LA Shoegirl | a day in the life of a shoe designer

May 9, 2013

Punk Inspiration

This past week the Met Gala took place and the theme was Punk: Chaos to Couture. I was so inspired by the theme, the images I saw online of the exhibit, and what all of the Hollywood A list stars were wearing that I started to sketch some ideas. I also happened to have a book I purchased last year at Bookmarc in West Hollywood, called Made in the U.K.| The Music of Attitude 1977-1983. Guess last year I was also inspired by Punks, Ska’s, and Mod’s.

My favorite Met Gala look was by Sarah Jessica Parker. I loved her mohawk headpiece, the dress, and the tartan plaid boots. She looked amazing! Her tartan plaid boots inspired me to draw a plaid upper. However, I remembered as a kid in the 80′s, I had this cool yellow and black plaid shirt, that I was inspired to use that color combination instead of the tartan. I also loved the pom pom head pieces on the mannequins, and thought it would be fun to mix that in with the plaid, and of course some pyramid studs for an edgy look. Growing up as a kid, I always saw the Punks at my school wearing Doc Martens or some type of military boot, so I was inspired to create my own version that had a modern touch and loads of hardware as you would see on the punks jackets. Here are some sketches, renderings, and a mood board showing my process… Who was your favorite look at the Met Gala?

Image Source: The Cut, Book is Made in the U.K, all drawings and renderings by me.

Lace Inspired Shoe Drawings | Part I

One of my favorite outings is vintage shopping. Granted, I am no Rachel Zoe, where I can drop two grand on a vintage piece, but I find pieces that are in my price range around the globe. One of my favorite vintage spots in Los Angeles is Shareen Vintage. I have talked about her shop numerous times in my blog, like here and here, and even mentioned it in a Blogger Spotlight on Ladylux.com here. Last year, I bought an amazing vintage dress that you see above at the top, left side, in black, and was inspired by its net/mesh/lace inspired detail with flowers. It’s a very sexy detail and I fell in love with the idea of putting that detail on a shoe. My thought process, for the shoe, was to not have it be a netting type of material as the dress, but leather with leather flower overlays like the glove. Additionally, I was inspired by the arm of the sofa. I love how it comes out a little and incorporated that into a heel concept.

Several months ago, I did a lace inspired collection for my lookbook, and here is part one.

I’m obsessed with wearing heels but I do like having cute ballet flats that I can run around town. Since, ballet flats tend to be boring, I push myself to come up with fun, interesting ballet flat concepts.

I also though this material merited a pump that had a vintage, feminine feel. You can also add a cute maryjane strap across the vamp.

Stay tuned next week for part two of my lace inspired shoe sketch series!

It’s not always about shoes….

Last week, I had the opportunity to work on a project that was not about shoes. My sister, Cindy Arora, has a novel launching this summer, called Heartbreak Cake, and she was in need of freshening up her blog/website. We collaborated on a website banner that fit her style. I know my sister well, and she is all about vintage, boho, food, and all around just being cute. With some directional ideas from her, we created illustrated icons that fit with the theme of her blog: Eat, Write, and Love. It’s always nicer to create original concepts for your website as it gives it a more personal touch.

Here is my process…

Originally, this is what the site had. These icons are clip art. It’s cute, but a little cookie cutter.

For Eat, Cindy liked the idea of using cutlery. She loves vintage, and I wanted to give the spoons a bit of a worn feel when I was watercoloring the drawing . Since they were being shrunken down to smaller size, it’s hard to make the artwork too intricate. The drawings lose their detail when it gets reduced, so I had to be careful with how much detail I put into it.

For Write, initially, the artwork had a typewriter, and although its cute and retro, let’s face it no one is using a typewriter anymore. I preferred giving it a modern take, and went with a laptop. I only had a day to work on all the drawings, so I drew a few angles, and watercolored them with various shades of blue to see which one fit best for the site.

For Love, I knew that I wanted the heart to be a little darker and not have a predictable heart shape. I played with different heart shapes and sizes.

And voila! The final….

I would highly check out the website if you love food, baking, cupcakes, chick lit books, or you’re a mom wanting to connect with other mom’s!

The website/blog was designed by Sadie Olive.

Cheers!

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April 18, 2013

Color Inspiration: Neutrals & Metallics

While I was putting a few color boards together, I found myself inspired by creams, pale yellows, grays, silver, gold, mixed in with browns, and even some wood. These colors feel demure and ladylike, but also youthful with an edge. I like this as a Spring color palette. Spring doesn’t have to always be brights or prints. There is something to be said about keeping it neutral. A color scheme like this evokes both richness and simplicity. It’s not just nude and neutrals but a derivative of it. I’m excited about it, what do you think?

Here are some pantone references in case you were interested. Friar Brown 19-1230TPX, Desert Taupe 17-1311TPX, Humus 15-1304 TPX, Micro Chip 14-4015TPX, Alloy 16-3915TPX, Silver Metallic, Gold Metallic, and I thought while perusing the pantone book, lets add a super pale yellow… Anise Flower 12-0717.

Enjoy. Cheers!

image source: Desire to Inspire, Design Sponge

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April 15, 2013

Currently coveting for Spring…

Spring is here, and it’s time to think about what additions will be taking place this season. Of course, quite a few Isabel Marant designs. I had to exclude one because seriously, it’s getting ridiculous. Here are a few that I am coveting for Spring. It was fun to illustrate them instead of pasting a picture here.

I love my black Isabel Marant sneakers I bought last year from Satine Boutique. I wear them like CRAZY! I actually have to force myself not to wear them so I don’t wear them out too much. LOL! I saw the white ones, and seriously need them in my closet. Am I being a little greedy??

I know these McCartney’s are a little on the basic side, but I love the last, and the wedge makes them perfect to walk in. I hope they are comfy!

These have been weighing heavy on my mind. Seriously, need to add these asap. Not sure which color though!

I fell in love with these Ackermann when I saw them on netaporter.com. They have a tough girl, edgy feel, and that is sooo me! At that price tag, not sure if I will be purchasing these anytime soon!

There are many others I want, but thought I would share these for now. A lot of people ask me if I wear my own designs, and I have, but sometimes as a designer, your not designing things for you, but for the targeted customer, and sometimes that’s not you.

What are you coveting this Spring??

All drawings by me.

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