Berlin Shoot

This shoot, titled "Berlin" was styled by Project Runway's Amber Renae and features the Vein Wear Unorthodox Brogue Ankle Boots (V3B-1). These are a very cool boot. Get a pair at veinwear.com now.

Fashion Journal Loves Vein Wear Shoes

Fashion Journal loves the Vein Wear floral lazer-cut ankle boots. Looks like quite a few people agreed, because they are all sold out.

Guy Gear - Bride To Be

In the aptly named Guy Gear section, Bride To Be magazine has featured the Vein Wear Bridge Loafers in Cream for Grooms. This shoe was made with an un-dyed vege-tan leather. Buy them online at veinwear.com. (I've only got sizes 44-46 left.)

I really encourage anyone planning their wedding to consider customised shoes. It is a great way to make yourself feel very special on your special day. I'll put some photos up soon from Daniel Newton's wedding. Daniel customised a pair of Vein shoes to get a dramatic look.

CNN Cover Story

City North News' Grant Stockwell put together a stunning cover story photo shoot in the sunset behind the Eagle Farm horse racing track. Well done.

Style is in a man's shoes - Courier Mail

What should a man consider when purchasing a pair of shoes?

Laura Stead had this to say in the Courier Mail:

Style is in a man’s shoes

WHEN men go to the wardrobe to get dressed, theoptions will likely consist of some kind of pants orjeans combination. Little wonder then, that mostwill choose to channel their creative expressioninto their shoes.

Admired is the man that will sport a well-chosenshoe to express his style, but there’s a fine linebetween fashion and frivolity, says shoe designerChris McCallum.

McCallum, who owns and designs Vein shoes, inthe TCB Arcade, Fortitude Valley, says the key toguys expressing themselves through their shoeslies in understanding their own style.

‘‘Girls look down at a man’s shoes and what yousee, you make judgments on and they’re oftenaccurate, because what a guy decides to wearreflects his personality. If he’s wearing the samenothing style, it shows he’s not really willing toextend himself and try new things, but if he goestoo far and make too much of a statement, that canbe a turn-off too,’’ McCallum says.

‘‘I think the key is to match the shoe to thepersonality of the person and to just push theirboundaries a tiny little bit.

‘‘That’s general because most guys could do witha tiny push out of their comfort zone and still feelcomfortable and confident.’’

Unlike women, who are more likely to buy shoeson a whim, there are two main purposes guys havein mind when shoe shopping, McCallum says.

‘‘One is purpose and then there’s fashion,’’ hesays. ‘‘There used to be a fair bit of talk about toeshapes and things, but the fashion cycle has spedup so much now, it’s like every three months itchanges, so I think it’s irrelevant to men.

‘‘If you feel comfortable in a slightly chiselledtoe, then great, but a boldish round toe is greatas well.’’

Quality should be high on a man’s list ofpriorities in a shoe, McCallum says.

‘‘There are guys who’ve come to the realisationthat buying something that is quality and originaland interesting does matter,’’ he says.

‘‘And original doesn’t mean it has to be far out oranything. If you wear something that’s goodquality and well made, you just feel differentin yourself.’’

Steve Austin met the guy who designed his shoes...

http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/christopher-mccallum-blog.mp3

Radio host Steve Austin walked into the Vein Store in Brisbane last Sunday and I noticed he was wearing one of my first designs. He had looked after them beautifully. I assumed he knew, and that was why he was in my store. It turned out he had no idea they were Veins and was shocked to find out the truth about how and why he came about purchasing them.

So he invited me on to his show to have a chat and share the story. You can listen to that show above, or go to the radio blog and listen to it from there (http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2009/08/entrepreneur-christopher-mccallum-footwear-designer.html).

Chris Worfold vs Vein Wear Look Book

Chris Worfold has come out with some amazing paintings of the latest Vein Wear shoe collection in a series looks:

9 to 5 Fab Finds - Vein Wear Men's Shoes

9 to 5 Magazine - Fab Finds by Prue Roberts:

Fab Finds

Men's shoes specialists Vein is the brand with the latest knock-out black styles, which are fundamentals of any man's wardrobe (as you
would know).

All six shoe types in the latest collection are made from the finest leather by five of the most qualified and respected cobblers in the industry, all specialising in their own specific aspect of
the shoe's construction.

The 3 Piece Loafer, $289, (pictured) consists of a beautiful chisel-toe, featuring a three panel upper design with rolled edges on each, giving a graceful, layered look.

All shoes from the range are made with a neutral non-allergenic full leather lining and individual velvet bags for dust and travel protection.

