Tuesday Shoesday ~ At the school gates…

_{Some items have been gifted}

Autumn term. It’s finally here. I wait and wait for September to arrive for two reasons; firstly, as a perpetual student I’ve always loved starting a new course each September and relishing the potential new learning experiences it can bring, and secondly, because I see it as the start of the run-up to Christmas! I’ve always found that the autumn term flies by in  flurry of fireworks, Halloween and festive events and in no time at all we’re singing Alde Lang Syne.  And I really can’t get in trouble for saying the ‘C-word’ too early because from today it’s actually only 100 sleeps til Christmas, woop!

The start of September sees countless children all around the country heading back through their school gates to carry on learning and I always feel slightly jealous of the teenagers who get to spend another year at high school, surrounded by their friends, learning something new every day. They might not see it quite that way at the moment (as my little sister can testify!), but I know I’d love to relive my school days and I’m sure I would get more out of it the second time round; I think I’d appreciate it more – especially compared to the ‘real world’ of work!

Not only are the little ones heading back to school, but it’s the same in colleges and sixth forms around the country, and soon university students will be moving back into their halls of residence in time for Freshers’ week. And according to the National Student Survey we’re all loving it; This year’s results showed that student satisfaction is at a 10 year high! Are all the students around the country as keen on education and as easily excitable as me? I’m not sure, but one thing’s for certain; whether we’re going to primary school, high school, sixth form, college, university, leisure learning, work or even doing the school-run… we deserve ‘back to school’ shoes!It’s one of the perks of going to school – that day at start of September that your parents take you to the shoe shop to have your young feet measured and to choose a new pair of school shoes. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a say in which pair you wear and I remember always choosing a Wizard of Oz style sparkly shoe, although each year I seemed to end up going to school in black leather lace-ups. Well now that I’m a grown up, I’m actually glad that my mum made these decisions for me, as it has definitely influenced my style over the years – just look at the ‘back-to-school’ shoes that I’ve chosen for myself this year – a gorgeous patent pair of lace-up shoes from Clarks.

This style of shoe is called the Busby Fizz and I mainly chose them because of the deep ox-blood burgundy leather, which is sums up this season’s footwear trend perfectly. They are great all-purpose shoes so I know that I’ll be able to wear them for most occasions during the autumn term. Thankfully, I AM starting a new course this September so I get to treat myself to all the essential back-to-school kit, including a new pencil case (okay, it’s mostly full of make-up!) and I’d love to get a new satchel, but that’s another shopping trip! Okay, the course I’m studying is an online Journalism course, but that doesn’t mean that I have to go without new term shoes!

The casual lace-ups that I’ve invested in look classy with dresses, will pair up nicely with trousers or jeans, and I love wearing them with cosy coloured tights. It’s my nod to the Autumn/Winter 14 footwear trends of rich colours and interesting textures, although I’m sure that I’ll be wearing these all through the following year too. It’s a style that doesn’t date and the colour is subtle enough to remain on-trend for years to come. I’m certain that I’ll be wearing these when I start another course next year and lets hope my sister doesn’t try to pinch them when she goes off to college too!

Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