Softinos.....Softer than Soft!!

Are your feet feeling miserable, unbearably hot and let’s face it a little bit sweaty while we have been enjoying this rare summer heat wave? Well I think I may have stumbled across the perfect summer trainer: Softinos. There motto is ‘making feet happy’ and they have certainly succeeded with my hot, swollen, sweaty pair.

Recently I have been getting rather bored of the same options for practical but trendy summer shoes (mainly converse or Birkenstock). So, I decided to try something different and this is when I stumbled across Softinos. Thankfully I did! They are so soft and flexible I hardly noticed I was wearing anything on my feet. Making them Ideal for popping to the shops, or walking to work, or just having a wander round town.



But, the main reason I have fallen in love with them so much, is they were perfect for my work at an after school kids club. For one very girly reason is they matched my bright blue uniform. But joking aside they were so comfortable and great for playing games with the children in the summer heat. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to play tag, stuck in the mud and duck duck goose in my clumpy normal trainers. If I had chosen to wear summer pumps they would have inevitably flown off my feet whilst running and knowing my luck would’ve caused an accident.


Moreover, I got several compliments from the yummy mummys at the school gates. So, I think I have found a new summer shoe that even the most stylish mums would wear.
However, you may be wondering they don’t sound that different to Converse. Yet, they totally are with a completely different feel. The fit is a lot wider and the material is a lot softer. Also the sole seems thicker and more flexible. As you can probably tell I am a bit besotted with my new shoes, but that doesn’t mean throw out the converse. Just get both!

So, make your feet incredibly happy this summer and go grab yourself some Softinos, the softest shoes you will ever wear.

Dr Martens And Welly Boots

So it's April and it's still raining :(  At least it's warmed up a bit I suppose, but with the festival season around the corner and the long range weather forecast looking pretty awful, what are you going to wear??? Well thats a simple answer The DM Drench Boot!!!!!

The Drench is a brand new welly from Dr Martens which looks like a 1460 but is completely waterproof...ideal for stomping around in muddy fields.  My favourites are the patents, personally I think they have a bit extra style than the matt colours.

Made with a natural rubber these Dr Marten wellys have all the classic features of the classic DM Boot with an 8 eye front lace and heel tab, the yellow stitching around the bottom of the boot is decorative but adds iconic character, and they are vegan and vegetarian friendly.  Dr Martens have always been a popular choice for festival goers, almost as popular as the welly however why do you want to go to a festival and come home with your favourite boots ruined

Now imagine these are your DM's, you've had the best weekend ever and off you go home.  By the time you get there get yourself sorted and even think about cleaning your boots they're stained and trashed, your beloved DM's will never be the same again and you wish you'd taken a pair of wellys with you.  Now think about this, instead of taking your good old favourite DM's you treat yourself to a new pair of Dr Marten Drench wellys, they get in the same state but....your feet stay totally dry (there is nothing worse than wet feet) and when you get home because they are a rubber upper you just wipe them clean and there you go good as new.  And why stop at festivals, these boots will look great for anything walking round town, walking the dog, hanging out with your mates, these are sure to be the next big thing!!!!

Mocks or Crocs???

Mocks or Crocs.....that is the big question.



We've all heard of Crocs which tend to be complete Marmite shoes...you either love them or hate them, but no-one can deny they are practical and are certainly great for children during the warmer weather.  And to be fair to Crocs their range has grown substantially from the original Cayman that found them that first fame and now features all sorts of shoes and boots.  My favourites from this summers collection has got to be the Beach Line range.

As with most Crocs the Beach Line is made from Croslite,which gives the lightweight durability and comfort we're all so used to, but the Beach Line has a bit of extra style.  Based on the traditional deck shoe they have 360 degree lacing systems which give them that authentic boat shoe look and definatley look more like a shoe than a Croc.  However in true Crocs style they do come in a range of colours, everything from stunning colour combinations to slightly over the top and wacky.

So that brings us to Mocks.......


A fairly new range to the footwear market they have taken their inspiration from moccasins and with 21st century technology have updated them.  Mocks created a new material that has a long and complicated name so they simply named it Mocklite (hmmm....Croslite/Mocklite, I see a trend here). The Mocklite material is soft and flexible and completely washable.

Washable!!!

So Mocks Mocklite Driver and Bilbao arrived this week, the first time I've seen a pair although they have been around in shops for the last 2 years and I'll be honest we took them out of the box and my first reaction was not great.  But now less than a week later my opinion has changed somewhat.  I'm not quite sure why my instant reaction was one of dislike as I really like the Crocs Beach Line, the Mocks have the same sort of styling and having tried them on are soooooo comfortable.  A simple styling that although based on the moccasin can also pass off as a deck or boat shoe they are moulded which means no seams to rub your feet, the Mocklite material really does flex with your feet and the fact you can throw them through the washing machine when they get dirty...fantastic.  The only downside for me is the scented insole, it reminds me of a car air freshener, although it's not a smell you notice when they're on your feet and with bare feet I can imagine in hotter weather having a scented insole will be priceless.

