We always get a little excited when we actually see our shoes on your feet, so we did a little jump for joy when the lovely Jade from Wedding Ideas Magazine, danced over to us during the champagne reception at the recent Wedding Ideas magazine awards in London, with her feet nicely wrapped up in a pair of Purple Suede Lola!
Here she is thanks to Wild About Weddings who kindly took the photographs.
And here is Lola also available in Ivory Leather!
Hopefully you will have read our recent blog about our little jaunt down to the big city to the annual Wedding Ideas Magazine awards.
This month’s special awards issue of the magazine has dedicated a whole page to yours truly and we can’t help but do a little twirl round the office when we read that we are their top choice for 2011.
Can’t wait to send them the images of our new collection which we are putting the finishing touches to right now!
Thanks Wedding Ideas magazine, BIG LOVE BACK AT YOU!
Here at Rachel Simpson Shoes HQ, we love the day the new bridal magazines thump on our doorstep…and thump they do! Have you noticed that they just get heavier and heavier, full the bursting with fabulous ideas to help you find the perfect additions to your wedding day?
You and Your Wedding this month features one of our lovely girls, Lola - we have a bit of a soft spot for her! She looks gorgeously simple in ivory leather with her beautiful soft ribbon bow, but what about kitting out your bridesmaids in Lola too, in contrasting purple suede?
We love this time of the month when the brand new bridal magazines are out on the shelves, with that lovely newly printed smell and the spines still stiff, ready to be thumbed through. Corners turned down to your favourite dress or better still, shoe!
It’s even nicer to see our shoes featured in a magazine, knowing that they may inspire you to find out why brides come to us time and time again for one of our girls.
Wedding Ideas magazine features one of our best sellers at the moment, Carmen. Here she is in all her glory…
OK we admit it, we have the occasional celebrity crush and who would blame us? Picked up a copy of GQ (for a change) this week and came across the simply stunning Keira Knightley in the most amazing beaded dress!
We couldn’t help but imagine which shoes she would choose from our collections to create the perfect finishing touch to her outfit.
Perhaps something very classic and simple like Elena with one of our shoe clips?
We had the honour of being nominated for the Wedding Ideas Magazine awards recently and so we donned our gladdest rags and off we trekked to the big city for the very glitzy, glamorous awards ceremony at the Brewery in London.
The great and the good were in attendance, treated to champagne (complete with gold leaf), a delicious four-course lunch, the awards themselves hosted by the gorgeous Jenni Falconer (a la GMTV) who was sporting a fabulous quiff and then entertainment from X-Factor’s Andy Abraham, gosh was he smooth!
We were in the category for Best Bridal Shoe and up against some stiff competition. No award this year, however we wanted to say a big hearty congratulations to all the winners on the day and here are just some of them…
Best Bridal accessories – Chez Bec
Best Wedding Venue – Gosfield Hall
Best bridal shoe – Paradox
Best bridal retailer – Creatiques Couture
Best florist – Emma Lappin
Best wedding stationery – Mandalay
A big big thank you to Wedding Ideas Magazine as well for making us feel so spoiled and for their support over the last year. We had a fantastic day and can’t wait for the next one!
Regular readers of our blog will know that we are working alongside The Wedding Club boutique to organise the region’s first annual Designer Vintage Bridal Show in February.
On 19th and 20th February at Highbury Hall in Birmingham, brides-to-be will gather together with designers and vintage inspired bridal suppliers from across the country to celebrate all things vintage and truly, gorgeously unique.
We’ve attracted a really impressive exhibitor list and here are some of the names you can expect to see there along with yours truly of course…
The Wedding Club
Vintage Frocks ‘n’ Crocks
Jenny Packham
Lindsay Fleming Couture
Tobi Hannah
Kate Edmonson
Laurel Lime
Terry Terry
Ragged Rose
Sharper Millinery
HT Headwear
Gabrielle Louise
Bonne Fete
Passion for flowers
The Wedding of my Dreams
Vintage Glamour Days
Emma Case Photography
Lucy Ledger Stationery
Steve Gerrard Photography
James Crockford Photography
AE Photography
Liezl Croft Photography
I AM ANNA
Abigail Hall Interior Styling
Little A Florist
DC Bouquets
Helena Sinclair Hair Styling
A Vintage Affair Ltd
Boutique Baking Company
Rock n Roll Bride
Love My Dress
Sugarfoot Stomp DJs
If that’s not enough, you can enjoy an afternoon tea party, fashion shows, mini masterclasses, live entertainment from some amazing talent and you can meet and talk to the experts, including RocknRoll Bride and Love My Dress, the faces behind two of the ultimate wedding blogs currently on the social media scene.
