L'Oreal Kerastase Paris Men's Grooming Line Launch
Here are some of the pics from the private L'Oreal Kerastase parade hosted for Vein Wear to showcase new season trends in men's designer shoes and Clemente Talarico to showcase men's clothing trends.
I will release these in bite-sized chunks because the looks are all worth seeing, but there are quite a few.
I will release these in bite-sized chunks because the looks are all worth seeing, but there are quite a few.
Walk A Day In My Shoes...Try 500 Days!
I have been wearing these same boots everyday for 500 days straight.
This might sound odd for a shoe designer. I have access to any shoe I could possibly want. And there are at least a score of styles in the Vein Wear collection I would love to be wearing at any one time. So why wear just one pair, every day, for well over a year?
To test the durability of course. This kind of information is very difficult to come across. You can get 'wear tests' done, where you pay for someone to walk around in your shoes (literally) but they average only 30 days. And you can do durability tests on components similar to the machine repetitively squishing the chair in Ikea. But to get accurate information on how a shoe wears in the day to day life of a normal person, you just have to do it yourself.
So I have worn these boots for the past 500 days. It has meant that my wardrobe has been slightly limited. And they probably weren't appropriate at the weddings I attended. Forgive me, I was on a mission.
I worked in an office and in the retail store. I walked around the markets and the shopping strips on the weekend. I went out to bars and clubs. I danced (poorly) at weddings. I stumbled around the Hunter Valley wineries. I pounded the pavement in Sydney and Melbourne.
Like the Proclaimers before me I vowed to walk 500 miles, and 500 miles, just to be the man who walked a thousand miles. Which converts to 1,609km. I conservatively estimate I walked over 5,000 steps or 4km a day when it is averaged out. So the total distance walked was about 2,000km. Making me the man that walked a thousand miles and then kept going.
I made sure not to give them much extra care along the way. That way I could observe the wear as most guys would experience it. I didn't scotch-guard them. Or treat the suede. I tried to stay out of the rain where possible and jumped puddles. I gave them the odd brush to wipe away any serious dirt. If they got wet I let them dry and wiped away water from the soles at the end of the day. I didn't use shoe trees or shoe horns.
So how did they fare? The upper leather integrity came through perfectly. No stitching came apart. They feel great. The soles never came apart from the upper at all. They look excellent.
The soles are the standard Vein Wear 4mm rubber soles. They look fine and there are no holes or cracks in them. Of course they definitely need a re-sole now, and I pushed well past when they 'should' have been re-soled.
At just after the one year mark, I had them re-heeled and needed to add some rubber to the toe area of the sole. This cost about $25.00 in materials.
I cleaned and tarted them up for the 'after' photos. Have a look below.
The boots cost $269.00 and the repairs $25.00, so the total cost after 500 days was $294.00. That works out to less than 59 cents per day of wear. Not bad, considering I probably spent nearly $2,000 on coffee during the same period!
The lesson I've learnt from this experience is that Vein Wear makes awesome shoes. If you treat them with a modicum of care, they will treat you extraordinarily well. And high quality items really are less expensive in the long run. I'm going to keep wearing these boots. Just not every day. And every day I wear them, that 59 cents per day of wear gets cheaper.
I certainly don't recommend you wear your shoes in this way. This was a durability test. You don't want to push your fashion shoes to any kind of extremes. Wear them between 5 and 15 times a month. Alternate with another pair of shoes. Re-heel them regularly. Re-sole them as early as possible. Use shoe trees and shoe horns. Clean and water-proof them.
I can't wait to wear another stlye of shoe! Vein Store, here I come...
MBFF - Ben Ringuet Show - Vein Wear Men's Designer Shoes
Dark Redemption
Fashion just got a whole lot darker.
Vein wear shoes recently worked with the fashion designer Ben Ringuet and provided shoes for his parade at Mercedes Brisbane Fashion Festival. The shoe in question was our leather and suede Combo Boot ($279 from VeinWear.com), which is a modern take on a traditional military design.
Ben also took inspiration from the military trend which is proving to be popular this spring/summer season. As seen, 19yo Ben's interpretation leans towards the darker side and creates a sharp silhouette with all the trimmings of a traditional uniform.
The Combo Boot was also styled back with what is titled the "Prom" shirt. This look seems to pay homage to the dress shirts of the 1970's, but once again Ben's dark interpretation of the classic ruffle shirt adds a tough edge to what could otherwise be considered a feminine style.
We recommend that you take a walk on the dark side this season and pair the Combo Boots with a slim line jean or dress pant. Brace yourself and get ready for a tough new season.
Ray-Ban Rare Places: Vein Wear Designer Shoe Store
How to Enter
Twitter: Tweet or twitpic about the locations and tag the tweet with “#raybanrare” to automatically go in the running to win.
Foursquare: Go to the Rare Venue and check in using your existing FourSquare account, leave a tip and you will automatically go in the running to win.
Email: Email your comments or photos to RarePlaces@ray-ban.com to automatically go in the running to win.
Online: go on http://www.ray-banrare.com/rare/ and select your city Brisbane then find Vein Shoe Store. Facebook: Automatically go in the running to win when you do the following: - Comment - “Like” - Invite a friend
Ray-Ban is celebrating the Top 50 "Rare Places" around the country, and would love you to be part of the process. What do we need you to do... Discover and Experience, all we want you to do it get out there and see some of the amazing new places pop-ing up all over australia. Explore our map and discover a new place to visit, get out there and enjoy it. For your chance to win the limited edition print hanging in the venue or a VIP guest list to the exclusive Ray-Ban “Rare Places” closing party for you and x of your friends. Comment, rate and check-in, the more you support the places the more chances you have of winning.
The Vein Shoe Store (117 Adelaide St Brisbane) is one of only five Brisbane venues to be named a Ray-Ban Rare Place. So come in and support the store and Brisbane and bring the party home.
Basically we need to create the most digital chatter. So you can either Twitter mentioning Vein Shoe Store (#veinwear) and #raybanrare, or check-in on FourSquare and leave a tip, or get onto the Ray-Ban Rare site and comment through FaceBook.
Create the most chatter yourself and you win the print. If the Vein Shoe Store gets the most chatter, we get a $5,000 Ray-Ban party!
Start chattering peeps :)
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