All the colours of the rainbow

Unfortunately Mocks don't do a childrens range yet, a shame as these like Crocs would be fab for kids, won't matter if they get wet and mucky and will keep little feet supported, however for us big kids there is a massive range of mens and ladies Mocks, and like Crocs in almost every colour imaginable you could walk the rainbow with all their colours.






So that brings us back to the question of Mocks or Crocs?  Quite simply I don't know, they both have fantastic benefits and a massive range to choose from.  Crocs has been around for a while now and have built up a great brand with fantastic new shoes arriving every season without fail, but are Mocks the new kids on the block??? 

 

Dr Martens....Yes please!

Our first wear test is for the brand 'Dr Martens'. The following review is written by the first of our 3 shoe enthusiasts, Amy.

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When my friend first mentioned she wanted a pair of Dr Martens I thought she had gone barmy! Dr Martens to me meant clunky worker boots/ or a courageous (ugly) punk shoes. Yet sure enough now everyone is wearing them from Jessica Alba to Nicki Manaj.

So my love affair with my very own Dr Martens started about a year ago when I spotted them in Mastershoe's Window. They were denim blue with a pretty floral pattern, I wanted them instantly! But, the small issue of price and the panic that they may make my feet look huge kept me away for a few weeks. So when I did buy them I squeezed my feet into the only pair left, a size 4 (1 and 1/2 sizes too small) as I was determined to have them. After a week of agony and some very alarming blisters they finally stretched to become the comfiest shoes I have ever worn. Their thick air cushioned soles were like walking on pillows compared to my usual thin soled usual spring shoes. I now know why so many people have donned their heels for a pair of Dr Martens and who ever said comfort didn't mean fashion was clearly lying.

Ducks, Drinking and Dancing with my Dr Martens

My Dr Martens have been through a couple of near catastrophes. The first time I flaunted them to my friends was at a friend's 18th birthday party on a canal boat. Everything was going swimmingly until we had to moor up. One of my friends was terrified of what I thought were really cute ducks so I took her place in trying to tie the barge to the bank. But as I stepped off the boat my foot sank into the oozing, gloopy, murky mud that went all the way up to my knee. Now I knew the reason she hadn't wanted to moor up. As I tried to scramble back onto the barge my right Dr Marten was completely stuck. Whilst wiggling my foot out and trying not to fall face first into the water the ducks looked in earnest whilst my friends just laughed. It took a good ten minuted to pull my boot free. I nearly cried at the thought of their being ruined by all the mud but managed to crack the layer off at home. The right one isn't quite as bright as the other but my Dr Martens lived on.

 

The next time I nearly lost one of my precious Dr Martens was on the night before my last day of school. Of course there were usual antics of going to the pub, drinking and a bit of dancing, but that night we had decided to camp on a hill near school. The idea being that we could raid and play pranks on the school super early the next day. There was just a teeny, tiny problem of having to get through school at midnight to access our campsite. So we tiptoed and giggled our way through the gates, unsurprisingly we weren't as quiet as we thought we were and soon the security guards were onto us. Luckily I was wearing my Dr Martens so I could run faster than if I was in heels, but unfortunately I hadn't tied them up. One of them flew off my foot as I took a sharp right bend causing me to run the rest of the way with only one shoe. I thought my shoe would be lost forever but some kind soul had handed it into lost property. So my Dr Martens had survived another adventure again.


Overall....These shoe are the comfiest and most reliable shoes I have ever owned. They seem to survive anything! I don't feel like I have clunky man feet when I wear them but the floral pattern makes them feminine and girly. Yet, they still have a cool edge. I would recommend them to anyone as can be worn with anything and they really jazz up an outfit. Can't wait to see what will happen in my Dr Martens next!

Wear Tests

Objective: To collect honest wear tests from our very own footwear fanatics.

We know it can be hard to read a product review and gauge whether it is true or a simple sales pitch. We have therefore sourced 3 unbiased students to sample and test our products. Every 2 months we will post the 3 opinions for the chosen brand.

If there is a brand or style you would like our 3 testers to review, please let us know by posting below.

  

Boris the Lion

Meet Boris the Lion!! Boris was part of the Pride In Our City Lions Of Bath 2010, designed by artist Kevin Whitney who was the first ever Official Olympic Artist in 1982 and signed by Boris Johnson, Amy Williams and Jason Gardiner.  Boris was designed to celebrate the Olympic Games coming to London and currently takes pride of place in our Bath store on Walcot Street.

