My Q&A with: Jeffrey Campbell's Sharon B

Like 99.9% of my fellow fashion bloggers, I own a pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes. I've yet to come across a shoe designer that can express my personality in a shoe, the way Jeffrey Campbell can.

Since I've became a JC fan girl, I've always wondered who is behind these beauties. Is there an actual Jeffrey Campbell? Is he a rich businessman, married to a stepford wife with three children? Or an Studio 54 'It' girl who has never quite gotten over platforms? Or is Jeffrey Campbell a team of shoe obsessives just doing what they love? I haven't gotten my answer, and I doubt I ever will, but I did get closer when Jeffrey Campbell's (he is a man) very own production assistant, Sharon B, answered a few questions for me!

©       So first, tell me about yourself! You’re Jeffrey Campbell’s production assistant, how did you end up there? 

I met Jeffrey 23 years ago when I was working at Nordstrom and he was my Kenneth Cole Unlisted Sales Rep.  We bonded over music, fashion & pop culture which eventually contributed to me ending up as Jeffrey Production Assistant.  I worked at Nordstrom for 16 years in the Shoe Division and as a Visual Merchandiser.

©       What would be a typical day as a production assistant?

Unpack new samples, name the new samples, photograph the new samples and make corrections to the  new samples.   Then if there is time left in the day I answer all the email that comes through our website. 

©       What’s your favourite part of the job?

All of it?!  I like brainstorming with Jeffrey for new ideas and going to trade shows seeing the reaction to our designs. I like collaborating with accounts for the perfect styles for them to buy.  But I honestly love everything I do!

©       Do you have any tips for aspiring shoe designers/production assistants out there?

Have your vision and be true it.  Be creative and passionate!

©       I’ve tried doing some research about Jeffrey Campbell and the brand but it seems you guys are quite modest and don’t like talking about yourselves! Could you tell me a little about the brand and maybe something awesome we may not know about Jeffrey Campbell himself?

There is a very good reason why you don’t see much about the brand, we would like to have the JC Girls who wear our shoes be the voice of the brand, the shoes themselves to be the voice of the brand.  Jeffrey Campbell Shoes was really started out of a garage in LA and is still a very small operation of a total of 10 employees in our US HQ.  A little known fact about Jeffrey is he is an Elvis fan...

©       If you could be any Jeffrey Campbell shoe, which one would it be and why?

Hmmmmmm... this is a hard one.  I guess I would have to say the FOXY in multi glitter; it is sassy, fun and sparkles, very much like my own personality.

©       Who are some clothes designers and other shoe designers that you love?

I always adore Marc Jacobs and I like that Kate Spade and Betsey Johnson have fun with fashion.   I am an avid fan (a Sharkie) of Black Milk Clothing; I have 10 pairs and love what they do as designers and as a brand.

©       What are your views on fashion bloggers and their role in the promotion of brands such as Jeffrey Campbell? The Spikey Litas are a blogger ‘must-have’ at this stage

I think it is the fashion bloggers who really helped show that Jeffrey Campbell is a brand that represents a lifestyle.  It is the fashion bloggers who showed JC Girls around the world how to wear the LITA!

©       Do you have any favourite blogs yourself?

I wish I had more time in the day to follow a blog, I used to have a blog, but sadly have not written on it for a couple of years.  I am obsessed with Pinterest!

©       What are we going to see from Jeffrey Campbell in the future?

Styles you never knew you couldn’t live without having on your feet

©       Finally, why shoes?

Why not shoes?!  I have always loved shoes, there has never been a moment in my life that I wasn’t lusting after shoes...

Lucy

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Images via 1, 2

For an Irish Summer...

Shoes Aldo // Crop Top New Look // Dungarees River Island // Clutch ASOS // Sunglasses Sports Girl // Headpiece Topshop

...Because I'm feeling hopeful for you guys! As I mentioned in my previous 'Autumn Looks' post, over here in Australia we are in Autumn and have only recently had to start wearing layers. Dresses and blaring sun were all the rage only weeks ago! But I'm well aware that it's Summer back in Ireland and so I thought I better write up some Summer looks for you guys.

