On Monday morning I had three different people stop me on the school run to ask where my shoes were from. If that doesn’t give you a spring in your step after half an hour of trying to get two children out of the house with school uniform, book bag, reading books etc all correct then nothing will!
So what were these amazing shoes attracting everyone’s attention you may ask? The latest Hotter shoes in my collection – these gorgeous Dalton shoes in Flint.
It’s nearly two years now since I first discovered Hotter Shoes when I did a review for them of a pair of gorgeous Gaby Wedges. Before that I’d not heard of Hotter before but I’m now a huge huge fan and last time I counted there were six pairs in my collection – a mix of ones I’ve been sent to review and also pairs that I’ve bought myself. The first review post is also one of the most read posts on my blog – a sign that more and more people are searching online to find out about Hotter shoes.
When Hotter opened their shop in St Albans last year I went along and got to meet Mel from their marketing team as well as the in store team under manager Craig. Instantly I was impressed by the passion that everyone there had for the Hotter brand, how proud they were of it and their shoes. For ages I was meaning to write up a review of the store opening and the shoes I took away with me that evening and then I was so late that it was becoming almost embarrassing, so I decided to instead do a long-term review and write about my experiences with their shoes a year later. That year anniversary came round and at about the same time another invite popped into my inbox to go and celebrate mothers’ day with them by taking my Mother in Law along to their St Albans store to hear a bit more about Hotter and introduce her to the brand.
St Albans Store Manager Craig in action
Now, as soon as I mentioned this to my MIL and asked if she’s like to come with me one evening she jumped at the chance. She needed no introduction to Hotter as a brand as she’s already a huge fan, but it was a great opportunity for her to find out a bit more about them and the story behind their shoes.
Since discovering Hotter I now don’t actually own a pair of shoes made my anyone else. I have a pair of boots still from somewhere else (sorry Hotter!) which I’ve managed to keep going for nearly 7 years now and can’t bear to throw away (every the thrifty one), but everything else in our shoe cabinet has been replaced by Hotter shoes. From the trainers that I do the school run in to the summer sandals and the vintage style t-bars that I wear with skirts and dresses. Every single pair is as comfortable as wearing slippers and I’m so often getting comments and questions about them. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you may well have seen me share my Hotter shoes and where I’ve worn them, and that’s the thing, for the first time in my life I’m actually proud of what’s on my feet.
A photo posted by Penny Carr (@realbeingmrsc) on
The other thing that’s worth mentioning is just how well they all wear. Whilst a year of school runs (a couple of miles every day) mean the trainers are nearly deserving a refresh all my other pairs still look as good as they did when they first came home in a box.
I’ve genuinely loved telling more and more people about Hotter over the last year and it’s great to see that some of them have actually gone and bought shoes themselves and grown to love them as much as I do. If you have any pre-conceptions about Hotter only selling “comfy shoes for Grannies” then please please do take a look a their latest collections – I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
And if all this wasn’t enough – just this week they’ve announced that they’ve won a coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Very well deserved in my opinion!
Disclaimer: Over the last couple of years Hotter have invited me to their St Albans store twice for in store events and gifted me several pairs of shoes, however I have also become a paying customer of theirs in that time too. They didn’t ask me for this blog post and all opinions in it are completely my own.
Lovely Penny am a big shoes fan myself!