Spring 2010
club Fifty years of footwear fashion Your favourite Great British Walks Hotter gets nautical Find us on Facebook
Enter our
exclusive
reader competitions inside
win Win a summer style makeover in association with Yours magazine!
Welcome At last, we can all begin to look forward to Spring - a chance to bring out light, bright clothes and feel warm again. We’ve some lovely styles for you in the latest catalogue including a few surprises – canvas and cork wedges to name but two … but I’ll leave you to peruse the catalogue! We’re busier than ever here at Hotter HQ – not least because we are planning three store openings… Eastbourne, Chichester and Bromley. We’ll be organising official openings with a razzmatazz fanfare and soothing Comfort Zone at each location so if you live nearby keep an eye out for your official invitation – or keep up to speed at www.hotter.com or on Facebook. In this edition of Comfort Club we show you some of the Great British walks you sent in to our competition and, inspired by a customer’s photo of shoes from the 40s (see back page) we decided to bring you a whistle stop tour of footwear fashion in the last fifty years. What can you remember slipping your toes into – winklepickers, wedges, kitten heels – don’t forget we love shoes just as much as you do so please send in all your footwear memories so we can share them. Hope to hear from you soon – or meet you at our openings, please say hello!
Kind regards
Melanie Killilea tion Competi Caption
Editor – Comfort Club
To celebrate our fantastic new summer shoe collection we’ve teamed up with the experts at Yours magazine to offer one lucky Comfort Club reader the chance to win a fabulous makeover. The Yours style team will help you overhaul your summer wardrobe and give you a top to toe makeover. If you’re chosen, you’ll be treated to an all expenses paid day trip to London for the makeover, a year’s free subscription to Yours magazine and your choice of Hotter shoes. For your chance to win tell us in no more than 50 words why you deserve a makeover and send it along with a recent full-length photograph of yourself, your name, age, height, dress, shoe sizes and day-time contact details to Melanie Killilea at the usual Hotter address by March 31st 2010.
Hotter!? Shouldn’t that be colder! Here’s a couple of photos of the recent cold snap – we did battle the elements to get to work as you can see. Here’s Design Assistant Craig Hodgson and Print Manager Ged Wall. We’re thinking of using this photo in the snow for a Christmas card next year, but in the meantime we’d like you to send us a funny caption for the photo – our favourite will win a Hotter prize.
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ALL SHOES FEATURED ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.HOTTER.COM
Get
ship shape
for summer Hit the decks in nautical styling from Hotter this summer and keep your feet in ship-shape condition!
Nirvan a
It really is plain sailing to find a nautical style to suit, with red, white, blue, cream and metallic shades featuring across our footwear range and with accessories to complement the styles, you’ll soon be cruising into high fashion. Hotter designer Sue Nelson recommends kitten heel Rosetti in red. “Made from soft, plaited leather, Rosetti will certainly make you stand out from the crowd,” said Sue who has given this sandal a lightweight sole to create the ultimate comfort mule. “Extra padding on the insole creates a deep, smooth feeling that feet will love.” Sporty designer Mandy Blackwell recommends lace-up Bailey: “If you’re planning a leisurely stroll on deck – or an afternoon in the park – this sporty style is the perfect companion. Bailey is made from soft, natural nubuck and comes in nautical Navy, Turquoise and Red making it an ideal choice to wear with jeans, cut offs or shorts.” Finally, red slip on Nirvana has been designed by Carolyn Irvine who loves the challenge of hiding Hotter’s secret comfort in every pair. “Nirvana’s soles are filled with tiny air bubbles so they make you feel like you are walking on air and the lining is the softest leather – put your hand inside first when you buy a pair, they feel like beautiful leather gloves, so imagine how they treat your feet!”
Bailey
Rosetti
Bags of style For the perfect nautical accompaniment try striped Melbourne - it stands out on the beach or on the deck and it’s big enough to pack everything you need for a hot’ day out – roll on summer!
Win ship shape shoes! Do your feet deserve to be ship-shape? Tell us why in 50 words or less and we’ll select our favourite story to win a £60 voucher so you can step out in the latest nautical styles! Send your entries to the address on the back page – or direct to weloveshoes@hotter.com
win
ALL SHOES FEATURED ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.HOTTER.COM
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Great
British walks At Hotter we have always suspected that our customers were an active group, and the number of entries we received to our favourite walks competition proved the point. So far with the help of walks you have sent in we’ve covered 660 miles of the British Isles, and we’ve set ourselves a target of adding 50 walks to our map to mark 50 years of delivering happy feet. From a leisurely stroll to a rugged ramble, send in your favourite walk to the usual postal or email address and your preferred trek may soon feature on our walking map of the UK. We would love to see your photographs and don’t forget to tell us what kind of footwear you wore on the way and if you stopped to enjoy a
leisurely picnic or a delicious cream tea! Every walk we’ve collected so far is labelled on our map (which currently can be found on page 2 of the January edition of Comfort Club on our website) and we’ve included abridged versions of three of our favourites here including our winning entry about the wonderful Wordsworth’s Walk submitted by Mrs Mitchell of Cumbria.