♥ I am so happy that dungarees are in every shop window we look in - finding a pair when they aren't on the high street is so difficult. Not only do they tick off some essential denim in your wardrobe, but they're dungarees! Dungarees! I love that word and I used to live in them when I was a young'un. Reinventing something that we wore religiously as a kid has something adventurous about it. We used to wear them with a baggy t-shirt and a pair of trainers but now we're styling them with a crop top and some heeled sandals - and with an iPhone in hand, no longer a box of chalk (I played a lot of hopscotch in my dungaree days!)

♥ Never one with a good eye for accessories, I know that what I am good at choosing is hats or hair accessories and I love this flower hair piece. It's so laid-back and pretty, making you feel so Summery and care-free. It compliments the rest of the outfit perfectly as it's transforming what could be bordering on tacky, into that bohemian, hippy look. I think it could also look great with more formal wear, for a pretty twist and any kind of wear for that matter.

♥ The ankle-strapped sandal heels are my favourite look of the season so far! They are a shoe that, dare I say, makes feet kind of look sexy. They're alluring and classy - like the LBD of the shoe world. I've only gotten so far as to try on a few pairs during some window shopping trips, but they automatically give you confidence and make you feel hot as hell! When it comes to pairing these sandals with those dungarees, I would say to be careful because with this outfit, there's a fine line between stunning fashionista and tacky pound shop. Make sure you wear the right accessories and that you wear it with confidence!

Hosier Lane

Just a quick post to show off some photos of the graffiti art down a hidden gem in Melbourne, Hosier Lane. I was so fascinated by some of the art on the walls, these people are just crazy talented, I'd do anything to be able to do something like this! The whole time I was there, I kept thinking how cool of a place it would be for an outfit post but unforch', I don't have my best wardrobe with me in Melbourne and I need a willing photographer buddy :) Hopefully I can start doing them again soon.

Lucy

x

P.S Check out my video about the Met Gala 2013 outfits, one of my first vlogs, so let me know what you guys think! I'm a serious amateur on the video editor so there is a terrible echo in half of the video but I promise you that my ramblings might be worth it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcBhsh3kFFw 

Autumn Looks to Love

Glasses Oscar Wylee // Backpack ASOS // Watch Swatch // Trousers Zalando.co.uk // Boots Topshop // Beanie General Pants Co. // Blouse River Island // Jacket Sports Girl

For all us lucky ones Down Under, we are in the middle of Autumn, my favourite fashion season. Granted, I came over here with a suitcase full of dresses, bikinis, shorts and like any Irish person abroad, assumed that wind, rain and cold didn't exist anywhere but home. But I'm here to tell you - it does. And because of my thoughtless assumptions, I'm freezing my ass off in t-shirts and sandals. I miss my Irish wardrobe like crazy! But the weather of seasons aside, Autumn is my favourite season for fashion because you can wear more beautiful things - layers, layers, layers!

♥ If I could have my wish, all these items would be part of my wardrobe right now. Velvet has always reminded me of being five and forced to go to your friends birthday party in something you don't want to wear. A velvet hat, a velvet dress and a bit of velvet on your shoes - all in black of course! But I've come around to the idea of burgundy velvet, there's something luxurious about it, while at the same time being totally warm and a beautiful color and texture for Autumn. 

♥ I'm really loving cut-out boots this season too and in good ole' black no less. When you invest in boots coming up to Winter, you want them to be good quality, go with all your outfits and of course look fabulous! I love the cut-out element in these boots. It's something a bit different and funky but still a pair you could wear for years with a tonne of different looks and trends. 

♥ Lately my contact lenses have been driving me crazy! I've lost my prescription for them too, meaning I'll have to pay for another eye test and besides that, pay for new ones every month. I hate wearing my glasses simply because I don't think my pair suit me but I've found a savior in Oscar Wylee Eyewear. With frames starting from only $98, I'll finally be able to buy a new pair or two and start mixing and matching my outfits to my glasses - hopefully this pair, tortoise is timeless! I'll be a lot more confident about wearing glasses too and save a lot of frustrations and money on itchy, annoying contact lenses. And of course, I'll look trés sophisticated!

