Most of the clips made so far are included, with a few little surprises thrown in ;) You can watch this short promotional video for a little more information.

It remains to be seen whether our production values will cause Steven Spielberg to lose any sleep - nevertheless the clips display a certain "home movie" charm and, most importantly, serve the purpose we intended - to show just how wonderful and wearable our fabulous shoes and boots really are!

With a running time of just over an hour, and costing just £10.99 with free delivery anywhere in the world, well I really can't say fairer than that.  "Fnnnanat" .... See?

Ultra-pointed Knees?  No, that can't be right.  That would look horrible, boots with ultra-pointed knees.

When writing the description for the new RoSa Shoes video I uploaded last night onto my MySpace channel, I was of course, of necessity, assuming a certain level of knowledge on the part of the reader.  Knowledge that, when talking about footwear, if one reads the term "ultra-pointed" or even (more boringly) just "pointed" one is referring to the Toe.  But, you see, there are so many adjectives to choose from when writing about my shoes (and boots, of course), I always have this problem.  What to include, what to leave out??           

Of course, in the old days, when the hyphen was not seen as some inconvenient and unsightly piece of punctuation but a useful aid to comprehension, I would have written "Ultra-Pointed-Knee" if I had indeed been referring to such.  We're talking ellipsis here.  By leaving out the "Toe" in "Ultra-Pointed-Toe" I do of course expect the reader to insert the "Toe" for themselves (if you'll pardon the expression).

But I'm in danger here – by the time anyone had finished reading the more fully descriptive title -  "High Metal-Stemmed Ultra-thin Seductively-Curvaceous Stiletto-Heeled, Ultra-Pointed and Extra-long Toed, Knee-Length All-Leather Boot with fine Black Calf Italian Leather Upper, Leather Sole and Luxuriously-Padded Leather Lining" – they would probably not have had the energy to watch the video, which, by the way, looks like this:

This is a similar problem that the manufacturers of a range of cosmetic and pharmaceutical goods face all the time.  To illustrate – there's a shampoo in my bathroom which claims to be "for dandruff".  On the other hand, there's a bath creme which states that it is "for soft skin".  Does this mean that I can only use the bath creme if I have soft skin?  Or does one use the shampoo if one requires one's hair to be more dandruffy?  And, as a woman over the age of twenty (as I am you know) do I have to start looking for products to prolong my youthful appearance?  I'm having difficulty though.  I can only find skin creams which are "for fine lines and wrinkles".  I'm not using them, then. I've got enough of those already, thank you very much.

Bless you, Dr. Maria Cerruto (an Italian, high-heel wearing urologist) for your recent discovery that heels are good for women’s health, because of the way they influence and work one’s pelvic muscles. (Reader, you know the ones - they’re also known as one’s "pleasure muscles", and not just because, if strengthened through regular targeted exercise, they stop you peeing yourself at unexpected times..) So much so that, she claims to have proved, if worn during daily activity, heels may actually reduce the need for pelvic exercises to keep these important sexy little muscles toned and elastic. Ave Maria!

Now if, like me, you have a regular fitness routine, this doesn’t mean you don’t need to wear your heels.  Of course you do.  In fact, I’ve discovered today that it’s perfectly possible to even keep them on DURING your regular exercise routine.

FIG 1:

Biceps 

FIG 2:

Triceps 

FIG 3:

Vertebrae muscles 

FIG 4:

This one takes a little more concentration in order to locate those vital hidden muscles. 

WARNING 1: Ensure the ultra-fine spiky heels and wickedly extended pointed toes of your RoSa Shoes are kept well away from your inflated ball. 

WARNING 2: Ensure the weights you use are not too heavy for you. As you can see from the whites of my knuckles, I placed more importance today on colour co-ordination than on safety.  The lighter weights I usually use are purple and these heavier ones looked so much better with the silver buckles on my RoSa Anklestrap Court Shoes.

WARNING 3: Always read the date of any blog before jumping to conclusions about the wisdom contained therein.