Wordsworth’s Walk Location: Lake District Miles: 6 miles (depending on which route you choose) Submitted by: Mrs Mitchell of Cumbria.
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My favourite walk is called Wordsworth’s Walk and begins at the car park at White Moss Common between the lakes of Grasmere and Rydal. Walk down to the bridge over the little river Rathay and you can decide to walk along by the river to the lake or walk up through the woods and out of a little gate in the wall onto Loughrigg Fell. In early summer these woods are a sea of bluebells. I love this walk which is a joy to do at anytime of year – daffodils in the spring, bluebells in the summer, the sun sparkling on the water, and frost turning the trees into a winter wonderland, but the best of all is the riot of colour which is Autumn.
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006
Miles
Terra
Cannock Chase War Trail
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Location: Cannock Chase, Staffs Miles: 8 Submitted by: Maureen Tilsley of Staffs f Hotter’s weatherproo Hotter of ion fus collection is a ® X -TE RE GO d an ort Comf footwear technology
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Cannock Chase was designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty in 1958 because of its beautiful landscape, its wildlife and its history. I consider myself very lucky to live nearby. What is so captivating about this part of Staffordshire is that it is so beautiful in all seasons. People from this area have visited New England in the fall and have been disappointed as Cannock Chase is just as colourful and spectacular in autumn. There are many walks on the Chase and it is not easy to choose a walk however I have chosen the Cannock Chase War Trail, which represents the military history of the area and visits the beautiful 008 Sherbrook Valley.
3 South West Way Location: Minehead, Somerset to Poole, Dorset Miles: 630 Submitted by: Mrs Rowe from Cornwall My favourite walk of all time lasted several years and is the South West Way, which follows the coastline from Minehead to Poole, passing through my home county of Cornwall. On retirement my husband and I walked every step of this dramatic coastline, covering 630 miles and crossing 17 river estuaries in the process. We took time to stop and listen to the sound of silence! Relax and listen to the birds! There’s so much more to walking them just covering the ground. It’s not just legs, but eyes and ears and nose – an assault on the senses. Since this epic journey I discovered Hotter walking boots and I’ve never looked back! My present pair has covered 170 miles since October 2008 and they’re looking as good as ever.
Miles
3
630
Miles 5
50shoes years of
Shoes have taken on many guises, fulfilled many roles and presented us with some weird and wonderful fashion trends over the years…
1950’s The Stiletto and Blue Suede Shoes Named after a small dagger with a tapered blade, these razor-thin heels became very popular and the stiletto became the look of the early 1950’s. Today we are used to seeing stilettos with heels of 4 or 5 inches, but the original stilettos were a more manageable height of 2-3 inches. As well as stilettos, flatter shoes were ideal for jiving, and Bill Haley’s huge hit ‘Rock Around the Clock heralded the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll from America. In Britain, “Teddy Boys” wore pointed winkle-pickers or suede shoes in neutral shades.
Ea sy
Tone
Dew
1990 6
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1960’s 1980’s 1990’s The Pop Years In the early 1960’s women began ditching their stilettos for the low, chunky or kitten heels favoured by style icons such as Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn. They were soon accompanied by go-go boots and space-age inspired styles in vinyl, PVC and polyester, but it wasn’t until the early 1970’s that eye-popping platform shoes appeared on both male and female glam rockers and disco dancers everywhere.
Dressed for Success
Making a point
Power dressing, big hair, trouser suits and shoulder pads… the 1980’s saw the re-emergence of the stiletto heel and by the end of the decade the new aerobics fad raised the popularity of trainers for both men and women to new heights. With shoes both low and high, the Princess of Wales led the trend for lower footwear and made it acceptable to wear whatever heel height you liked.
From the high street to high-end boutiques, pointed ladies shoes in a spectrum of colours were everywhere. However, by the year 2000 shoes were no longer confined to a handful of styles – shoes in every conceivable style and made for every occasion became available. Ladies ballerina flats became popular and designers increasingly found that consumers were not as willing to sacrifice comfort for fashion.
Along came Hotter... Recognising the need for comfortable yet stylish shoes, Hotter’s designs have come a long way since the first lace-up designs of Dew and Stream, which are still very popular today. With a comfortable shoe for every occasion, and a larger range of extra wide fittings than ever before, the next decade should prove to be a very exciting time for Hotter, and a very comfortable time for your feet!