Lucy 

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The Good, Bad and Ugly of Childhood Fashions

Three weeks ago, I turned the big, 'I'm Legal in America', 21. Celebrating such a milestone birthday made me look back on some of my favourite things as a youngster, including the good, the bad and downright ugly fashions I used to sport in the late 90's and throughout the 00's and I've picked out the three major 'trends' of my childhood. Hey, all aspiring Daphne Guinness' have to start somewhere, right?

The GOOD

Baby Spice Platforms - All Spice Girls fans worth their merchandise collection struggled around the estate in these babies. And struggle I did. Primark only had a size five left and hanging off my size three feet, I looked insanely out of proportion but man, did I look cool! To me, my baby spice platforms are at the heart of my childhood wardrobe and I still think they're awesome - no faux pas there! After all, wasn't Baby Spice the number one influence for the comeback of creepers? She was rocking platforms in 1996 and now we've just threw a few cool designs on them and named them creepers. Girl Power!

The BAD

Trucker Hats - Von Dutch being the notable culprits in this celebrity trend of the mid-noughties. Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake to name but a few of the most influential 'slebs (on me) at the time. They all sported these dreadful trucker caps and being a celebrity whore from an early age, I begged my mother to get me one. At the time, I was bad-ass trailer trashing it up in them, thinking I was the most fashionable thing since velour tracksuits (it almost made this list - I'll wait til my 30th birthday look-back) but, I realise what a terrible mistake I made and that really, I just looked like one of those babies who's parents think it would be hilarious to get a picture of them with a hat in their eyes.

The UGLY

Leggings with skirts - The ultimate Teenage Disco wear. I just can't even describe how against this I am. For years after I stopped sporting this trend, I couldn't bring myself to wear leggings of any sort - in fact, I only started wearing leggings again this time last year (and black and printed ones only). Leggings of any color (except black or printed) and particularly three-quarter length ones, should just go the leggings graveyard and not come back again. When these were paired with shorts or skirts, it was ten times worse. I don't know where I'm going with this, so I'm just going to say that leggings should never be worn with skirts, dresses or shorts. EVER. I'm sure I don't have to explain myself any further. Puke.

1,2,3

Lucy

x

Sydney Diary & Guide

Harbour Bridge

The Ultimate Tourist

The Opera House from The Rocks

On the Manly Ferry

View from the Sydney Eye Tower

Bondi Beach

Hyde Park for St. Patricks Day

So I'm officially not a self-adopted Sydneysider anymore! I moved to Melbourne on a whim a few days ago because after three lovely, frustrating, fun, difficult and unforgettable months in Sydney, I still couldn't find a steady job and I felt like it was time to accept the fact that Sydney would never have much good luck for me if it hadn't after that long. But hey, I got through it and after all, it was a three month holiday in Sydney, so what's bad about that?! And now I get to come to my own conclusion in the Sydney vs. Melbourne competition and the two cities seem to be the ultimate rivals when it comes to the city vs. city debates.

Sydney was absolutely beautiful. Beautiful people, beaches, restaurants and scenery - not much to complain about. It's not a huge secret but the action in Sydney tends to happen outside the CBD and to be entirely honest with you, besides Darling Harbor and Circular Quay (where the Bridge and Opera House are), I strongly dislike the CBD. To me it's just a concrete bore. People rushing around but not actually doing anything because there is nothing to do in the CBD only work in a tall building. I'm sure there's many people who disagree, but I try to avoid the CBD whenever I can - although I have to admit, Scruffy Murphy's is a go-to on a Tuesday night when there's no other sessions on! And only if there's no other sessions on!

Darling Harbor and Circular Quay are both the beaute's of the city. Darling Harbor is full of lovely restaurants, bars and nightclubs (and home to my favourite place in Sydney - the Hard Rock Cafe!) with a gorgeous firework display every Saturday night - trés romantic! Circular Quay is of course home to the iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge and hosts a beautiful array of eateries and pricey bars, worth the money for the views you can take in over your cocktail. Buskers, street entertainment and artists all take their place at Circular Quay as does the wharfs for the many ferries to places such as Balmain and Manly.

