& In Other News

As a lot of you may know, & Other Stories launched its first store in the UK on March 8th on Regent Street. It's a sister brand to the H&M group as well as COS, so I was expecting a kind of inbetweeny kind of brand of the two; quirky designers but not necessarily at COS prices and this is exactly what you get. I like quite boxy shapes in clothes, and I feel they do a lot of this (specifically for SS as thats whats in the shop at the mo) but they also are featuring some cute flowy shorts which are uber cute. I'm currently sitting in my garden on the hottest day of the year so far, in London anyway, so I'm on a summer clothes hype, panicing that I have absolutely nothing Summery. Is black acceptable to wear in Summer? Probably not Grace.

In the shop, they only have 7 of each garment out at a time to make customers think they're getting something quite specialist which is a nice idea, as compared to most high street brands who seem to pile up as many sizes they can so the emphasis is quite obviously on just the selling, which I know is important for any business but you want to create a good feel for customers which I feel this brand is doing by adopting this technique.

I personally really love the graphics, their logo is in the style of someones handwriting which I find to be quite personable, and I think it suits the brand really well. As well as this they quite a slick san serif font they use throughout their website, similar to COS which is effortless and modern.

Some specific products that have caught my are these spiked heeled pumps which reminded me of a barrel of a gun for some reason; oh how RiRi of me. There jewellery is COS down to a tee. It's all very clean looking but very different from anything on the high street which I like. I love they way their use of matte metals aswell, it just makes me think, expensive when really some pieces are a mear 7 squids.

1. // Spike Heeled Pump £79 (also available in black and gold) 2. // Box Chain Bracelet £7

If you can't get down to the store any time soon, check out their website, www.stories.co.uk, it's pretty swanky!

High Heels Out, Kitten Heels In

Yes, I'm just as shocked you are. I don't know who thought that kitten heels were EVER okay but apparently the era of the 'slag' heel is over. Who states this? None other than Catherine Deneuve. In her latest book she has revealed that 'one cannot walk properly in very high heels.' Okay, that is nice for you but why do you have to ruin it for the rest of us Deneuve!!

Catherine is probably best known for her role in Belle de Jour, where she plays the housewife of bourgeois, who turns to afternoon prostitution to relieve her bordem. She wears seemingly high heels in the film, but it's only coming out now about her true footwear preference.

Kurt Geiger has revealed they've had a significant rise in sales of smaller heeled shoes compared to the extreme heights of some of the shoes they sell. To me, the shoes heels (below) don't scream 'sexy' at all. Actually they don't scream anything but frumpy. Even Louboutin has dabbled in a slightly, I say slightly, smaller heel compared to usual sky high heel, and even that is estranged to me.

1. // Topshop £42 2. // Stella McCartney £590 3. // Louboutin £395  

4. // Zara £69.99  5. // Kurt Geiger £85

For me, kitten heels will never be an option. I feel because I'm shorter I can get away with extremely ridiculous shoes that give me a few more inches or 6. If I were an above average girl I think I'd feel different. However, celebrities are bringing it back in which ultimately is what influences women. Flats or even smaller heels don't have to be frumpy it just depends on how you style them. What does everyone else think?