Day 1231 - Shoesday Tuesday

Shoes: Carni Val | Irregular Choice 

Today I've been thinking about some of my all-time favourite IC styles, having shown you a couple lately (the bunny Lapin boots last week and Smitten Kitten from the amazing Family Reunion collection) and the pair I'm showing you today are definitely up there. The heel-less wedge is one of my favourite heel shapes and probably the one that raises most questions. It confuses people for sure! I've said it with all my other styles and I'll say it again, you honestly don't feel any different to wearing a regular wedge heeled shoe. Yes, your foot is completely supported, no, they aren't difficult to walk in and no, you don't need to adapt your style of walking in any way.  You truly forget there isn't a regular heel there.  

This style is from SS16 and were a Summer variation of Truly Magical which had come out the season prior.  The main difference being the now open toe and small platform, along with fluffy pompoms down the front instead of bows on TM.  Like TM, I ended up buying two colourways as they were so different to each other and I loved both.  I've shown you the blue pair a couple of times before, but weirdly have never fit-reviewed the green here.  The uppers are this amazing patent (but not overly shiny), marbled, prism like green with tropical print fabric contrast and the heel is silver, blue and red glitter.  

Size-wise, I opted to order the size up as I had done previously with TM.  My main reason for this wasn't the shoe itself, but the cuff around the ankle.  This style zip up the back and as you can see, once closed, it's quite a slim fit with absolutely no give.  The shoe part is roomy, maybe even more so than the closed toe version.  The sides gape a lot on me and even the band across the toe sits above my foot, however, when I wear them with thicker socks like I did here, it's not as noticeable.  I haven't tried the smaller size, but I'm doubtful the cuff would close, so my recommendation for anyone without skinny ankles would be to size up, but the shoe itself is true to size.

I still can't decide on my favourite between these and the blue, though the pompoms (yellow in particular) are much softer than the black ones on the other pair.  IC launched new colours of Anna Seed with this heel last season (AW21), but I wasn't thrilled with them.  I'm really not a fan of that layered, edged bow (the one you get on Ban Joe), which is why I've never purchased AS in the past.  I have an irrational hatred for those bows...I generally really like bows, I just can't stand that one and the uppers weren't grabbing me either.  I did quite like the green and the Lottie's exclusive pair...nowhere near as much as these or Truly Magical though, so I never bought them.  I'm finding very little is "must have" for me at the moment with IC and I've probably alluded to that in previous blog posts or you've guessed through the lack of new styles being reviewed here.  I just don't buy all that much from them now and it's been that way for a couple of seasons.  

I've found the little I do buy, I'm having to compromise on things like heel heights, so I rarely see anything perfect enough for me that I'd be prepared to buy full-price.  I don't think it's just my circumstances (never getting out to wear shoes, lack of storage and tightening my belt a bit), I just don't feel that urgency to buy or I wouldn't be really upset if I missed out on them altogether.  This season is looking...not great so far, though I realise the reworked 'classic' styles tend to come out first, with fun stuff later, but I'm not liking a lot of the materials and colours being used, it's not to my taste.  The relaunch of the Poker Joker dice boots in new colours have been the most exciting thing in a while and did really appeal to me.  My wish is for more stuff like Carni Val; shapes that are a little weird, interesting material and colour mixes or over the top items like those Lapin boots, nothing mainstream or appealing to the masses (which in my opinion was always the ethos of the brand).  This isn't a hate post, I just felt like sharing what I've been thinking for a while now and explaining why you probably won't see lots of brand new styles reviewed here as they launch, like I used to.  I'd also love to know your thoughts, are you seeing more you like from IC now or less or much the same?  

Wearing: Sequins socks, ASOS (old).   

Fit:  4" heel and very small platform.  Zip back.  I bought the size up, which are wide/roomy in the foot, but fit my ankle well. The length seems true to size, so a little longer on me in the bigger size.  

Comfort:  They can rub around the ankle a bit, socks help with this as well as providing a bit of bulk on the gaping situation.  The heel is very easy and comfortable to walk on.