slip-On, P2095

Vina Hadden Heel, P2795

And here's some style ideas:





The shoes are a bit too young for 36-year-old me but I did find a pair I liked. A two-tone black-and-white flat. It's quite nice! I'll debut it next week haha.

Shop at LeBunny Bleu this weekend! The flagship store is at 5/F Bridgeway of the East Wing of Shangri-la Plaza Mall. Next week, the Glorietta 5 branch opens!