Everybody says to avoid Bondi Beach, that it's packed full of tourists and there are plenty of other beaches to go to. Yes, there are so many other more picturesque beaches to trek out to but Bondi Beach was by far my favourite! The atmosphere was always fun and exciting and yeah, packed full of people on a weekend, but everyone was always in a great mood and there was plenty of waves to watch the surfers catch. All the bars and cafes up along Bondi Beach were worth the stroll down alone. I stayed in Bondi for the majority of my time in Sydney and even though it's a stereotypical place to live (Bondi is full of Irish people!) it's a great suburb with everything you could need in it - I would definitely recommend Bondi as the number one place for you to set up camp in.

Kings Cross was the most regular place me and my friends used to go out in. It was full of strip clubs, brothels, junkies, it was seedy and sleazy and all those other words but it was also full of young people drunk on goon, just like us (goon is wine that comes in a box - 4 litres of it for $12! Made out of fish and eggs, you will get messed up on this stuff)! Kings Cross has plenty of drink promotions and funky nightclubs/disco bars and my favourite place to go was the Kings Cross Hotel.

I would advise going to Newtown for your funky/vintage/alternative shopping needs, it would have been where I shopped if I had the income from an actual job! Newtown also has plenty of nice bars and cafes to catch happy hour in.

The Best Rocky Road I've ever had! Thanks to the Hard Rock Cafe :)

Our studio apartment (a.k.a 'The Dungeon') 

Big ass cockroach

I'm 21!

Me and my friend Aoibhin spent two weeks living in the smallest studio apartment. EVER. Two of the others were moving out and had 2 weeks left on their lease so we said we'd stay there to save ourselves a bit of money and it was an experience! No clothes line (hence the clothes hung all over the walls), a tiny boxed in room with a double bed, tv and two-seater and absolutely no personal space! Oh, and the neighbours who hated us. We got locked out of the apartment one night after a few too many (Aoibhin having closed the door behind her in the middle of gettin dressed - locked out with no trousers on!) and basically ended up smashing the neighbours window in the confusion of thinking it was ours. The end result was me standing outside a locksmiths for two hours in a storm until it opened at 7am. Of course it was piss-ourselves funny when we were drunk and trying to climb in windows but not so much when I was standing out in the rain waiting for a $180 locksmith to arrive! Haha, I'll never forget it! 

The cockroaches here are MASSIVE. Luckily, I've only witnessed one of the infamous huge spiders and it was outdoors but there's no shortage of cockroaches indoors. You just learn to deal with them as your roommates!

And last but not least, I turned 21 three weeks ago :) I had a brilliant night and I just want to press pause on my age now. I'm definitely going to make the most of this year and have so many goals I hope to have reached by this time next year. X

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So here I am in Melbourne! I'm staying with my cousin while I look for a job and I'm already having better job luck here. As much as I liked glamorous Sydney, Melbourne seems more my kind of city - it's cultural, fun and alternative and I'm LOVING what I'm seeing so far! In Sydney I had ten friends from home who I was always with, but here I'm thrown in at the deep-end a bit and am going to have to make some new friends so I'm excited about this new start!

Short (Shorts) Suits

The short suit - a classic but playful way to let out your inner Chanel and my new obsession. I've never been one for the 'matchy-matchy' look that a suit brings but I can't help but love the girly-ness and laid-back look of a short suit. The shorts bring the look that effortless, casual feel that you just can't get with the skirt suit.

The best way to accessorize the stunning two-piece is with an over-sized clutch and a crisp white shirt. A statement necklace can also add the perfect touch to a short suit and when in shoe-doubt, though pumps are the safest choice, I think a good ole' pair of biker boots never fails (but that's another love of mine altogether!).

Besides making you feel like you can take on the world (or the cobbles of Paris), they're available in so many beautiful colors, patterns and textures and I want to get my hands on about 5 different suits! Maybe a tweed one, a tie-dyed one, a pastel one, a stripey one and then a leather one thrown in for good measure, just while I'm at it :)

I think with a short suit, it's all about that feeling of both might and beauty at the same time. As well as being perfect for everyday or formal wear, it's the ultimate outfit of power dressing because as well as making us feel confident and 'powerful', it also makes us feel and look pretty, beautiful, sexy, attractive and feminine, which I think a lot of designs tend to miss out on when they are making business or corporate attire for women. The short suit, to me, is the epitome of ideal female power dressing.

Is everyone loving the short suit or am I just too obsessed? (Because, let's be honest, Ashley Madekwe could convert any non-believer!)

Images via Tumblr