Introducing my Louboutin shoe closet

I have been wanting to do this for years but it didn't make sense in any of the previous places I lived.  Now that I'm pretty much settled in the new place I decided it was time for a trip to Ikea to buy the Billy bookcase.

I bought the 28cm deep shelf (other option is 38cm) because it's the perfect depth for my size 5.5-6 shoes and attached these glass doors.  Admittedly I don't like the wooden bar across the middle (would've preferred one uninterrupted pane of glass similar to this but without the Japanese cherry blossom print).  I also bought 2 extra shelves as my shoes are pretty small.

A few hours later I had an amazing looking shelf ready for my shoes but the weight of the glass doors tipped the entire shelf forward and I was worried the entire thing would smash on the ground.  You're meant to attach the shelf to the wall but being a tenant I can't go drilling holes wherever I want so I decided to attach hooks to the top of the shelf and using rope, attach the hooks to picture railing hooks above the shelf.  That seemed to help a bit and then once I started piling shoes onto the shelves it became even more sturdy.

Fast forward a few hours and this is what my second bedroom now looks like:

YES there are still some shoes that didn't fit in the cupboard sitting on the left

The Louboutin catchup post

I think at some point I wanted to document my Louboutin purchases but I just couldn't keep up.  In fact, I don't think I've blogged about a Louboutin purchase for 8 months?  Don't fret, if you follow me on Instagram you'll know I've kept up with the Louboutin buying ;)

Multi Rasta Greissimo

Matrinana 100 black kid

Poseidon Lavender

Leopard Maggie 140

Decollete Red Eel

Declic 120 black kid

Batignolles 100 nude patent

Batignolles 100 black kid

Metal Nodo 150 sling - ah may zing!!

Lady Claude Marine Metal Patent

Bianca 120 black patent

Greissimo black and white

Flo 120 black patent

Col Zippe kid leather booties

A good day for parcels

There's nothing I love more than receiving parcels.  I'm like a little kid in a candy store.  Today I got not one but TWO parcels I've been DYING to receive (dying is an exaggeration, but that's how I roll).

The first parcel was from VirginMobile - my brand spankin new HTC One.  I am an HTC convert and can say that with full confidence as I have used iPhone and Samsung in the past with great dissatisfaction.  I've used HTC phones for the greater part of 7 years and was so excited when the HTC One came out.  I also switched over to VirginMobile so I could use 4G capability.  Take that 3G!

Obviously I've been a little distracted today by the shiny new phone on my desk.  Can't wait to get home and set it all up properly.

The second parcel I got was from a US store and contained my Louboutin black peeptoes ('Flo' for those in the know ;).  I was eyeing this off at the Sydney boutique when they first came out 6 months ago but flat out refused to pay Australian retail for them.  Ended up getting them at sale time from the US at 50% Aus RRP!  Can you believe that in my sizeable shoe collection, I do not have a single pair of black peeptoes??

I had 2 male colleagues comment on my nails by 11am this morning.  I didn't realise they were so controversial!  The glitter top coat is from Australis which I bought ages ago during their 40% off all cosmetics sale.  Got it home and realised I could only apply it on top of white nail polish.  Of course, I didn't have any white nail polish.  I call them ny confetti nails :)

DIY glitter shoes for cheap

I thought I would try my hand at DIY shoe restoration because I've seen all these ladies do it on tPF with great success.  Also because Lincraft had a 30% off storewide sale last week so I dropped in and grabbed everything I needed.

• Shoes (leather, canvas, or fabric)
• Acrylic paint/leather paint
• Paintbrush
• Fabric glue (needs to be waterproof and flexible)
• Glitter (2 sizes - fine and chunky, mixed in a container)
• Container for glitter + spoon

I started with a pretty scuffed and worn pair of Louboutin flats...

Easy as 1-2-3:

1. Prep the shoes - I would wipe them down with baby wipes to make sure they're clean and you're painting onto a smooth surface.  If you're not lazy like me, you should tape the sole to protect it from the paint.  I didn't bother because I plan to re-paint the soles red anyway

2. I squeezed the paint directly onto the paintbrush and used a flat-ended brush to paint the shoes.  I found painting from the back of the shoe to the front was easier than front to back.  Wait 1 hour (or whatever the bottle specifies) before applying a second coat.

After 1 coat of paint

After 2 coats

3. I let them dry overnight and then brushed on the glue in segments of about 2 inches before spooning the glitter on.  I tapped the shoes to get the excess glitter off before gluing another segment, repeat.  Again working from heel to front would make it easier.

Dried them overnight and voila!  Glitterised ballet flats!!! 

I used about one third of the bottle of paint, half of each tube of glitter, and about one tenth of the tube of glue.  The amount of paint, glitter and glue I used cost me about $5 and took me about an hour in total.

January Louboutin (#15) - Lady Peep in Pivoine Pink

I can't remember if I mentioned on my blog that I was restricting myself to one pair of Louboutins per month in 2013.  But now you know.  I definitely went a bit overboard towards the end of last year and need to control myself somewhat this year (I'm sure most of you think 12 pairs of CLs a year is still a lot and I know it is).

My January pair were Lady Peep peeptoes in Pivoine Patent.  The colour is difficult to capture as it ranges from fluro pink in some light, to almost red in other light.  The actual colour is a dark red-y pink.  The heel height is 15cm and when I first put them on I felt SO wobbly.  After a few wears I've gotten somewhat used to the wobbly-ness.  They aren't the most comfortable heel ever (being a stiletto 15cm heel) but they're not unbearable unless I stand for more than an hour.

