BUNIONS FOR VICKI B

Ah the joys of fame. This week the UK’s Daily Mail showcased Victoria Beckham’s bunions. Fabulous. Just the sort of media one would swell with pride over having recently announced adding shoes to your design stable.

The increasingly Chic Mrs B has certainly made heels her trademark, whether in a bid to up the glamour or merely increase her height I’m not sure.

The Daily Mail reports that ‘years of wearing six-inch stilettos have taken their painful toll on Victoria Beckham - she is facing surgery to remove her bunions.

Style may be everything for Posh, but she is in such agony that friends have revealed she is being forced to put ice on her feet and do daily exercises in a desperate bid to avoid having the bunionectomy operations advised by her doctors.'

VB has apparently said the pain is affecting her perfect posture. A ‘friend’ has told the Mail: 'The Beckham household is all about feet at the moment: David is having painkilling injections for bone bruising on his foot, while Victoria is in agony with her misshapen feet. She is suffering from shooting pain from the bunions. Normally, she kicks off her shoes in the house, but she has been out so much recently in high heels that she is really feeling it.'

All the while she continues to insist she will not resort to flat shoes.
'I beyond hate ballerina flats,' she says. 'I can't walk in them. Unless they're on a ballet dancer doing ballet, I just don't get it. I love heels.'

I love heels to Vicki B but seriously, do you really need 15cm YSL stilettos at the park? Me thinks not.

To see the garish gallery of VB’s bunions go to the Daily Mail, I refuse to post them here.

______________________________________________________
Follow Tracey on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/traceygillinder
or read Tracey's columns @ http://www.babesinbusiness.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR BLAHNIK!

Here's to the ultimate shoe man, happy birthday to Manolo Blahnik who turns 67 today!

May he continue to live his fabulous life for many many years to come...




______________________________________________________
Follow Tracey on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/traceygillinder
or read Tracey's columns @ http://www.babesinbusiness.com

ABS SEES STILETTOS SKY-HIGH

While most of us love the objet d’art of the stiletto, rarely do we think about the technology of its design. Here is some food for thought:

The technical must-haves for designing a stiletto have reached new heights as we are hear terminology like ABS, something most of us know to be the braking system in our car.

As heels reach 15 and 16 centremeters there has never been a greater emphasis on strength and endurance - of both the heel and the shank. Many give the credit for that stronger heel to ABS, or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, a polymer developed by a U.S. government team working on synthetic rubber after World War II.

The material is used by many infamous designers, including Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik, a pioneer in the contemporary shoe designer pantheon, although Blahnik draws the line at 15 centremeter heels. “115 is the highest heel to walk properly and comfortably,” the British-based designer said. “You have grace and femininity.”

Blahnik’s heels, which he likes to describe as “spindly,” have a central steel rod surrounded by ABS plastic and a polyurethane tip at the bottom. And to attach them firmly to the shoe, artisans in his factories position five nails, each one at a 7-degree angle and about 8 millimeters apart. Such intimate knowledge of construction and architecture helps, a little, to justify the price point of Manolos.

While many shoe designers now employ architectural programs like CAD to assist with the design stage, Blahnik is a traditionalist, using a compass, a ruler, his eyes and hands.

Long live the traditionalist!

______________________________________________________
Follow Tracey on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/traceygillinder
or read Tracey's columns @ http://www.babesinbusiness.com

A TOAD OF AN IDEA

You have to applaud the ingenuity but I’m not sure I want to wear one of Australia’s biggest pests on my feet.

Melbournian Karine Emanouel has created these four-inch heels from cane toad leather & says there are six skins in each pair. The line will apparently be launched next week & will be available to buy online @ karineemanouel.com.au for $540 a pair.

While Crocodile skin & calf leather have a je ne sais quoi coveted by some I’m not convinced cane toad skin will carry the same magnetism.

Read the full story in the Sunday Mail.

______________________________________________________
Follow Tracey on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/traceygillinder
or read Tracey's columns @ http://www.babesinbusiness.com

QUEENSLAND'S MOST STYLISH

Very humbling & a lovely nod to Queensland & our style set. Many thanks to Kellie Alderman, Sunday Mail Fashion Editor, & her esteemed judges for including me in this inaugural list of style icons. I feel honoured to be in the company of such an impressive list of people.

TRACEY GILLINDER
Associate Director, HBO+EMTB
An obsession for shoes (from Christian Louboutin heels right down to her Holster Jelly sandals) is soon to be the subject of her debut novel, but it's the well-cut suits that this style-savvy mum really lusts after.

STYLE transcends age, gender and social groups and, while it might be a distant cousin to fashion, it is much more about your connection to the clothes you wear than whose name is written on the label.

Welcome to The Sunday Mail's first-ever list of our style icons. We enlisted a panel of fashion industry aficionados to decide who our most stylish Queenslanders are. The judges are: Damien Woolnough, Suzi Vaughn, Kellie Alderman, Jodie Bache-McLean and Leigh Buchanan.

This list recognises men and women who have great personal style – defined as someone who expresses something individual about themselves through what they wear.

It's also about carrying off something unexpected – like the 24-year-old city corporate finance analyst who regularly mixes bow ties and retro glasses with shorts and makes it work.

There is also the 58-year-old gorgeous grandma who has more than 200 pairs of stockings.

We have included some of Queensland's best-known names, such as pop starlets The Veronicas and former Queensland schoolgirl turned celebrity model Miranda Kerr.

Judge Damien Woolnough said Kerr had "the goods and the perfect accessory in Orlando Bloom – he goes with everything".

There couldn't be a 50 Most Stylish list without a few inclusions from the world of fashion in Brisbane.

From stylists to retailers, designers and models, they have all done something the rest of us aspire to – combined their passion with their jobs. What could be more stylish than the contentment that comes with that?

There is indisputable proof that Queensland has an abundance of style. So much so, that we originally had the luxury of selecting from a list of 100 most stylish.

Read the article online in the Sunday Mail or go to the Gallery for the 50 most stylish images.

______________________________________________________
Follow Tracey on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/traceygillinder
or read Tracey's columns @ http://www.babesinbusiness.com