The shoes every girl needs part one: Black heels

Hi guys,
I'm sure it can't have escaped your attention that I am a shoe obsessive! I have more pairs than any one person needs, and yet whenever I walk into a shop I immediately check out the shoe department before I look at anything else! But I also know that my shoe collection is, in some parts, seriously lacking depth. I don't own waterproof wellie boots or sensible black pumps for example. But I do own three pairs of sequin covered heels. Where is the logic in that?!

So I thought it would be fun to do a rundown of the shoes every girl really should have in her wardrobe: I believe that with just 6 carefully selected pairs of shoes, you can have a shoe for every possible occasion. First up, it's a pair of gorgeous black heels:


I now own three pairs of black heels. The first two pairs were of the (not-especially) sensible court shoe variety: one with studded detailing from Ravel and one with netting detailing from Carvela.(My graduation shoes) The newest addition is a high heeled black sandal from Madden Girl, c/o Sarenza. These are going to look great teamed with skinny jeans and oversized blouses over the Christmas period whilst I'm still trying to hide my baby weight!

So why do you need a pair of black heels? Well the first and most important reason is because you can wear them anywhere. From a night out to a job interview, a wedding to a funeral, if you have a decent pair of black shoes you'll always have something to put on your feet. They also go with anything. So if you have a funny coloured dress, or want to wear mustard jeans but aren't sure what to put on your feet you can just throw on your black heels and know you'll look well put together.

Do I have you convinced? Well then here are some other black heel options, all picked from Sarenza's black heel range:

Love Moschino heart detail heels, £210
Clarks T bar heels, £54.99
Dune lace detail bow heels, £90
Miss L-Fire bow heels, £89.99
Guess gold toe cap heels, £116

Do you own a pair of black heels? How often do you wear them and would you call them one of the pairs of shoes that every girl needs? I'd love to hear what other shoes you think should be on the list!

Love Tor xx

Shoe lust: Olivia Rubin for Dune

Hi guys,
Yesterday I went for a sneak peak at the Olivia Rubin for Dune collection. I can't resist a good shoe, so I was excited to see what the collection looked like. I was also excited by the gin cocktails and the dune branded cupcakes: officially yum! The capsule collection is made up of three bags (2 of them clutches) and twelve shoes with varying heel heights: predictably, it was the super high heels that I loved the most!

This pair was Olivia's favourite: she was wearing them with chinos at the event, and they looked fantastic: definitely the most eye catching pair out of all of the designs, with a simple shape but a really amazing print. The boldest of the three prints used in the collab. I love monchrome and I love oversized bows, so the next pair were ones that caught my eye:


Ahh, flats. The do what they say on the tin: nice enough, but it's hard to get excited about a classically cut pump. If you prefer to nod to the nude trend, and all things girly and pretty, then this next print could be for you. It's the same print as the first vibrant one, but in more muted colours:

I don't normally go for shoes with fabric heels 1. because i'm a leather obsessive and 2. because I usually manage to scuff them within about 10 minutes, but I think i'd be prepared to make the exception for some of these!

The collection landed in selected stores and online today, and is also available in Selfridges, and will no doubt sell out quick, so if you fancy any of this lovely foot porn, you should probably check it out sooner rather than later!

Love, Tor xx

Question: Can flat shoes be dressy shoes?

Hi guys,

*Warning - This post contains wedding content. I'm aware i'm becoming obsessed.*

I am a dedicated high heel lover. So much so that even though I sprained my ankle on Monday, and my foot is swollen like a balloon, I will still be squeezing it into heels for a friends wedding on Saturday afternoon. For special occasions and evenings out, I don't feel like i'm ready without a heel on. Which is why I opted for high Dior heels in satin and leather for my own wedding: if you're ever going to have an excuse to buy expensive and impractical shoes then this is it! But the practical side of my brain has been telling me that I won't last 12 hours in stilettos, and I need to invest in some flats for dancing the night away. Which leads to my mission of finding party style flats and my question: can flat shoes be dressy shoes?

Here are the shoes i've been looking at:



Above: Peep toe flats (Faith), Thong sandals (Faith), Gold sandals (Miss KG), Diamante sandals (Dune), gold cystal sandals (Red Herring).

White satin pumps are a) pretty ugly to look at and b) not the kind of shoes I would wear ever again, so I immediately dismissed those. So my next thought was to look at sandals: I wear sandals every day in the summer and would definitely get wear out of them after the event. How do you make a sandal semi- dressy? Make it metallic and throw diamante at it, of course! I love the Dune ones in gold, but worry the high back would irritate in the heat. The crystal Red Herring ones are my second favourite, because I would definitely wear these again on my honeymoon.

What do you think? Can flat shoes be dressy? Can you wear flat sandals on your wedding day? Or do you only feel like your dressed up to go out when you have your highest heels on?

Love, Tor xx

Competition: Shoes as art

Dune have been in touch to tell me all about a new competition they are running that will have the arty ones amongst you jumping for joy. I've never bought anything from Dune, although I have spent many a wasted hour lusting after their wedding shoes online: I actually don't know why i've never been moved to make a purchase, as the shoes look to be good quality, and the pricepoint is about right.

The competition theme is one close to my own heart: shoes are art. I'm a firm believer that fashion is more than just getting dressed in the morning - it's about art and creating something beautiful.

You simply have to create a piece of art that best represents the shoe as art. This can be a painting, photograph, sculpture, or any other form of art: that gives you so much freedom to do whatever you want, really!

The winner will be picked by a panel of judges and will win £10,000 and their piece will be displayed in the window of the Covent Garden store: that's a mammouth prize if you have any artistic skills: sadly I have thumbs for fingers, and struggle to colour between the lines!

Sounds like this could be for you though? Have more artistic talent than I do? (Believe me, it wouldn't be hard!) Email your entry to shoeisart@dune.co.uk and good luck!

Love, Tor xxx

PS - This isn't the competition I was talking about yesterday: i've got a little giveaway coming up that's just for you guys tomorrow!