Tickets can be bought directly from the website and you can pay on the door when you arrive if that’s easier. Come and join us for a weekend of joy, courtesy of the great and the good from the bridal industry.
We are joining some other fabulous bridal designers and suppliers at the Vintage Chic Wedding Fair on the 30th January at the beautiful Old Library at the Custard Factory in Birmingham.
Alongside our vintage inspired shoes for brides, there will be such delights as quirky and unusual favours, vintage vocals, bunting, stationery, photographers, wedding planners and elegant, vintage dresses and jewellery.
It’s an absolute must see for all brides to be looking for something a little different for their wedding day.
Come along and say Hi, we loved to see you there!
Hopefully you will have caught our blog a couple of days ago when we featured the gorgeous HT Headwear and some of their fabulour headpieces. And whilst we are normally looking down and concentrating on footwear, we can’t help but get a little giddy with desire at the new trend towards having something beautiful at the top of your head as well as on the soles of your feet.
Whilst flicking through the pages of one of our fave reads (yes, that’s you Heat Magazine!) – we came across this selection of just a few vintage inspired desirables for your ‘do’ – ah swoon!
Go all out with a big bow or keep it subtle, sweet with girlie, glittery slides.
You could match your top and toe with our lovely Hettie hair pins and co-ordinating pearl buckle shoe clips!
Here’s another installment in our ‘We Love…’ blog interviews and today we talk to Helena Talbot, designer and founder of HT Headwear. Read on to find out more about this fascinating milliner…
Hello Helena, tell us a bit about your yourself. HT Headwear was established shortly after I got married and couldn’t find the perfect little something for myself and my bridesmaids to wear in their hair that was affordable without compromising on style. I wanted something totally unique without breaking the bank or having the same as everybody else had from a high street store!
How did you get into the industry? I did a millinery course after Uni for a bit of fun and started making headpieces for friends then it phased out whilst I went travelling and started up again a year ago when I made pieces for my own wedding.
What’s your best seller? Iridessa in my SS10 collection
Which designer from your industry inspires you and why? There are many designers I find inspiring but Jenny Packham really stands out, I just love her work!
Tell us about someone you follow on Twitter that we should be following or a fashion-related blog that our fans should be reading and why. Love My Dress is a great blog, with fabulous features and ideas for vintage themed weddings.
Celebrity shoppers? Our pieces are really for anyone and everyone. I would love to see a whole range of celebs in them from Lilly Allen to Kate Middleton!
What are you looking forward to for the coming year? We have a really exciting year ahead with our fabulous new collection just being launched and some great shows such as Designer Vintage Bridal show that we are attending! We have a couple of exciting new wholesale accounts on board too which we are loving working with and have met some really inspiring people in the industry this year that we very much look forward to working with in the new year!
In your industry, tell us what you think is going to be hot next season. Birdcage veils will continue to rule the roost as will floral headpieces and vintage inspired work.
Describe your personal fashion style. I’m not a huge fan of following fashion. If I like something and it looks good I buy it. I’m a lot more practical now I’m a mum to a full on 15mth old!
What is your biggest fashion faux pas? A floor length electric blue dress with a see thru panel in I went clubbing in years ago - I thought I looked fab of course! Just awful!!!
Think back to an early ‘shoe’ purchase when you were younger, describe them please. I remember a pair of platform boots I brought when I was at college from a charity shop. They were beautiful soft brown leather with a huge platform on them – I only wore them once and nearly broke both ankles!!
What is your favourite pair of Rachel Simpson shoes? Marilyn
Pick a pair of Rachel Simpson Shoes and match it to something you sell, why this combination? The Mimi paired with our Ophelia piece from the new collection, sheer classic beauty married together!
Describe Rachel Simpson Shoes in three words. Elegant, timeless, beautiful.
If Rachel Simpson Shoes is known for its vintage inspiration and simply beautiful shoes, what is your company synonymous with? Beautifully bespoke handcrafted headpieces that can be treasured forever.