…and the rest of this week’s Shoes News

Macrame plant hangers made from hiking laces – what’s not to love about that?

Last year, I went to a couple of macrame workshops run by the very talented Heather Orr. We made plant hangers in one, and wall hangings in another. I’ve been following Heather on Instagram ever since and I absolutely love what she does – I highly recommend going to one of her workshops if she’s doing one near you. And a few weeks ago, we had what I think is a rather genius idea: macrame hanging baskets made from hiking laces!

Heather managed to source some cord that is thinner than actual hiking laces, so looks better as macrame, and she’s fashioned it into these gorgeous hanging baskets. She’s even added metal caps to the ends of the cord for a real shoe laces look!

Available in three flecked colours – black, grey and a punchy neon yellow – they hold a variety of pot sizes. The ones you see in these pictures are quite dinky but I’ve tried them with a much bigger pot and that works too (sadly the plant was looking a little worse for wear so I didn’t include a picture of that!). They’re £20 each and you can buy them at heatherorr.co.uk. They are limited edition so hurry to avoid disappointment!

 Speaking of laces…

Someone got in touch with me this week to ask if I knew where she could buy leopard print laces. It was after seeing this lovely pair of trainers from Mint Velvet, which as you can see have gone a bit wild in the lace department and look all the better for it.

Mint Velvet sneakers, £89 ([AD] mintvelvet.co.uk)

So if you want to pimp a pair of existing white trainers this is a great thing to do. The best place to find patterned laces, and specifically animal print, is Mr Lacy. I rather like the elephant as well as the leopard…

Mr Lacy leopard laces, £2; Mr Lacy elephant laces, £4 (mr-lacy.co.uk)

The new Nanette

Grenson Nanette boots, £265 (grenson.com)

And in case it has escaped your notice, Grenson has launched its new Nanette in this gorgeous soft chalky white. I first spotted these at the press day in the summer and I’ve been thinking about them ever since! They’re from the summer collection, so you are actively encouraged to wear hiking boots all year round! I’m on board with the idea 100%. There are only limited sizes available already, so they are selling fast!