In one of the comments left on my new Covent Garden video posted last night on YouTube, I was described as "brave" for wearing a skirt so tight around my knees.  Well, after having heaved myself up onto the high boarding platform of the 1963 bus at the Transport Museum, I would have to add the word "strong".

 

 

Gracious me, those 1960's stilettoed women who wore their skirts this tight and still managed to run and jump onto the bus (and I have this on good authority from one who remembers) must have been of Amazonian strength.  Admittedly I was in a post-viral state of weakness but I'm not a very bulky lass, so not too much weight to pull up.  Perhaps it was all those steak and kidney puddings they consumed in those days - personally I prefer tofu stir-fry and lamb's lettuce.

 

 

Anyway, I'm afraid I couldn't manage the run (although I did get quite a speed up later on once I'd decided to go and find a cocktail bar...)  And I also failed the test by using two hands for the hoist rather than the one (apparently) used by those formidable sisters of the past.  Well, I did try this actually, but the result was not one I'm happy to share with my viewing public. Ha!

 

I think I had more success walking on the cobbles in my high RoSa Shoes, though. Now THAT was brave!

 

 

 

Not wishing to turn my ankle (known as "doing a Dick Emery" to those of a certain nationality and generation) - or (more importantly), ruin my beautiful thin stiletto heels - it meant I had to walk with extreme caution, but still retain a certain grace.

 

And, look - here's the heel of one of my shoes after walking around all day:

 

 

 

Sorry, the brightness of this photo means you can't see the ingenious reptile scale effect of my faux snake shoes - here's another photo to show this fabulous finish:

 

 

From this, you can also see how well the RoSa extended point toe stood up to the day's exploits. 

 

And I too survived the day (with a little help from the rather yummy espresso coffee cocktail): 

 

          

 

 

Oh, and by the way, for all those of you who are up in arms about my use of the term "hobble" to describe my short skirt in this video, here's another YouTube comment and my response:

 

Comment (from "Tell-It-Like_It-Really-Is") - "That's not a hobble skirt.  They go down to the ankles.  Please learn about your fetish!"

 

My response - "Zounds! Escaped the Fashion Police only to fall foul of the Fetish Patrol!  In fact, if we're being pedantic, the "hobble skirt" was originally a fashion design rather than fetish item at a time when all skirts were ankle length.  I've borrowed the term here for my shorter, but extraordinarily tight skirt as I couldn't resist the hobble/cobble rhyme - I have a word fetish you see lol"

 

And that's telling it like it REALLY is.

 

(Here's a link to my YouTube channel)

 

 

 

One grey autumnal Sunday afternoon in early November, a rosy glow was seen to emanate from the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham as, with lashings of strawberries and cream in the scones and the pink bubbly flowing freely, RoSa Shoes celebrated the end of a successful first year, and the launch of a new website, www.rosashoes.com.

The shoes (our ultra-pointed stilettoed lovelies) took pride of place of course.

 

To honour the occasion, I wore my red patent RoSa High Heel Court Shoes:

What?  You can't see them in that picture?  How about this?

                       

Or perhaps this?

 

 

Naturally, I was not the only one wearing RoSa Shoes.  Roger and I were delighted to be joined for the occasion by the beautiful RoSa Sisters (who I'm sure you remember from our Gallery Page on our original website) looking as gorgeous as ever in their shoes and beehives:

     

 
 

Their lovely manager and stylist Clarissa came to chaperone them (wearing her RoSa Shoes):      

   

 
 

Bev Baker (singer with the band Copperhead) looked stunning in her black patent high RoSas:

   

 
 

That's our good friends Bob and Sue behind us (Sue was lucky to be let in the door in her Nine Wests but we love her so we forgave her..) Our wonderful photographer Jenny Ventris was also wearing her RoSa slingbacks, but as she was on the other side of the camera, you'll just have to take my word for it!