The Lions of Bath 2010 pride of lions raised over £65,000 for local charities when they were sold at auction.  The 104 Lions were placed across Baths city center between May and September and using the Lions of Bath Safari maps you could explore the city whilst tracking down the pride.     

Part of the Pride on show before being auctioned

The Lions were designed by the sculpter of the 2008 King Bladud pigs of Bath (the same thing but with pigs instead of Lions, the pigs raised £200,000 for Baths Two Tunnels Project), Alan Dun.  He was given the brief to design a lion that was niether to civic nor to Lion King :)

Making the Lions is actually quite a long process, to begin with Alan made a small scale clay model to be approved, once that was done he had to build a steel frame, then cover it with mesh and clay to build up to a full scale version of the first model.

Alan modelling the clay lion

Next a plaster mould is made of the clay lion, from which he made a fiberglass lion known as the 'pattern'.  The pattern was then taken to a fiberglass factory near Salisbury who made a heavy duty mould from the 'pattern' lion then the Lion Pride was born.  It took a full day to create each Lion from the mould and then another day to finish, sand and polish it, that's a total of 208 days to fully create the pride and that's before they were decorated by the artists.

So why did they choose lions? The Lion has been a symbol used in Royal England for hundreds of years and there are over 500 images of lions around Bath, 2 bronze sculptures guard the entrance to the Royal Victoria Park and the Coeur de Lion (the smallest pub in Bath) has Richard the Lionheart riding into battle with 3 lions on his shield (not quite the same ring as three lion on a shirt) on it's sign.  So I suppose why not lions.

We are very glad they chose Lions, Boris has found a very loving home at Mastershoe Bath and spends his days being admired by young and old alike.  Why not pop in and see him and perhaps peruse the shelves whilst you are there, the Bath branch stocks a variety of shoes from Camper and Dr Martens to Hunter and FitFlop, and loads in between.

UK Summer 2012

Well this year we had the perfect set up for a wet summer the Jubilee and Olympics, and boy did it deliver. June was the wettest and coolest on record and up until last week July was following suit well.  So with this summers weather which almost changes on an hourly basis some days what shoes do you wear!?!

This morning for instance when I woke up it was a lovely morning so I put my Fitflops on and toddled off to work, a decision I am now regretting, the sky is now grey and gloomy and the temperature has dropped, my toes are freezing :(  So how do we get round this changeable weather?

Option 1 - Not the easiest option it depends on what you are doing.  2 pairs of shoes, 1 pair of sandals and another pair of warmer shoes - trainers/boots etc.. You keep 1 pair at work and the opposite type go on your feet.  For instance on a day like today I would have worn my FitFlops this morning while the weather was nice and then had a warmer pair of shoes change into when it cooled down.  Of course this only works if the right shoes are in the right place at the right time, if it's been warm in the afternoon and you've worn your sandals home and then the next morning it's cold your warm shoes would still be at work.  So perhaps not the ideal solution unless you have loads of shoes.

Merrells Toe Post Lilac Sandal in Scarlet

Option 2 - Trainers.  Sort of an in between, unfortunately if it's really cold outside they don't keep your feet very warm, and if it's warm you tend to get really hot feet.  Brands like DC and Etnies offer good ventilation which helps for the warmer weather but not so great when its chilly.  However if it is raining you definitely get more protection than in a pair of sandals. 

DC Net in Black and Orange

Option 3 - A very popular option this summer is canvas.  Converse, Vans, Dudes and Etnies Jameson Eco's have all been fantastic.  With a canvas shoe your feet are still getting good breathability when the weathers warm and although they won't keep your feet warm when its cool people don't seem to care.  I suppose even though they are canvas they still keep you warmer than a pair of sandals.  However they are not great for rain, after all it's a textile your feet get soaked in no time.

A durable canvas Star Player trainer from Converse

Option 4 - Walking shoes, whilst in summer there are always a fair amount of walking shoes sold this year it has been higher, I think because they are breathable and still warm most importantly they are waterproof.  Merrell have been our most popular with Timberland and The North Face following close behind, all of these brands have fantastic reputations for quality and wear and whilst they are more expensive than your average sandal these shoes can be worn all year round.

A Gore-Tex Intercept from Merrell

Option 5 - An option that many women have taken this year, just carry on wearing your winter boots.  This year I have noticed that so many people just haven't moved from their winter boots into the more summery shoes.  I for one swap between my lovely warm sheepskin Emus and my Fitflops depending on the weather and I think alot of other people are doing the same.  Obviously last week when it was absolutely lovely and what Summer should be like the sandals were all out but already today I have seen loads of winter boots from the Emu/Ugg styles to full waterproof, insulated Merrells and Timberlands.

Merrell Winter/Summer 2012 Boots

Of course there are many more options for footwear, wellies, deck shoes, Crocs and many more.  I guess the best we can do is take each day as it comes this year and do the best we can footwear wise :)