Do I detect a whiff of spring in the air? A frisson of change? Better bloody hope so…I’m starting to lose the plot with tights (blurgh) socks/balaclavas/the-general-togged-up-michelin-look..I want to have bare legs, bare feet and feel the breeze on my sun-starved skin without dying of hyperthermia.  But which shoes are best for that tricky transition into summer?  After seeing this picture:

I feel the pull of the loafer again – there are certain things that are designed to a point of perfection – the tube map, Laduree packaging..the horse bit on a Gucci loafer.  Having said that, this is a pic of a mans loafer which definitely has an edge: more chunk n gravitas.   Anyways, I was discussing this man/woman design conundrum with Anna last night, over a herbal tea and a dress pattern when she remembered writing a post about her loafer obsession in the 90s.  And then, as if there was fashion magic in the air, I turned on my computer to see Amanda Brook’s post about Loafers…wooooah – this is all too much! – like Harry Potter is living in my hard drive…But odd things happen, sometimes for a reason and this has compelled me to re-find this lovely post from our archives….unfortunately the edit gremlins won’t allow me to space it properly, but hey, sometimes we have to suffer for our art…

At the risk of reminiscing I’m going to tell you a bitter sweet fabulous fashion moment.  Picture the scene: I was a fashion student at the Royal College of Art and I’d won an internship at Karl Lagerfeld in Paris.OOH! what to wear? Every day was a massive ordeal to concoct an outfit. And OH! how I lusted after these Gucci stilettos. I even had a picture of them on the wall of my Paris attic apartment. For 3 months, everyday, I scrupulously composed outfit after outfit from my vintage finery. I strived that each look would achieve just the right mix of style, insouciance and fashion forecasting, and that whilst wearing it I’d be being able to perform the tasks of a fashion design intern without falling over, sweating to death or (the worst!) looking DULL! One day preshow Liz Tilberis came into the studio to preview the catwalk looks.  She was then Editor of Vogue. I had only just got over my daily awe of Karl and now had Liz Tilberis standing right there in the black version of  my object of desire-these shoes. After my initial’ hello, how do you do?’, imagine my surprise as I heard myself launch into a stream of concsiousness  ”I love your shoes, I’m saving up to buy them, they are my favourites, I love the new look Gucci, blah blah blah… I continued , as LT incredulously looked on at me!Eventually, my diatribe faded  as Karl said something like  ”So, Ve look at the clothes,no?!” and I sat, uncomfortably, down, silenced, staring at my rather lacking footwear. Anyway I HAD been saving and I bought the shoes ( in tan- although I still wish I had them in black!!) and as you can see I wore them just the other day again for the first time since those days of youth and crippling embarrassment. Now I’m only crippled by the shoes! They just look right again… I’m wearing them with a vintage fur jacket( type unknown) and my current favourite jumper a gold knt from Zara topshop Baxter skinnies

So Amanda, if you are reading – what about a mans loafter instead – or even better, a vintage stiletto?

Laters, Kate (and Anna) xxx