 

Guest of honour was Chrissie Nicholson-Wild of Curve Couture who made my beautiful corset and skirt (seen here on the left with our friend Jessa from Fetique on the right):

   

 
 

Other highlights of the afternoon included the delicious refreshments provided so smoothly by Andrew of Shoreham's Angel Bar (seen here with the beautiful Michelle):

   

 

 

And me attacking some of the guests: 

 

 

(On the left is Malcolm Buchanan-Dick, artist in residence at the Ropetackle Arts Centre - that's his brilliant glass bottle sculpture over by the window.  With him is Sue Orton-Flynn, web-mistress extraordinaire!) 

 

 And RoSa Shoes' own Roger Adams provided some fabulous musical entertainment with his virtuoso guitar-playing, in the company of other highly accomplished musician friends including Lee Pryor of Copperhead, Mick Nixon of Micro and Bob Brookes of Desperate Dan :

 

 

 

  

  The afternoon grew darker.    

 

(I just wanted you to see this photo that my friend Chris took, as it's such a good photo and shows off my roses so beautifully!) 

 

I went out for a spot of night air by the bridge over the river: 

 

Then it was time to go home.  We woke in the morning, to find it had all been naught but a dream. (Or it could have been a hangover....)

 

Before I explain how the planet is being saved by my pink lovelies, let me share with you some scientific facts, of which you may or may not be aware. In either case, please be patient.

a) Wetlands (which include marshes, wet grasslands, swamps, bogs, mires, fens, ponds, peatlands, lakes and streams) are among the most productive ecosystems on earth – that is, they support a huge and diverse variety of plants,  animals and waterbirds.

b) Beyond this, they deliver a range of benefits that contribute to human well-being the whole world over – apart from the obvious life-giving properties (in developing countries, wetlands provide sustainable livelihoods for billions of people),  they also help in the regulation of flooding and protection from storms. Not to mention the wonderful recreational opportunities they offer.

c) The degradation of wetlands is more rapid than that of any other ecosystem.

d) Global climate change is expected to worsen the loss and degradation of many wetlands. But in fact, the preservation of,  for example, forested peatlands of South East Asia, can play a vital role in climate regulation – the loss and erosion of these actually CONTRIBUTES TO CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS -  accelerating further climate change. The two main causes of peatland loss and degradation (drainage and fire) contribute a carbon dioxide emission equal to the total combined annual emissions of ALL human activities including industry and transport in Western Europe. 
 

PHEWWWW!  Thanks for bearing with me on that!

After last weekend's musical planet-saving quest, (Live Earth – remember?)  my mind turned to thinking about ways that I was contributing to the cause.  As a member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust  (who, through their Wetland Conservation Department, are helping to conserve and protect wetlands across the world), I figured I'm doing my bit.

Helped by my trusty high-heeled pink RoSa shoes, I decided to pay a visit to the local wetlands centre at Arundel (which is where these photos were taken – and there's a MOVIE on my MySpace channel, too...)  This visit led to some surprising scientific discoveries:

a) It is perfectly possible to walk around a wetland environment for a sustained period of time wearing very high, very thin stilettos. There is absolutely no need to dress like Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

b) Chicken-wire covered decking takes a little effort, but is worth it to have the ducks and geese follow obediently for food.

c) When feeding from your hand, the beaks of waterbirds can make you quite hysterical.

d) Some geese seem to think their toes are as long and pink as mine. I think the jury might still be out on that one.

NB: For every pair of pink high-heeled RoSa court shoes sold (www.rosashoes.co.uk) 10% of the profit goes to WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) www.wwt.org.uk 

Doesn't every girl dream of owning a pair of red shoes?  Deep in the psyche (or maybe not so deep, actually) are those ruby slippers magicking Dorothy back home to Kansas; those red ballet shoes transporting Moira Shearer to the heights of dancing ecstasy... (Well, ok - transporting her over the balcony to a gruesome death but I try not to focus on that part of the tale...)

