Blog
#MANDARINA LOVES
CAT WALK TWEED This season tweed is more downtown than Downtown Abbey. Proof that tweed has shaken off its stuffy reputation is the fact that you’ll find just as much of it in autumn/winter runway...
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Shoes have come a long way....or have they?
They look the same do they not? The Mule, the ballet flat, the ankle boot even the kitten heel. These were shoes made in the 1600's and yet we could be talking about our collections at Mandarina S...
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Resolutions? How are they going, your new year resolutions?? It’s the 16th of the month, the over-indulgence is over (or at least it really should be by now!) and we’re back to work, full of resol...
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New year - New Shoes Happy New Year! And if New Year means new boots, it means new shoes too. A great choice a girl can make is the Bronte Court Shoe in hyacinth blue and lavender, for lots of good...
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Calling all women, you can never have too many shoes. Successful women can still have their feet on the ground, they just wear better shoes. Shoes can change your life, just ask Cinderella. A woma...
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A couple of years ago I bought my sister a small pair of 18th Century child’s clogs - Welsh I think - because she loves to paint shoes. I paid £28. They are charming, historical and tell such a s...
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Did you know that colours really mean so many things? When we were thinking about colour matches on our new Autumn/Winter collection I came across this amazing website Colour Matters explaining why...
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“You are only as good as your last collection” is something we often hear in the retail shoe industry. At Mandarina Shoes we have several shoe and boot collections running at once to give the cust...
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Emma Caderni specialises in sourcing and selling stylish and iconic pieces of 20th century fashion, accessories and jewellery for a discerning cliente. A graduate in Italian and Art History, Emma C...
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We had never sold sneakers before! It was quite a thing when we started with espadrilles 5 years ago, but sneakers? We dipped our toe in the water initially with a basic plimsoll range, and then w...
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Covid has caused us to re-evaluate a lot of things in life, not least of all the way we dress. We are now bombarded on a daily basis with pictures of slouchy pyjama sets, cashmere hoodies, yoga pan...
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Dressing down during the Corona Pandemic shut-in has made us all get creative with haberdashery! Velvet trims and interesting buttons have revamped cardigans, the 70s craze for adding embroidery a...
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At Mandarina Shoes we have been designing beautiful Wedding Shoes for Brides, Bridal parties and Guests for more than 15 years. We have been seen on Royal feet, and up and down the red carpet at s...
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“Are made for walkin’”, a husky-voiced Nancy Sinatra told the world in 1966… Well, more than fifty years later, baby, there never was a truer word. From style maven, Alexa Chung, to the (virtual) c...
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Recently interviewed by Kettlewell Colours, our Brand Director Caroline Townsend shares the secrets of her design success and gives us a very personal insight into her inspirational life and globet...
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Clare Arbuthnott is a contemporary Scottish artist living in Edinburgh. Her work focuses on her native landscape, its coast and particularly the island of Iona. We thought we would match our suede ...
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We are delighted to Showcase Rebecca O'Connor 's glorious Beatitude Essential Oils. We thought that the synergy of creating from scratch brought us together as unique brands and we chose our chic b...
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As this week (Monday 23 September to be exact) we march briskly into Autumn, and summer shoes gravitate to the back of the cupboard, we at Mandarina want to talk about boots, and in particular our ...
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What shoes and boots do you take on a City work trip when you have hand-baggage only? We posed this question to our travel mad Brand Director, Caroline, who has become a skilful packer over the yea...
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Have you noticed the current fad for Fair Isle? That nostalgic patterned knit of our childhood days is back with a BANG! Well, here at Mandarina we are delighted by this new trend. Fair Isle is ri...
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As many of our loyal customers know, we work closely alongside the Harris Tweed mills in the Outer Hebrides. Harris Tweed is a British Wool sheared from Cheviot flocks of sheep. When the cloth is w...
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Time spent at home during lockdown has definitely focussed our attention on the kitchen! Everybody seems to be cooking up a storm and sharing their creations on WhatsApp and Instagram. And what can...
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Remarkably we have been selling our wonderful shoes around the world for more than 16 years. We were amongst the first, if not the first, shoe company to sell exclusively online, having started out...
