Prada bling November 9, 2008

I can only imagine that wearing designer shoes might help your outfit if you couldn’t find anything else you liked to spruce you up from other high street stores. Probably you want to get noticed, and that’s why you would choose a designer pair of shoes.

For the average earner, it’s safe to assume that if you spend something like 500 on a new pair of shoes, you’d want to be wearing them pretty often to justify spending that amount in the first place. Then, that would take away the special feeling about them. Friends may say ‘oh yeah she’s got her only pair of designer jimmy choos on again’, even if you do think that lilac leather actually matches your orange sequin dress.

You are a fashion statement no matter what label you wear. If you like it, you should probably buy it. Do you need it? No, don’t be so silly, you have an extended wardrobe already from MFI to fit in your fancy footwear. Do you want it? Yeah, of course.

Everyone down the pub will notice my designer high heels the minute I walk through the door. They will be so jealous. And, my one-of-only-100-made handbag, wow, now come on. Notice me, notice me, notice me. Look out of place me? Never.

Comfort is a number one in my book. I would only purchase designer items if I actually stood inside a shop which sold them. Maybe if I wanted to make myself feel all special and kid myself on that my budget will allow for such overindulgence. Even then, I’d be more likely to pick up a bargain down at next or Topshop, cos when it’s out of season I will still get some wear out of it.

Tiffany’s October 26, 2008

Tiffany’s started out as a fancy goods store in Broadway, New York, in 1837. Back then, jewellery, which is what Tiffany’s is famous for the world over, was only a very small part of their entire inventory.

When upheavals in Europe caused the price of gems to fall dramatically, Tiffany’s took advantage of this precipitous drop, and grabbed whatever cheap diamonds they could. Tiffany designed gem settings for these diamonds and was a very clever sales and marketing business man. In 1845 he produced a mail order catalogue and introduced mail order sales. Another of his marketing techniques was to show his jewellery at prestigious international exhibits. An ingenious idea of his was to have jewellery pieces designed to mark every major life event from birth to marriage to death and everything in between. By the early 1900s, he sourced his gem stones from local areas such as Maine amethyst, Colorado topaz, and freshwater pearls from Wisconsin and Tennessee.

During the New York World’s Fair in the 1940’s, he introduced patriotic jewellery with symbols of victory and B52 bombers. He then went on to make items for men that were functional such as pocket watches, pipes, boxes and trays. So his jewellery was no longer just pretty but useful as well. Eventually he opened up a store in Paris, France, and the rest is history.