Do you know, until last weekend I had never owned a pair?  I think my mother perhaps didn't think that a nice girl ought to be seen in such flagrantly provocative footwear (although she was quite happy for me to wear an assortment of other red clothing).  This is rather sad really, as red was always my favourite colour.

Since I've been old enough to buy my own shoes, I have still never owned any red ones.  I've never found any which came up to the dream, I suppose.  Until the new high-heeled, pointy toed dream of a court shoe by RoSa Shoes that is. Oh yes.  The thinnest and curviest of heels, the pointiest and longest of toes, the loveliest of Italian leathers.  I am, quite simply, in red-shoe heaven! 

Last Friday I spent all day in them.  In the morning I wore them to hurry along to my fitting appointment for a new skirt I've commissioned Chrissie at Curve Couture to make for me. (That's Chrissie, the Brighton designer and creatrix extraordinaire who's showing her latest stunning collection at Brighton Frocks on 15th June  - get your tickets!!) As I was followed around on that day by my ever-present escort with a camera, I am able to show you a little bit of that adventure:

I attended the Classical Brit Awards Ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday night.  So did Sarah Brightman.  She looked stunning in a billowing scarlet red feather dress and towering red patent platform shoes.

I looked rather fetching too in my.... (sorry, you'll have to wait a few days for this information - photos and movies yet to sort through!)   For now, you'll have to be content with some photos of myself taken in my garden today wearing my towering brown suede platform shoes, which I am posting to illustrate the fact that the reports in the press of Sarah's "10 inch platform shoes" are greatly exaggerated.  Her shoes, and mine, are a mere 7.5 inches high. 

    Dolly Parton famously once said "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."  Sarah B. on the other hand, seems to have adopted the reverse philosophy - her shoes can be picked up on the internet for around the £45 mark (if you know where to look....) and yet she looks a million dollars.  I, on the other hand, paid quite a bit more for mine, which should mean I look as cheap as Dolly Parton
and as wonderful as Sarah Brightman (er, have I got that right???)      

                  
 

According to the history books, the stiletto heel was "invented" by Italian shoemakers in the 1950s, led by Salvatore Ferragamo.  Roger Vivier has been credited with "creating" in Paris the prototype for the stiletto in the early 1950s to complement Dior designs.                   

But in fact the stiletto heel was neither "invented" nor "created" by either of these fine gentlemen but merely "discovered".  I can now reveal that, as this exhibit of Lucy, a 3 million-year old female hominid, clearly shows (even though most of her foot, the poor dear, is missing) the stiletto heel was in prehistoric times an integral part of the female skeleton:

Incidentally, perhaps it is not a coincidence that I took this photo in Italy – in the Milan Museum of Natural History to be exact.  Does this mean that this particularly elegant specimen from the species Australopithecus afarensis was unearthed from beneath the streets of the Italian capital of fashion, rather than in Ethiopia?

I digress.  Whatever the reason for the disappearance of this natural appendage from the female form (perhaps the subject of a future blog……), women can now return to their former state of elevation and elegance thanks to that artificial add-on, the manufactured stiletto heel.

And what finer example than that offered to the female of the human species by RoSa Shoes?  Wearing this beautifully shaped stiletto heel, perfectly positioned in line with the Achilles tendon (as was Lucy's) we can now once again achieve our elegant, natural, bipedal stance and walk tall.

You know that bit in "Funny Girl" when the girl in the (Edwardian, obviously) long hobble suit totters down the platform at the station?  Yes you do – you know you love those old Barbara Streisand movies.  In case you don't remember it (courtesy of hobbleskirt.com) here it is:

WELL, I've often wondered how she had managed to get on that old steam train in the first place.  Apparently, after the introduction of the hobble skirt (usually attributed to Paul Poiret in 1910) the steps of trams were adapted so that women could board them without an indecent show of leg (heaven forbid…) I've wondered also how our modern transportation system would accommodate the stylish commuter of 2007 wearing a similarly restrictive mode of attire, should the hobble return to popular day wear.

