Collection 4

Open publication - Free publishing - More edgy shoes

Collection 4 is out now!
Titled 'I am fierce, hear me RAWR' is really about female empowerment. I believe women are becoming very vocal with their fashion choice and are not inhibited by colors, textures, statement heels, etc. We want to look good and different, especially in this age of technology, being able to fully access information on trends worldwide, powerful fashion and beauty images, etc.Women demand more now than before and it is GRC's pleasure to be able to contribute to more individualistic designs.

I am fierce, hear me RAWR is not about extremely fierce looking shoes, spike and studs everywhere, etc. Although I must admit I do love chunky hardware on shoes but I will reserve that for some other day.
Fierce is a mental state of mind, not about being scary.
It's about looking and feeling good about yourself, achieving anything you set out to achieve.
It's about girl power.
Women will rule the world someday, and it's good to have fab shoes when that happens! lol

We will be sharing more insights / personal stores on each shoe design, the why and the hows in following blogposts. Millions of thanks to the incredible girls who have stood by GlamRockChic despite the slow and arduous wait!

Goodbye to my Heart & Soul

Every GlamRockChic shoe is a baby of mine.
I have seen them from a piece of sketch to prototype to finished product.
A lot of me (sweat, blood and tears, many tears) go into each shoe, so I always try my best to keep each of them properly.

But sometimes, you can't always wipe down your shoes or restuff the tissues into them to maintain their shape. Kudos to you who have that time to do so, I don't. Maybe if I spent RM5000 on a pair of shoe, I would make that time....but that will never happen anyway.

The most I do is not to drive in them. I drive in my slippers that's always in my car.

Today, it's time to say good bye to my first pair of Heart & Soul. It was a sample made for me at the beginning of my work relationship with my factory, to test the overall feel and quality of the shoe. It's been with me for over 2 years and I've worn it everywhere and very ferociously as well, with the intention of testing it's durability. Even to China for an outpost promotion with Parkson, where I stood (yes, for real) from 9.30am to 9.45pm in them. As comfortable as they are, when you actually stand for such a long period of time, it affects the calf muscles as well as the tension spots, like the ball of the foot. So ladies, don't stand at one spot in a high heel for such a long period of time. I only do that because I was selling my heels! I couldn't wear flats as I didn't design any back then.

This is how it looks like after 2 years of ferocious wear. Not too bad I must say except that the PU leather at the front has started to flake and untuck itself from under the platform. My fault for not moisturising the gold PU part. But the sheepskin lining is still in perfect condition, which is why I LOVE using leather. Sorry PETA, I really do love animals.

 

Very little dings at the back of the heel. I've always been very clumsy and more likely scrap the back of my heel on stairs than any girl I know, so with such minimal scraps on the red heel, it was good. I am starting to be more ladylike, maybe. Perhaps not driving in them as well as playing footsie with the chair's legs helped.

Sorry about the white marks/scratches on the red heel if you get them but when it's PU leather with white cloth backing, it usually happens, you just have to be a bit careful. I will not be wrapping my heel in PU leather anymore! 

Goodbye my friend. You have served me well.
In the case of the wise partner's saying "You've ROI-ed them enough. Time to chuck".

ROI-ed (achieved sufficient return on investment in terms of getting enough wear out of them, enough compliments, enough admiration, self gratification to match up to what you paid for)

Please don't quote me in business class.

Special edition Heart & Soul

Gosh, this post is way overdue. I wanted to blog about it but somehow forgot and also forgot to wish the lovely Kim on her wedding!

Heart & Soul has somewhat become a favorite with brides, without intentionally designed with that in mind. It has also become one of the most popular shoe and like a signature of GlamRockChic. I just wanted to do a heart shape on the shoe as i like cut outs and was inspired by Alexander Mcqueen's pumps with heart shaped peep toe opening. My friend said she didn't like the shoe at all. 'Tacky' was the word she used right to my face. Yes, u gotta love friends right? So forthright rip-my-heart-out-and-spit-on-it. Stomp stomp. But it's all good because her disliking it seemed to make other girls love it. Perhaps she should say tacky to all my shoes. The more she dislikes, the better they sell. *pray*

I think the big heart on the feet is quirky and ideal for the most romantic day of your life that makes it a fav. Plus it's a break from the traditional white, satin pump with a bow that you usually would find for wedding shoes or the glittery diamante encrusted strappy sandals that's terribly stiff and chafes the feet.

My factory hates to make this shoe, by the way. Because they had initially struggled to get the heart shape right when making the paper pattern, so it was a constant revision until i finally feel that they have done an okay job on the shape. Making it wasn't easy and fitting it wasn't also the greatest as different feet fit differently in the shoe, so, it means that on feet A, the heart looks nice, on feet B, the heart may not look so much like a heart. Dah, i could go on forever on this. But it's more or less decent now.

Kim wrote to me and asked if I could change the Heart & Soul to the material she wants. Like leopard print and do away with the red heel, replace with gold. I was a bit apprehensive at first as knowing that my factory hates making this shoe, hates taking 1 off orders/customization and hates me for bothering them during their peak season before  X'Mas and Chinese New Year.  I knew it was going to be tough. But I also knew that they were working on repeat production of my Heart & Soul and so it shouldn't be so hard to slot in 1 extra for Kim with her leopard print and gold heel, rite?

Luckily, because Chinese people don't like to disappoint brides, they agreed to do this one off. But it took a heck of a long time as Kim wrote to me in Nov and we finally were able to deliver the shoes to her at the tail end of March. After CNY, there was a shortage of manpower and things dragged. Many nail biting episodes and constant chasing and pleading on my part later, the shoes were delivered to me. Just in time.

Kim, am sorry I didn't wish you again on your wedding day but if u are reading this, thank you for your support and kind understanding. I don't know if u wore it on your wedding day eventually or went with another shoe, but thank u for even considering and waiting so long for it. Sorry I couldn't allow you to do more with it as it would have been too costly for you, so I hope you are happy at the end.

xoxo,