Visit: veinwear.com.

Australian Shoe Fair

I see on the flyer for the upcoming Australian Shoe Fair that the only male shoe being promoted is a Vein Wear style. I just want to clarifiy that I am not exhibiting at the fair. If you want to stock Vein Wear shoes in your boutique, please contact me directly at chris@veinwear.com.

I will be travelling down to have a look at the show as a visitor. So if you want to meet up, please email me.

Brisbane Suburbs by Shoe

Verica Jokic of cityhobo.com is rating Brisbane's suburbs by shoe. Have a read and see if you agree. It's quite accurate for me. I live at Bardon, wear designer slippers (Vein Wear of course), today I'm wearing black and I love good coffee (specifically U Gees at West End). Where do you wear your Veins?

Here's Verica Jokic's guide to Brisbane (by shoe type):

Bally/Lloyds: conservative area with plenty of upper-middle-class families and people over 50 who like napkins and classical music at dinner, and can probably use the six degrees of separation rule to establish a link to the Queen. (Ascot, Hamilton and Milton)

Birkenstock and Campers: a socially and environmentally aware, creative, arty, inner city suburb with a neighbourhood or village feel and an alternative bent. The "fair trade" coffee-sipping type. (Bulimba, Chelmer/Graceville, Milton, Paddington, Red Hill, St Lucia and Toowong)

Adidas: all is not as it seems, a mainstream-looking suburb with a bit of edge. A suburb in transition where arty types are slowly moving in. (Indooroopilly, Kelvin Grove and Toowong)

Aquila and black work shoes: a professional type suburb with confident people – some like to work hard and play hard. (Auchenflower, Bulimba, Fortitude Valley, Milton, New Farm, Red Hill, South Brisbane/South Bank and Teneriffe)

Canvas sneaker: a relaxed beachside suburb, mainstream, family oriented. (No suburbs, yet)

Christian Louboutin: a suburb that attracts highly paid professionals who understand art, uber designer clothes, like to party, have hundreds of gorgeous friends. (No suburbs, yet)

Colorado: a family-oriented, middle-class suburb with a mainstream bent and good access to parks, rivers, beaches, harbour etc, where kids can burn off their energy and save their parents from going psycho. (Bardon, Camp Hill, Chelmer, Graceville, Clayfield, Indooroopilly, Red Hill, Rosalie)

Converse: grungy, inner-city, gay-friendly suburb with a kaleidoscope of people, where creativity is king or, er, um, queen. (Fortitude Valley)

Country Road: a wealthy middle-class suburb with a bit of bling, 4WDs, big houses, and cafes full of yummy mummies. (Ascot, Hamilton, Clayfield)

Designer slippers: a wealthy, middle-class suburb with intellectual types who spend their money on art, wear black clothes, drink good coffee and tend to be libertarian in their politics. (Bardon, St Lucia)

Ferragamo: stylish conservative suburb with money and a lot of bling. Great for people over 50. Darrrling! (Ascot, Hamilton)

Flippers: a beach suburb full of happy people and families. (No suburbs, yet)

Flip Flops: see "thongs" below. A thong in Australia is not a G-string. It is a shoe. (No suburbs, yet)

Fluevog: super cool, creative, arty and cafe suburb that sets trends. (No suburbs, yet)

Gumboot: semi-rural. (No suburbs, yet)

Hush Puppies (old style): a down-to-earth, family type suburb with plenty of heart. (No suburbs, yet)

Jimmy Choo: Sex and the City sort of place. (No suburbs, yet)

Kenneth Cole: a suburb with plenty of fashion-savvy people but not so Sex and the City. (Paddington, South Brisbane/South Bank)

Loafers: A wealthy, upper-middle-class suburb with a bit of creativity. (No suburbs, yet) Nike: the 'burbs. (Mt Gravatt)

Nine West: mainstream area. (Auchenflower, Mt Gravatt)

Puma: an inner-city suburb with edge, students, alternative-type professionals, and public housing. (No suburbs, yet)

Sneakers and slip-ons: strong Asian presence. (No suburbs, yet)

Stilettos: an image-conscious suburb with plenty of well-paid professionals who don't really eat much but like spending money on goats' cheese, sugar cubes from France, expensive wine, and hanging out at hip bars with their fab, beautiful, friends. (New Farm, Teneriffe)

Strappy sandal: stylish, relaxed beachside suburb where the professional-to-hoon ratio is 10,000:1. (No suburbs, yet)

Thongs: beach suburb, yoga, surfing, health food, exercise, sunshine . . . (No suburbs, yet)