I Love China

I know some of you were disappointed when I scraped Fashion Friday, but there’s really no need to be sad because as promised, I will continue posting fashion related posts from time to time and you won’t always have to wait till Friday either.

A month ago I mentioned that I had bought some made to measure shoes and several people have since asked how they turned out, because I never posted a follow up post. Well, firstly I’m really happy some of you are paying attention!

I picked up my new shoes a few weeks ago, but I didn’t post about it because, well frankly, they look exactly the same as the photos of the sample which I already posted, the major difference being that my shoes are the same size as my feet!

But just to prove I really have got them, here are some pictures:

WoAi’s left and right feet.

WoAi’s right foot, stealing the limelight.

Full length view of WoAi’s new shoes, modelled by a mysterious, handsome model.

Overall, I’m very happy with them.  The left one is slightly big but that’s partly my own fault for not really paying enough attention during the fitting (I was in a hurry to meet a beautiful lady) and perhaps being my first time, I was a bit too cautious, worried they’d be too tight.

The styles they have on offer at the shop are great, better than anything I’ve seen in other local shoe stores in Shanghai, and much closer to the styles I would buy in London, so I will definitely be back for a few more pairs and of course I’ll post full details right here.

James is being a bit slow with his Shoe Tuesday post this week, I personally think he’s slowing down now he’s in his 4th decade, so hopefully this post will satisfy most of you (I mean really, I don’t know why you bother looking at any other blog site) until he finally pulls his finger out and gets a post up.

During last week’s 7 day break, I stumbled upon 3 very small bespoke shoe shops along Nan Yang road, behind Plaza 66. It was a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

The first store was awful, it felt like I’d walked uninvited into a Shanghainese family home. There was a middle aged woman chatting with her friends, basically ignoring me completely, and the shoes all looked very dull and lacking in any style at all. There are lots of stores like this in Shanghai. I think these people open stores not to sell anything, but just so they have a place to invite friends to come over for tea, a chat and some pumpkin seeds. I left quickly before anyone even asked if they could help me.

The second was better. There was a younger, far more attractive girl, attentive and helpful. However, as with the first shop, the shoes just didn’t look right – the colours had no shine and no punch to them, just very dull and lifeless. The book of swatches was badly laid out and they were all different sizes and shapes, some had bits cut out of them like a Hannibal Lecter victim.

My new babies – this is the style I chose for my first pair of made to measure shoes.

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Those of you outside China may not realise we’ve been on a 7 day break to celebrate the National Day Holiday. I actually took an extra day, so it’s been 8 solid days off for me. What did I do during these 8 days you may wonder. Well, the plan was to have no plans at all. To just wake up and do what the hell I feel like is a rare luxury for me, so that’s exactly what I planned to do for 8 days. I’ll confess, there were several days I did absolutely nothing and it was pure heaven. But I also got lots of minor chores done that can’t be done during a normal working week, and here’s a summary of things I’ve achieved this week:

1. Went to IKEA to buy some much needed bed linen. My existing bed linen is well overdue for the rubbish bin. Going to IKEA was as stressful as it is anywhere in the world, but the upside is I (and from time to time, a companion of my choice) get to roll around in brand new sheets and quilt covers.

2. I got a much needed haircut on the last day of the holiday. It’s not that I dislike long hair, but it just looks awful on me.

3. Visited the newly opened Marks and Spencer (THREE TIMES) mostly for food and wine, but also picked up a birthday card for my brother Rich so if you’re reading this, just pretend you haven’t read this part.

4. Repaired the heels on my Tods loafers. They’re only 5 months old but the heels have completely worn out already.

5. Bought some new shoes, more of which will be written on this week’s Fashion Friday.

6. Cut, or rather, trim, Tommy’s extremely long claws (he kept getting his paws stuck on the upholstery, which is bad for him and bad for my furniture.

It’s not been a total success though. There are a few things I still never got round to doing, including a day trip to one of the nearby ancient towns (Zhou Zhunag or Xi Tang for example), take some photographs, give Tommy a long overdue bath.

All in all though, it’s been a great week. Some people say if you didn’t have to work, you’d be bored. I have said it before and I’ll say it again – not me!

PS – I can’t think of a category for this post, so suggestions are welcome for a new category to be added. Something like “WoAi’s mundane ramblings” I reckon.

I’m not sure if it’s the result of global warming but hotpants are officially the garment to be seen in this summer according to The Guardian.

Here in Shanghai, the mini shorts / hotpants look is popular every summer as the mercury hovers around 40 degrees celcius, although I don’t often see the hotpants and heels look on someone quite this old.

I’m guessing she’s around late 50s, but she pulls it off quite well I must say.

Have a good weekend ya’ll. I’m off to Beijing with Swiss James and a few others for some last minute Olympic action this weekend, but don’t forget to tune in for Caturday tomorrow.