The dream about the hare and four swans becomes reality

The pretty box contained such treasures...

My love for Mr. Hare's debut collection is well documented on the blog. His passion for fine shoes is infectious and for all to see over on his blog but it is even more apparent in his debut collection. Ever since I first met up with Mr. Hare to marvel at the beauty of the 'Purest Form' in person I have been imagining my feet in his leather creations. One pair in particular has been a recurrent fixture in my style daydream fantasies. I included the Stingray Orwell in my 'Items worth saving up for' post back in March and my desire to have them grace my feet never relented. Now my friends, the waiting is over! I met up with Mr. Hare last night to have a few beers and to have a sneak peak at the first shots of his SS10 collection (more on this later but I will say...wow!) and he used the occasion to hand deliver a pair. When I clocked the shoe box as I sat down with the first round my heart missed more than a few beats. I wiped my excited/sweaty palms on my trousers took hold of the beautiful branded box and peaked inside...(warning...you are about to view some serious amateur shoe porn...kids, look away now!)

The Orwell Stingray is an apron Derby shoe in patent leather with stingray built on a Blake construction. “When you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room. Accept no substitutes.” This sentence uttered by Ordell Robbie in ‘Jackie Brown’ was the only sentence that came into Mr Hare's head every time he looked at the Orwell and I can certainly see why.

A close up! Stingray skin is so tough it was originally used as a protection against sword slashes and is believed to have been worn by Attila the Hun...oh yes!

Back in February when we interviewed Mr Hare he declared that the "Orwell is an apron derby that has all the attitude of 60s Kray run London and the joie de vivre of Sammy Davis jnr. I just received the Stingray version which is sick." After wearing them for only a few moments my feet felt as though they were dancing around town in a bygone era...


As I made my way back home with them, smiling like a maniac and unnerving my fellow bus riders, my excitement levels were unparalleled. I called everyone in my phonebook who I thought might be vaguely interested in my news and was met with a variety of responses, some I can't type here but lets just say they were a little green. For those of you who I called last night I apologise for my rambled mutterings but I've literally not been that excited since waking up one Christmas morning to find a Scalextric set up in my living room. Some of you might have noticed that I excitedly tweeted “I have a pair of Stingray Orwells in my bag...cannot wait to get home to try them on!” Well, the tweet proved too much for our favourite despot who countered with a bunny boiler post. The combination of Imelda Matt's threats with Susie's thieving mitts mean I will just have to sleep with one eye open from now...that and I just won't take them off! I'll certainly sleep well tonight though knowing that my dream about the hare and the four swans came true...