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Having made a good friend and contact in the Tentmaker's Bazaar in Cairo two years ago, our intrepid Brand Director and Travel Guru has established a supply line for our massively popular cotton ca...
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Nothing says Summer like espadrilles and they are making a fashion comeback big time this year. Mandarina (obviously!) has some of the very best choices around. Handmade for us to the highest stand...
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Our Mandarina sneakers with different coloured laces are one of our longstanding best sellers and led us to collaborate recently on The Spring Fairies photo shoot with the famous London haberdasher...
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It is always interesting to sneak a behind-the-scenes peak at what goes into running an online fashion retail business like ours. Well, let us introduce ourselves. No 'Devil Wears Prada' scenario h...
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What to wear when working from home is more of a consideration than you might imagine. Sure, you can sit there in your jim jams and slippers but if you do you will feel neither professional nor mot...
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The Mandarina team are thrilled to be able to see the amazing tribute exhibition to Mary Quant which is currently up from London and on show at our very own V&A Dundee - just 15 miles from our ...
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Every day is a red letter day at Mandarina. Our rural Scottish location means we can watch the seasons unfold through our own office window - and there is nothing more beautiful than seeing bright...
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We posted on Instagram when Caroline went to see the Andy Warhol Exhibition. Shoe design has always fascinated us of course and pushing the boundaries on shape and style but keeping perspective is ...
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The Hotel Guru's mission is simply to find and review THE best places to stay around the world. They only include independent reviews of hotels that they are happy to recommend. Cleverly, they have...
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Annabel & Grace (formerly CountryWives) and Mandarina Shoes have been in partnership a long time supporting each other as flourishing small brands with a similar demographic of wonderful fans! ...
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Mandarina Shoes and Peachy Belts have collaborated over many years, the best choice of accessories together. We have many similarities in our work ethic, our choice for our customer and our love of...
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Based in the foothills of the Scottish Highlands, founder Caroline Inchyra has created a range of unique and timeless fabrics and accessories. From the original archive inspired linens first releas...
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Someone once said "Caroline, your house is full of wonderful colours". That observation made me actually sit, look and take in the colours in my house. They are colours that I have collected from a...
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Take a look at the very clever and wonderful Bryony Dalrymple’s Tisan Jewellery collection. Tisan is no ordinary jewellery company. Each piece is hand picked by Bryony and there are always many new...
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We are thinking that shoes have something to do with how you feel on the day you choose the particular pair you put on. Yes, it is true, think about this... Do you choose your outfit first or do y...
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Lucy Vail Floral Design & Floral Feet
Lucy Vail Floristry is an award-winning London based Floral Design company specialising in installations and weddings as well as private and corporate events. Renowned for her bold use of colour an...
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Your Smile, Your Style and Your Footwear!
When you first meet people, first impressions are head to toe! Therefore it is essential to have the right footwear. Your smile, your style and your footwear! So which footwear is right for you? H...
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India has a special place in our hearts here at Mandarina as we have derived SO much design inspiration from there over the years. Traditional block prints from Jaipur, sumptuous sari silks from Ma...
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Birdie Fortescue's inspirational interiors collection resonates with Mandarina on many levels. Not only are we both small businesses based in rural locations - Norfolk and Scotland - but we have a ...
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Autumn is our favourite Mandarina season - every day bringing changing colours to admire and inspire. Perhaps we are biased because orange is synonymous with our brand. The arrival of one of our or...
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We are loafer mad at the moment at Mandarina! The loafer has a wonderful history, first designed in England as a country house shoe for the landed gentry and royalty in the early 1900’s. They were ...
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Brand Director Caroline pictured here looking ahead to Spring Summer 2022. "Design and travel go hand in hand for me," says Caroline, "the one provides inspiration for the other. It is a great syne...
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Thankfully we live in the modern age of long boots! In days gone by, many moons ago, our ancestors made long boots from 2 pieces of hide or skins sewn crudely together to keep out the weather! The ...
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Exotic Adventures for our Founder
Shandur in Northern Pakistan invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament which since 1936 has been held annually in the first week of July between the local teams of Gilgit and Chi...
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