The search for shoes

In my early teenage years I got obsessed with a pink and grey sweater from Hugo Boss my aunt owned. After enough nagging she gifted me the sweater and I only wore it out once. Some girl at my school thought it was a replica and mocked me for it. Sometimes I still think on how she said that supposedly grey and pink don't work together anyway (she's honestly missing out). This caused me to bury the sweater in the back of my closet and to never wear it again. Sure, my Chanel watch definitely was a fake, but I will never know whether the sweater was a dupe or not. At least nowadays, I'm certain that I don't own any replicas besides my Bodyline Rocking Horse Shoes. The original pair was designed by Vivienne Westwood and was part of her 1985 Mini Crini collection for spring/summer. Unfortunately I didn't have the capital to purchase them during my trip to London last year so I came prepared this time: I was so ready to finally get rid of my dupes! Yet, the Conduit Street flagship wasn't ready for it.

The inside of Worlds End (2024)

Last time I was at the Vivienne Westwood flagship store on Conduit Street I tried on multiple sizes of their Rocking Horse Shoes because I wanted them to have the perfect fit to wear with and without socks. Back then, we had settled on a European size 41 so I made a mental note of that. When I entered the store this time, I immediately asked to try the 41s on again, but apparently they were all out of stock and I was in shock. I asked them whether they could get a restock in by Friday. The answer was just as uncertain as waffles on the fence. My husband knew how badly I wanted the shoes so he asked them whether the other stores, the menswear or Worlds End, might still have them in stock. After a quick phone call to Worlds End, confirming they still had them, we headed to the menswear store to check whether they still had the right size. Unfortunately they only had a European size 42 and up, yet I still wanted to try them on to be sure. Yeah, no, they were indeed way too big.

Coord rundown:

• Head bow: Off-brand
• Earrings: Vivienne Westwood
• Necklace: Vivienne Westwood
• OP: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
• OP: Alice and the Pirates
• Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs
• Bloomers: Off-brand
• Shoes: Dr. Martens
• Bag: Kipling
• Umbrella: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Finally victorious! (2024)

Then, my husband decided we should just go to Vivienne Westwood Worlds End because that seemed like our best bet at still getting them today. He quickly hailed over a taxi and told the driver to head to King's Road. "My wife wants new shoes!" is what I imagined him saying. Once we entered the store we were greeted by Setsu and Lisa. Setsu is from Japan and she's been working at the store for decades she shared. I replied by telling her that she must be the ultimate Vivi-ko (Japanese: ヴィヴィ子, English lit.: Vivi-girl), which is what Vivienne Westwood's female fans are called in Japan. She was shocked to learn I spoke Japanese and knew about that word. She was very nice and helped me putting on and taking off the shoes, showing me how to ensure the ties are done properly. Together we figured out the 41s were the right size for me. After she rang me up we talked a bit more and she told me I could always order from them through e-mail or Instagram. Don't tell my husband, but I'll definitely be doing that: I've got a Cassandra Alice Band with my name on it waiting for me.

Let's compare the Vivienne Westwood Rocking Horse Shoes with the Bodyline dupes. The shoes are made of wood and nappa leather whilst the ones from Bodyline are made from foam and polyurethane or pleather (more fashionably: vegan leather). This means that they will last longer than the ones from Bodyline and they will be able to be repaired (a cobbler once told me that you can glue polyurethane shoes only once or twice). Thanks to the leather they will age gracefully too. It also makes them a lot more sturdy than the dupes which you can really feel when tying the ties. Besides that, they also breathe more and are more comfortable than the replicas because of the materials used. The only negatives I see is that they are pretty hard to come by, as you read earlier, and that they come at a steep price: £ 490.00 or $ 785.00. These negatives aren't unique to the originals since the dupes are also pretty hard to come by unless you know how to shop safely on Taobao and AliExpress, but the price does vary between $ 150.00 and $ 75.00. However, to me the originals are completely worth it with them being such iconic shoes! They only decision I have left to make, after purchasing these shoes, is whether I'm going to lacquer the wood or not. 

Thank you, and take care.