"For the love of clogs" Guest blogger Sandra Walli
April 29, 2015
The lovely Sandra Walli is our guest blogger this week and talks about why she loves clogs. Follow her Instagram here and take part in a giveaway she is hosting for us, you could win a pair of Lotta From Stockholm Clogs! Competition ends 6th May so go go go! You can also see what we've been liking this week on our Instagram
Sandra grew up in Skåne, a county in the south of Sweden, but has now been living in Copenhagen for 10 years. Sandra got her first pair of Lotta clogs about three or four years ago and has been building her collection ever since. She frequently posts photos of her clogs on instagram as well as photos of Copenhagen and her daily life.
Her favourite thing about Instagram is "the positivity, the inspiration and the new people you meet, the new places you see, through other peoples eyes. And the fact that you yourself can share things, places etc that you really like, introducing people to new things... such as clogs to name one thing"
For the Love of Clogs
Sandra on her first clog related memory:
I grew up in a house with a large garden and the best thing to wear on my feet to go out into the garden clogs. If I was gardening or going to the garage I would slip on clogs as they were comfy and sturdy. I think it’s the tradition for Swedes to have a pair of clogs by the back door of your house! My first pair of clogs was a pair of classic style black clogs and to be completely honest they were not even mine, they were my dad’s! The clogs were 6 sizes too big for me but I would wear them whenever he wasn't wearing them. It is an art form to walk in clogs that are many sizes too big, I tell you! Sadly my dad past away when I was just 14 years old and we just could not bear to get rid of the clogs so for almost a decade they were used a lot until there was almost nothing left of them. Every time I put them on I would do so with a smile and remember my very much-missed dad.
In my early twenties I moved from home into a dorm room (no garden) in Copenhagen, not having a garden made clogs “unnecessary” and the need for wearing them kind of faded. Time passed and slowly I noticed that many fashion bloggers in the US and Sweden were wearing them like everyday shoes. I was over the moon when I realised that I too could use clogs as everyday shoes and I could enjoy all the things I love about clogs.
Why clogs and why Lotta from Stockholm clogs:
As I do not have a blog myself I often list all the things I love about Lotta clogs on my Instagram, I like to make lists as well so win-win! First of all I must tell you that my journey to Lotta's clogs were filled with too many expensive and terribly uncomfortable clogs from different other brands. So if at times I seem religious about Lotta’s clogs it’s because I am! I found Lotta from Stockholm before I had an Instagram account and long before Lotta had one, so I guess it was faith (and the almighty google) that led me to find the homepage of Lotta from Stockholm. And for that I am forever thankful. So when people have asked me why I promote these clogs and have done for some time now, the answer is simple: these clogs are a genuine, honest and good product and that deserves promoting.
And here is my why I love Lotta clogs list:
1 They are pretty AND comfortable
2 Lotta from Stockholm offer awesome customers service; helpful, kind and efficient.
3 The clogs are Swedish/made in Sweden, just like me.
4 You sound like a unicorn (horse/pony/Pegasus) when you walk in them. This IS a real reason!!
5 They are affordable.
6 Their styles are versatile and goes with almost anything from jeans, fancy pants, dresses, modern or vintage clothing.
7 They come in high and low heel, peep toes, braids, closed toes, tractor soles, two-toned, colorful or neutral, something to everyone’s taste.
On styling, what to wear with clogs and when to wear them:
In my slightly colored opinion clogs go with EVERYTHING and if the weather allows it you can wear them ANYTIME.
I mostly wear dresses and skirts and my wardrobe is a lovely and colorful mix of vintage clothing from the 1950s to ‘70s and modern pieces of clothing and I honestly think that my clogs go with everything I have. I love how a pair of clogs can lift, set colour to or tone down an outfit, depending on model and colour of the clogs and of course the tight/sock combination used. Normally I wear clogs in spring and autumn paired with thicker, colorful tights and in the summer bare legged or with cute socks.
If you are not in to colour, no worries there is truly something for everyone. Apart from yellow, blue, green, red and orange there is gold, silver and more sober tan, black or neutral to choose from. Lotta has also recently released clogs in two colours,, highwood open style in tan and orange or tan and yellow. I believe the trouble is not to find one pair you like but to not limit yourself to one pair. As you can see on my Instagram I have NOT limited myself. Life is too short to wear boring shoes!
On choosing clog model and heel height:
Open toe vs. closed toe clogs
For some odd reason I find myself using the closed toe models more often in the spring or autumn season, I think that psychologically these models (high wood, t-bar and tractor soles) “feel” more warm compared to the open toe models (peep toes, braids), which I use more often in the summer. But when that is said I use all models all the time and what I am trying to say is probably that the open toe models feel more like a sandal while the closed toe models feel more like a shoe.
High heel vs. low heel
If you are a clog virgin or a person who does not normally walk in heels I would probably recommend you go for a low heel model to start with. If you are like me used to walking in heels the high heel is to be preferred, and even though it is called a high heel, it is not particularly high compared to other high heeled shoes out there.
Another thing to remember if you are a clog virgin is that clogs are wooden shoes. Wood is hard. If you are used to walking in SUPERDUPER soft sole comfy sneakers all day it can be quite a hard surprise trying a clog on. But like most other things you will most likely find yourself getting used to it quite fast. But when I say they are comfortable they are not like sneaker-comfortable but it is another form of comfortable, quite hard to explain actually. One should probably try it to understand it.
(all photos credited to Sandra Walli check out her two instagrams here and here)
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