Nirva n a
“ Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury” Coco Chanel Gra ce
Cha rleston
2010 All images courtesy of the Shoe Collection, Northampton Museums.
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Everyone’s getting social You don’t have to be internet savvy to have heard of social media – everyone’s talking about it … from Stephen Fry to Philip Schofield to Chris Evans. At Hotter, we’ve been receiving letters from customers for years, so we’ve decided to get even more social with you all by setting up a Facebook page which means you can also share your comments with Hotter enthusiasts around the world. To explain more we asked Ann Taylor, a 58-year-old Hotter enthusiast to let us into her
Facebook world. Ann spends about two hours a week on Facebook, and mainly uses it to keep in touch with her daughters, godchildren and younger relatives. Since signing up to Facebook two years ago, she has used it to arrange family and school reunions and even uses it to keep in contact with her next door neighbour.
We asked Ann… Why did you join Facebook? I joined to keep in touch with mainly younger friends and family. A younger cousin living in Australia suggested it was a good way to see his photo' albums' as he posted them there with his news. What sort of things do you do on Facebook? I email messages, put messages on people’s walls. I have joined a few 'groups', look at friends’ photos, exchange news with friends/family more frequently than I would email them, exchange photos, just to keep in touch. How many friends do you have on Facebook? I have about 40 friends on Facebook. I am pretty selective. Mainly they are family members and especially those who travel a lot or live abroad. Do you upload photos? I do post photos, a few holiday photos or of parties. Photo’s my Facebook friends would be interested in. Would you recommend Facebook to other people? I do recommend it to my friends. Like texting on your mobile phone it is a very good way to keep in contact with people, especially younger friends and family. And I have found many people use it above emailing and the phone.
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ALL SHOES FEATURED ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.HOTTER.COM
Meet Hotter on Facebook It’s simple to join Facebook – a few clicks and you’re started. Don’t forget there are settings for your Facebook account so only your friends can see what you’re up to and we’d love to meet you in cyberspace - just look for Hotter Comfort Concept Shoes. We’ve over 300 fans so far, you’ll see lots of lovely comments on our wall, as well as some suggestions and ideas for our design team.
Join us on facebook
win
One lucky Hotter fan will win £60 vouchers if they can tell us – by post, at weloveshoes@hotter.com or by sending us a message on Facebook – who visited our factory on February 17th the answer is on our Facebook page, see you there!
Scentsof
Spring
It’s forecast that paradoxically the result of our dreadful winter will be a magnificent Spring. At the first few days of warmish weather, the flowers which usually appear over several weeks will, they say, all rush to come out together. It’s not just their colours, but their ravishingly subtle scents that we all enjoy. So let’s taste three wines that smell something of the Spring. I start by choosing three whites - all French from Waitrose who have kindly supplied six bottles as a prize for our competition. My first choice is a splendid Muscadet from the Loire. The bouquet is not that of the garden, but like the Cornish cliffs in Spring, wet granite, fresh grass, unlike other wines, but seductive. On the palate it is fresh, but not sharply acid. Ideal with prawns, with mussels. It’s Fief Guèrin, Côtes de Grandlieu 2008 (£5.99). Our prize will contain two bottles of this splendidly fish-friendly white. Now, two whites from Alsace. The first is Cave de Beblenheim Grafenreben Riesling 2007 (£8.49). Light fragrance of primroses and wild violets on the nose: then, on tasting, dry with layered citrus notes, some riper than others, with a glow to the finish.
By Graham Gendall Norton
Its companion is the Cave de Turckheim Gerwurztraminer 2008 (£8.49). To me, there’s the scent of narcissus in its big bouquet. Breathe in deep, and there are also mineral notes. At first sip of the light gold in the glass, soon the realisation of a wine of some complexity. If you like a sweeter aperitif, this is for you. Lastly, our only red, it has something in common with our other wines, as the makers recommend that it be served slightly chilled. The wine is their Tarrango 2008 (£6.29). Tarrango is the name of the grape variety. Never heard of it? Neither had I! It was developed in Australia’s Victoria state just over 40 years ago, crossing two lesser-known grapes. It had instant appeal, both cooled and at room temperature. On the nose, red berry fruit scents, then so different from
many from down under - nothing thick or heavy about it. In the glass it glowed like a ruby gem, in the mouth, refreshing and light. It was subtly dry yet satisfying fruit too, red cherries and raspberries. I was delighted, and I think readers will be - especially our winner, who will have two bottles to enjoy.
COMPETITION: For your chance to win the six bottles, send your answer to our question, with your name, address and telephone number, to our address or via the editor’s e-mail. Details on our back page.