SO on a recent train journey, I decided to put this to the test.  Wearing my long leather hobble skirt (you know, the one I wore to the Christmas party – see my Christmas blog) and lovely RoSa buckle "monk" stiletto shoes (which, by the way, look pretty good under jeans too), I set off.  I must confess to being a little worried about those gaps we're always being told to mind.  But I'm a plucky lass.  See how I got on:

So there you have it.  Easy-peasy-Japaneasy!  Hurrah for modernity! Hurrah for the Hobble!  Wing-walking next, I think…

As the co-perpetrator (and wearer) of the most extreme pointed-toe production shoes  in the world (with the slenderest of stiletto heels) - RoSa Shoes - I am, amongst other things, paying tribute to that icon, that VeeDub (VW), of the fashion world. Her shoes are of course known for their excessive elevation rather than their elongation, but I have long been an admirer not only of her splendid designs, but her whole fashion philosophy and intellectualisation of clothes-wearing.

 I subscribe to her view that the clothes people wear are not simply an expression of their identity, but actually contribute to the quality of their lives: "you have a much better life if you wear impressive clothes".  I join her in her abhorrence of anything mediocre or conformist, and in her love for the eccentric: "Eccentricity is such a badge of honour to be given in these conformist times".  I agree (rather I FEEL) that clothes not only define one's sexuality but also empower one: "I've never thought it powerful to be like a second-rate man. Femininity is stronger, and I don't understand why people keep plugging this boring asexual body".

Yes, my RoSa shoes ARE impressive, they ARE verging on the eccentric and they ARE damn sexy.  Furthermore, in keeping with VeeDub's thinking that unless you have to work at wearing something, it's not worth wearing, one does have to employ the (preferably sober) mind as well as the body in order to wear them.

One does have to be careful not to catch the long toes when going upstairs, for example. But it's easy enough to turn one's feet slightly sideways (looks kind of elegant, too). Another danger point is when sitting on a bar stool with legs crossed  -  one has to be careful not to ensnare the end of one's elongated toe in men's private parts. Mind you, that one's quite a useful conversation starter.  If you're that way inclined.  Which of course I'm not.

And the heel is so thin, cracks in pavements can be a hazard, so one has to be continually aware of where one puts one's feet when out and about. Again, this can have the effect of improving your walk, giving one a dainty, feminine gait.

Of course, as anyone who's read my blogs or seen my pics will know, I've had years of experience at wearing (and surviving in) completely impractical and/or restrictive clothing.  But I started young, so lack of years is really no excuse for slobbing around. And I am beginning to wonder whether my advanced years may in fact be causing a rather dangerously cavalier attitude, which may be my downfall:

Perhaps standing on a (wobbling) kitchen chair in the early evening failing light wearing a tight pencil skirt (the one in my Big Foot blog actually, but now sewn up to give a small 2" backsplit) was not the best way to put up Christmas fairy lights on my garden tree this year.

Perhaps going for a walk on a steep pebbly beach on a blustery day wearing pointy-toe boots and a fishtail skirt with a long train was not the easiest way to have an after-dinner Boxing Day stroll. (N.B. not RoSa boots of course – much too precious for this kind of escapade, but the toes were just long enough to keep getting caught in the billowing train, causing me to stumble and trip rather more frequently than would have normally been the case after most of a bottle of wine).

Perhaps my ankle-length hobbleskirt (the one in my Christmas Presents blog) in which I can only take tiny, tiny steps was not the best thing to wear to a Christmas Eve party with all my family, who had to stand shivering in the freezing cold at nearly one in the morning, waiting for me to catch up so they could get in the car.  I had to be picked up and slung over my husband's shoulder to avoid family bloodshed.  I giggled all the way home, but I seem to remember no-one else was laughing….

On the other hand, perhaps these slight errors of judgement are nothing to do with my age after all.  I did once years ago pop to the shops with my (1980's) batwing-sleeve leather jacket on upside down.

Do you think I should just give up? What would VeeDub say?