Think about slipping on a pair of pumps or ballet flats so comfy you’ll be able to wander all day by Rome, Bangkok, Barcelona, Florence, Vienna and even New York – with out as soon as pondering, my ft are killing me.
I’m not imagining it. I’ve finished it.
And the sneakers that made it attainable? A Bangkok secret I nearly don’t wish to share: O&B.
I walked in Copenhagen for days in these cherry ballerina flats, even rode my bike.
Menopause, Swollen Toes and the Loss of life of “Cute however Painful”
Let’s get one factor straight: ft change.
They get wider, they get fussier and, when you’re in or close to menopause, they undoubtedly swell.
The times once I would endure in silence for a pair of razor-thin stilettos are gone. I nonetheless adore stunning sneakers – but when they don’t let me stroll a metropolis from dawn to sundown, they’re not coming residence with me.
That’s the place my O&B cherry leather-based pumps are available in.
They’re not simply fairly; they’re my journey companions. I’ve worn them in 40-degree Roman warmth, on cobblestones that might destroy lesser sneakers.
And the feedback? Infinite.
In Rome folks stopped me on the street to ask the place my sneakers have been from. Right here’s the enjoyable bit: hardly anybody in Europe wears them the best way I do. No person is strolling round Rome in Thai leather-based pumps in cherry crimson, styled the Gracie Opulanza approach. That’s the enjoyment – turning a Thai mall discovery into a worldwide model signature.
Bangkok’s Finest-Saved Secret: O&B Pumps
Bangkok is chaotic, humid, and stuffed with hidden vogue gems. Amongst all of the noise and neon, O&B quietly sits there creating ballerinas, pumps and loafers in lambskin so smooth it seems like butter.
I first fell for the traditional pumps – correct leather-based, easy form, somewhat Audrey Hepburn vitality about them. The type of shoe you’ll be able to put on with cropped trousers, a summer time gown, or tailor-made shorts and nonetheless look effortlessly polished.
However the true check wasn’t how they seemed.
It was whether or not they would survive my life-style.
Bangkok pavements.
Samui stairs.
Airport marathons.
Roman cobblestones.
Florentine laneways.
Barcelona’s limitless rambla walks.
They handed each single check.
When your ft are older, a bit swollen, possibly somewhat temperamental, you discover small issues: how the leather-based stretches simply sufficient however doesn’t collapse, how the heel peak helps you rather than punishing you, how one can slip them on within the morning and neglect they’re even there. That’s what O&B does for me.
Unique for Haus Of Abbi Backyard Of Eden Assortment
The Masterpiece Second: Van Gogh on Your Toes
Now, in regards to the assortment I can’t cease desirous about.
O&B’s Masterpiece Assortment, impressed by Vincent van Gogh, is sort of actually artwork in your ft. Their newest drop – the Backyard of Eden – is presently solely within the window at CentralWorld in Bangkok. Not on the cabinets. Not on-line. Simply there, teasing you thru glass.
In fact I needed to go and stare at them.
Delicate, painterly florals, brushstroke-like prints, colors that really feel like they’ve walked straight out of a museum and onto a pair of ballerina flats. These aren’t quiet little fundamentals. These are “look down at your ft and smile” sneakers.
Do I would like extra sneakers? Completely not.
Am I going to purchase them once they lastly go on sale? Completely sure.
If there’s one pair I’d fortunately break my “no extra sneakers” rule for, it’s O&B’s Backyard of Eden from the Van Gogh Masterpiece assortment. Menopause ft or not, some temptations are price surrendering to.
Lemons, Loafers and Being Formally “All Lemoned Out”
O&B doesn’t cease at Van Gogh. In addition they have the Ciao Assortment – all lemons and sunny vibes, straight out of the Amalfi Coast playbook. Suppose southern Italy in your ft.
Now, full confession: I like Italy. I’ve walked its cities too many instances to depend. I am keen on the meals, the drama, the style. However when it comes to lemon prints?
I’m formally all lemoned out.
Each influencer, each excessive avenue model, each resort assortment had its lemon part. I’ve finished it. I’ve worn it. I’ve photographed it towards each Mediterranean backdrop. So whereas I can admire the Ciao Assortment for its playful attraction, it’s not the place my coronary heart is correct now.