I've taken them TTS which is a perfect fit.

Shopping Hangover...

I went a bit crazy with the online sales and now feel totally hungover and regretting some of the purchases I made.  Also, I know online shopping is always going to be hit and miss in terms of fit, especially with brands you're not too familiar with.  I guess that's why buying Louboutins online is made relatively easy for me because of the wealth of information on tPF.

I didn't have the same luck with my amazingly sparkly swarovski Giuseppe Zanotti sandals.  I adore them and they just look beautiful but if you need a full-length innersole AND a party foot in each shoe to make it somewhat walkable-in, you shouldn't keep them.

Regrettably, I also have to send back these stunning Christian Louboutin boots.  I'm not sure how they've managed this but both boots have an outersole stamped 36.5 but one boot shaft is 35.5 while the other is 36.5!

And I think the return that makes me saddest of all are these ridiculously comfy Chanel ballet flats.  I had tried size 36 and 35.5 instore so figured I should be a 35.  Turns out, 35 is still too big so they were sent back to the US today :(

I had a pair of Ferragamo flats that also didn't fit but I was outside the 30 day return period so they've gone up on ebay instead.  The search for the perfect ballet flat for my obesely wide feet continues!

Louboutin #11 - Red Karey Decollete

I love red heels but I didn't want to get a pair of red Louboutins where you couldn't identify the red sole from the shoe.  These popped up on ebay and I just love that they're kinda red, kinda black.  The Decollete style sits so nicely on my foot (which is odd considering I have such wide feet and this style is notoriously narrow) and I love the almond shape of the toebox.

Louboutin #10 - tortoiseshell Very Prives with gold tips

Clearly I have a thing for different coloured tips in my peeptoes - I've got the blue Architek with yellow tips, black Hyper Prives with red tips, and now tortoise shell Very Prives with gold tips. 

I got them in my TTS and they're a perfect fit.  I love the gold tips!

Louboutin #9 - black patent Ron Ron

I know this style is meant to be great for women with wider feet but they just don't feel comfortable for some reason.  Something to do with the arch support and my flat feet.  The widest part of my feet fit nicely in this as it is a wider than average Louboutin shoe.  I also have no problems with the short toe box since I have short toes.  But there's something about it that makes it uncomfortable.

It's also too round toe for my liking.  I don't like round toe pumps in general because I feel like they make my feet look shorter and stumpier than they already are.  I originally bought them to complement/replace my black patent almond toe Prada pumps but I think I'll sell these and go back to my trusty Pradas.

Mr Louboutin, GPO, $1 Frozen Coke

4 weeks annual leave.  1.5 weeks down.  I actually left the house and went into the city today.  Amazing, given yesterday I lay on my deck chair on the balcony watching TV all day long.  Yep, talk about gluttony.

Today I went in to visit Mr Louboutin's store, and to have lunch with some ex-work colleagues; also finished wrapping the last of the Christmas pressies.

Soy flat white, Nudie tight long johns in flat blue, Asos tee, Ferragamo Varina flats

I went to GPO to post a few Christmas cards and walked around for 5 mins looking like an idiot, trying to find those bright red and yellow post boxes.  Public service announcement: the GPO post boxes have been removed.  They have been replaced by the most inconspicuous slots hidden in the PO Boxes.

Mr Louboutin's store is doing well.  I made a purchase, to be revealed later (although my Instagram followers will already know).

I visited The Strand which had some pretty decorations:

All this walking around made me a bit thirsty so I bought a Hungry Jack's $1 frozen Coke.  Delish.

Eventually got home and finished my pressie wrapping:

Louboutin #8 - tiger patent Decollete

As much as I love these heels, they have been my most troublesome pair.  Long story short, when I received them they were in MUCH worse condition than the ebay listing lead me to believe.  The listing stated "one of the shoes have a small rip" with no photos of said rip.  What was a 'a small' rip turned out to be a 1cm rip right through both layers of leather, and 2 other minor rips.  The innersole on both shoes had curled up completely which you couldn't tell from the photos.  The patent leather had come off in about 7 places, exposing a silver layer of something underneath.  None of this was disclosed.

In my state of shock, I immediately took them to the miracle shoe cobbler at Chifley Tower to see what he could do.  He said he would need to get extra leather to place as backing in the spots where he was going to re-stitch the rips.  He also replaced heel tips, and re-glued the innersole back down.  Nothing could be done about the spots of missing leather.  $58 later, I'm feeling like this wasn't the bargain I initially thought it would be.

Regardless, I decided to keep them because I really like them, despite the faults.  I've put heel grips AND party feet in there and they're still a tad too big so I just have to be super careful when I walk.

How much navy is too much navy?

My boyfriend did not approve of the navy dress + navy heels this morning, but I wore it regardless because I'm stubborn sometimes all the time.  I've gotten to work and found my Ted Baker belt and Peeptoe Miss Munroes in my desk drawer and they match, so have added another colour to my navy outfit.  Then my red Louboutins arrived in the mail and I thought that would be a great colour combo as well.  What does everyone think?  Navy/navy, navy/cream, or navy/red (don't have pics of the navy dress + red Louboutins as the CLs are at my parents place)?

 Had a chicken burger + cider for lunch and will head to The Star tonight for a few beverages.  Also have some big decisions to make around work.  Looking forward to my month off.  TGIF.  Can't wait for 5pm.  Those are all my thoughts in chronological order.