American Duchess Historical Footwear

I have to admit, I'm not usually that interested in shoes. It's mainly because I'm just SO picky.

I'm completely useless at walking in high heels, so I tend not to, although I do see the appeal!

My taste in shoes seems to be the same sort of taste as in other things (e.g. lingerie); I find myself preferring vintage styles. My daily boots are a Victorian style, for example.

I've been lusting after American Duchess shoes for some time, and at the moment they are running a giveaway for the gorgeous 1930s reproduction shoes above/below!

 

Other boots and shoes from American Duchess that are on my wishlist are...

Tavistock Victorian Boots

Pompadour French Court Shoes 

Gibson Edwardian Shoes

Spectator T-Strap Shoes

Which American Duchess shoes are your favourite?

Fabulously Fetish : NSFW

I've had to keep these photos under wraps for a while, so I just can't wait to share them!

A few months ago I shot the new lookbook for awesome shoe brand, Fabulously Fetish! It was the most epic shoot I've done so far, in terms of props, preparation and time it took shooting (9 HOURS). It would have been a difficult task but luckily I had an amazing model, who I just love working with again and again. Bet you can't guess who :P Yep, Miss Miranda.

Fabulously Fetish recreate the classic fetish arched shoe, so we wanted to bring a bit of this into the shoot without becoming cliche. Inspired by Bizarre (no, not the current Bizarre, the original 50's version) created by illustrator John Willie, we used rope-bondage and particular poses to evoke the feeling of two different characters. One is a more submissive woman, echoing Sweet Gwendoline, while the other is a stronger, dominant type. The characters also invade each other's space (the two different sets, one faded grandeur, and one stark and distressing). 

I'm so pleased with these images, hopefully you will like them too!

The lure of the two-headed cat

On Thursday the Playful Promises boutique took part in the Carnaby 20% Shopping Party, so I spent the evening there helping everything run smoothly and organising the performers. You can read all about that over here.

Amidst all the burlesquing and cake eating I managed to nip to the shop next door to the boutique, F-Troupe, which drew me in with it's two headed cat...

Their shop is full of crazy taxidermy, oddities and victorian photographs. 

I ended up buying these boots, and paid a little extra for the pointed toe option. 

Their packaging was also stunning, the shoebox is definitely something I'll use for keeping things in, and the printed bag is the ideal size when I need to go on shoots etc.