What does make me smile, although, are the Romeo loafers. These embody that easy Italian sophistication I do know so nicely. Slip-on, relaxed however refined, they’re the shoe you put on while you wish to seem like you understand the maître d’ at each restaurant on the town – with out attempting too exhausting.
They really feel like strolling by Florence at golden hour, or sitting at a café in Vienna with a espresso and a pocket book. Simple, elegant, assured.
Not on sale but.
Ballerina Flats as Transferring Canvases
If pumps are my city-warrior heels and loafers are my “I’m in a temper for sprezzatura” sneakers, then O&B’s signature ballerina flats are my wearable gallery.
Crafted from premium lambskin, they hug your ft in that nearly slipper-like approach – however with prints that flip them into tiny canvases. Lemons, backyard florals, Monet-inspired prints… it’s all about sliding into one thing that seems like artwork, not simply footwear.
You don’t simply put on them; you curate them.
At some point it’s a Monet vibe with pastel florals.
One other day it’s a daring backyard print with a easy white shirt and denims.
Otherwise you let the sneakers do all of the speaking underneath cropped black trousers.
Whenever you’ve spent years strolling cities, you begin to care much less about excessive developments and extra about private signatures. For me, that’s the place O&B ballerinas are available in. They carry tales. They are saying:
- I’ve walked Rome at 40 levels.
- I’ve wandered Bangkok malls at closing time.
- I’ve crossed piazzas, markets, stations and resort lobbies in sneakers that refuse to stop.
Simply lovely, Backyard of Eden Assortment, you’ll be able to solely purchase on-line, and they aren’t on the market but! Central World, Bangkok, window show.
The Roman Warmth Take a look at: Why Folks Stared
That day in Rome – 40 levels, warmth bouncing off the stone – I wore my cherry leather-based O&B pumps with a gown that caught the breeze excellent. Smart folks have been in sneakers or flat sandals.
Me? Cherry pumps.
Folks stared. Ladies requested the place I purchased them. Males observed – and belief me, males don’t normally touch upon ladies’s sneakers except one thing is basically standing out.
Nevertheless it wasn’t simply the color. It was how I wore them.
As a result of right here’s the reality:
Nobody in Europe wears them like Gracie Opulanza does.
You can provide ten ladies the identical shoe and get ten utterly totally different tales. Mine occurs to be a mash-up of Thai discovery, Italian streets, menopausal honesty and a refusal to surrender romance in my wardrobe simply because my ft have opinions now.
Pumps for Actual Life, Not Simply Pictures
There’s this pattern on-line of “sit-down sneakers” – heels that look fabulous in images however by no means contact actual pavement. I’ve no time for that.
If a shoe can’t deal with:
- cobblestones
- uneven pavements
- sweaty metro staircases
- long-haul airport transfers
- and a shock detour as a result of I noticed a classic store down a aspect avenue
…then it’s not for me.
O&B has one way or the other managed to seize that Audrey Hepburn class – the female, pared-back silhouette – however constructed it for actual ladies with actual ft in actual warmth, at actual ages.
Together with menopause ages, swollen-foot ages, “I’ve lived plenty of life and I’m nonetheless going” ages.
Why I Maintain Reaching for O&B
Out of all of the sneakers in my wardrobe (and belief me, there are a lot), I maintain circling again to my O&B pairs as a result of they tick each field that issues to me now:
- Consolation with out compromise – I can truly stroll, not simply pose.
- Clever design – from Van Gogh’s Backyard of Eden to Monet florals, they’re dialog starters.
- Journey-tested sturdiness – Rome, Bangkok, Barcelona, Florence, Austria, New York… they’ve finished the circuit.
- Age- and body-honest – they work with swollen ft, wider ft, drained ft. Actual ft.
I don’t want extra sneakers.
However I do want sneakers that make sense for the girl I’m now – a lady who has seen half the world, refuses to decorate down her persona, and wishes her footwear to maintain up.
So once I say the Backyard of Eden pumps are price breaking my no-more-shoes rule for, that’s not simply client lust. That’s a seasoned, menopausal, city-hardened, style-obsessed girl saying:
These aren’t simply sneakers.
They’re a life-style – in your ft.
