In the Dressing Room with Espadrilles Etcetera!

What is it about shoes? I am such a fan of them. And I know that some day I'm going to regret what I have put my feet through over the years. But thankfully, there are some ADORABLE lower heeled options out there...like these by Espadrilles Etc!

I first discovered Espadrilles Etc a few years ago, looking for summer footwear. Their espadrille selection is by far the best I've ever seen for vintage inspired shoes of this style. The pricing was higher than I could pay but recently I discovered their sale page and was amazed at the reachable pricing for such obvious quality footwear. I contacted the owner and immediately arranged to fulfill some of my wish list. Thankfully, she expressed interest in advertising with me so I was able to obtain a few extras to show you as well.

The great thing about many of these styles is how feminine they remain, while maintaining a comfortable heel level.


The quality of the shoes I received is top notch, with only slight concerns in the comfort department due to the very firm foot bed. But this can easily be remedied with insertable foot pads. The shoes come in decorative and labeled gift bags instead of shoe boxes, which are a great plus since this will save you on International shipping and also protect the raffia texture on the heels. So happy to share the following video with you and please let me or the owner, Laura, know if you have any questions!

xxoo
Ashley

Recognition for Lisa Freemont Street from Across the Pond!

Honored indeed to be picked a the best 'Retro Hairstyle Blog' on London's Channel4.com!

Hear that, Nashville? I'm ready to start styling country music stars now! ;-)

If You Love Something-Find Something Even Better

Hot Sticks are beginning to annoy me. Yes, it's true. They still give a great authentic curl...I use the heck out of them. And that is the rub. Because the more I use them, the more 'limber' they get. And the more 'limber' they get (especially the small ones), the more they 'pop open' while they're setting. For a while, I could get by with just using a duckbill clip to 'reinforce' the joint of the roller, so it couldnt slide open. Now, even that seems to be failing me.

My choices are clear. Either buy a new set and start 'from scratch' ( a difficult thing to do since I've had the same Remington hot rollers since 1995), or look for something else. So I did a little research, and this is what I found:

In order to get a truly authentic looking retro set with a heated product, you need tight curls. Curling irons just don't give me the same effect and I get impatient making dry pin curls since I can just use rollers in half the time. My search revealed some interesting things. First, small curls from a heated set are also sought after by another community: the pageant community. This makes me scared. But I am also tenacious. And it looks like the product that is most desired (and which lucky ebay folks are RACKING UP on) is the Remington Tight Curls set:



Supposedly, these get good and HOT...and since my old set from the 1990's are also Remingtons, I can vouch for that. But the kicker is that these are going for from 50-80.00 on Ebay. Supply and demand, you know? Do I really want to pay that? Not really. But I have to admit, it does make me want them even more.

Then I remembered these:

Do ya'll remember these? Clairol Lock and Roll Rollers! I remember using them religiously (around the time I attended Bryan Adams 'Wakin Up the Neighbors' concert...haha). They got really hot and they provided small curls, from what I remember. They're also a 'hot item' among the pageant crowd, going for around 30.00 or so on Ebay. I'm in a pickle.

But I'm sure you'll see one or the other of these in some upcoming videos because the Hot Sticks are bout to end up in my neighbor's yard!

xxoo,
Ashley