Confessions of a Shoeaholic Idiot

I’m an idiot.  I will get that done and out of the way first, because I really am.

You know that phrase that gets trotted out, usually in movies, about when nothing else in your wardrobe is working “Shoes always fit”.  Well in my case, I seem to be working the opposite way to everyone else.

See my clothes fit me quite well thank.  Yes I am a fat girl but I still loves fashion and I buy clothes that I love and look good (now that’s a statement and half coming from where I was this time last year!!!).  No problems there.  My footwear however, they are like beautiful torture devices. 

The problem is that most of the pairs that I own don’t fit properly.  I have wide feet that don’t always fit into the standard widths you find in the shops and it took until yesterday, yes I did say yesterday, to realise that there was another way.  Wider fittings.

Now you see why I called myself an idiot at the beginning of this post.

For years I have just “managed”.  I have surrounded myself with beautiful shoes, many of which that pinch because they are a bit too tight and my solution has always been “I’ll break them in”.  You know what that entails.  Weeks of uncomfortable tightness until the leather eases a little, sore feet, rubbing against your skin etc etc.

The other day however I was ordering my new Winter boots when I happened across a beautiful pair of t bar wedges that I instantly fell in love with.  I noticed that they were available in a wider fitting so for the first time I decided to give it a go.

OH     MY    GOD.  They are comfortable!  They don’t rub, they fit perfectly, I can walk easier in the heels (something I always struggle with no matter what the height).  They are perfect.  I feel like I should buy the entire stock out in case they go away.

So just as I once had to resign myself to the fact that yes, Evans was “for me” and not run past it in that “I’m not fat really” kind of way; now I accept that wider feet need wider fittings in order to be comfortable.

I may be a slow learner, but I get there in the end.  Anyway, here is a picture of my new lovelies, found at +Simply Be .

 

Model Behaviour

I have been waiting to do this post until I managed to collate a few photographs together of me on the catwalk for Plus North.  I only have a few here which I have managed to grab from other people, but I love them all.  If I get more at a later stage I will add them on.

 

Courtesy of Becca Simmons

 Image Courtesy of Yours Clothing

 

 

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life walking down the catwalk for Yours Clothing, Curvissa and Evans and is certainly something I will never forgot.

There is one thing that I have been waiting for to happen since Plus North ended which hasn’t happened yet.  I hope it never does.  The come down.

Plus North has boosted me so much, in so many ways that I feel like one person walked into Plus North and another walked out.

For one thing; getting changed.  I had four outfits to model on the day.  There was a side room to get changed in with all the other models, or the disabled toilet if you wanted more privacy.  I hadn’t got changed in front of people like that, even my best friends for more years than I can even count. 

Inspired by the other girls who were just happily getting changed all around me, I threw off my inhibitions and by the second outfit (changed into a millisecond as I was number 12 and 14 on the catwalk!) I didn’t give it a second thought.

The other thing that I have kept with me since Plus North is that I no longer worry about what strangers think of me.  I am me, this is the way that I look and if people don’t like it, they can go to hell.   The first thing my best friend asked me when I called up after the day event was “Please tell me that you were yourself?”  She knows only too well the front that I normally put up in public. 

I am so used to being judged, silently or verbally by strangers about the way that I look that when in public there is always a self preservation wall that I put up.  That wall was torn down within the first ten minutes of being at Plus North.  All thanks to the AMAZING people there.

The sparkle that I felt when modelling has stayed with me.  I even smiled at the cute guy walking down the street this morning.  Unheard of for the girl who always looks down at the floor.

I cannot wait for next year.

 

Fell in Love with a Girl

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am completely besotted with the Mary Jane style of shoes.  They hold a tiny, permanent place in my heart and I have lots of different varieties. 

I wanted to show you a new pair that I originally bought for Plus North for my stint of modelling (still feeling do a little "Eeeeek!") when I say that.  Unfortunately due to a prevailing swollen ankle, I couldn't even fasten them up and they had to stay in my suitcase.

Today though, my swollen ankle is gone (hopefully for good!) so I am working the edgy librarian look today complete with below the knee butterfly print dress, purple tights and my new Mary Janes which I bought from Clarks.

I love the mixture of patent leather and suede and they are the perfect height for work.

Here are my new lovelies!