Q. Which great river is the main boundary between Alsace and Germany?
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Hotter
half dozen
take up the three peaks challenge
Three peaks The Three Peaks Challenge is to climb the highest peaks of England, Scotland and Wales within a 24 hour timeframe. The peaks in question are: • Ben Nevis in Scotland at 1344m • Scarfell Pike in England at 978m • Snowdon in Wales at 1085m A team of six intrepid Hotter walkers are taking up the Three Peaks Challenge this summer in aid of the Mariana Dalgleish Appeal – all wearing Hotter’s GORE-TEX® boots. Alan Treanor, 22, who has worked as a Customer Service Advisor for 20 months, is the driving force behind the project. “I have arranged charity events almost every year since I was 13,” he explained to Comfort Club. “This year I wanted to step the challenge up a bit and after talking it through I decided on the Three Peaks Challenge, enlisting the rest of the Hotter Half Dozen to join me on this challenge of a life time.
Victor
mens GORE-TEX
®
Tour de Stores!
Hotter team get on their bikes
A team of four intrepid Hotter cyclists are setting off on their own personal cycling challenge this summer - the ‘Tour de Stores’ . Raising money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research the two wheelers are planning a 400 mile route over four days which
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will take in the majority of Hotter’s own UK stores – including two of our newest additions Eastbourne and Chichester. “A few of us have been cycling into work and recreationally for some time,” said Martyn Gordon who works in the accounts team, “but we wanted to give ourselves a focus over the winter, a challenge to train for. We knew we wanted to try a long distance and as
ALL SHOES FEATURED ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.HOTTER.COM
our discussions developed it seemed a logical idea to give it a Hotter theme and try to raise money for charity too.” The team, which also includes Personal Shopper Mark Titchener, Data Analyst Graham McCracken and Accountant David Jackson, will be wearing Hotter Tour de Stores shirts as they take to the roads from July 16th – so if you pass them on your travels give them a wave of support!
news round-up
Piece of cake! In our last edition of Comfort Club we were searching for a pair of shoe shaped cakes for our 50th birthday celebrations – look what we came up with! The huge shoe-shaped* birthday cake was used as a special treat for Skelmersdale based charity Twinkle House during our 50th birthday celebrations. With a chorus of 60 Hotter customers singing Happy Birthday to Hotter, our factory tour guide Peter Atherton and tour host Angela Robson presented Twinkle House's manager Jill Appleton with an impressive cake to remember. Stewart Houlgrave said : “We decided to donate our birthday shoe cake to Twinkle House for the staff, children and parents to enjoy, and it's thanks to each and every one who works here at Hotter that we have achieved this amazing milestone.”
*The shoe cake is Paradise, in Plum!
Birthday party celebrations In our 50th year we decided to pull out all the stops for our Christmas party with a black tie ball and casino. All our staff were invited, enjoying a festive meal and entertainment. Our famous (mainly) black and white lemur Hococo even managed to join in the fun!
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you’re amongst
friends
Inspired by this lovely photo of Heather and Frank Philips from Kent on their 1959 wedding day we decided to find out if 1959 means something special to you too. Perhaps it's the year you were born, the year you got married or when you started your first job? Simply post your entries to the usual address or email your stories to weloveshoes@hotter.com and put 1959 in the subject line. Hotter's MD Stewart Houlgrave (also born in 1959) will choose his favourites and the best will win a £50 Hotter voucher.
The Hotter story - or is it ... ? ooker (nee Here’s Margaret Br Hyde Park in in ing ax rel Weston) of shoes that ir pa 1948, wearing a g Melody! llin se st be e look just lik raphy og ot ph Margaret’s lovely t how ou ab ink th inspired us to er the ov d ge an ch s ha footwear s) ge pa re nt years (see our ce style d fin ll sti n ca and shows we es tim m inspiration fro . by ne go
Melody
Late last year we asked you to come up with stories for why we are called Hotter and you sent in lots of creative entries, we selected our favourite eight and asked our online readers to vote for their favourite - the winning entry came from Mrs P Jones of Wellingborough who said:
“Imagine a brand of shoes that are excellent quality, soft, stylish, elegant and above all supremely comfortable. They’re really hot! Now imagine even better shoes at affordable prices – they’re even Hotter! “ We love the idea Mrs Jones, thanks and well done – you’re prize will be with you shortly – and thanks to everyone else who took part.
All competition winners are announced in our monthly Comfort Club online – if you cannot access www.hotter.com please get in contact if you would like a print out of the list. Unless stated otherwise competitions in this edition close on St George’s Day.
Hotter Comfort Concept Shoes, 2 Peel Road, West Pimbo, Skelmersdale, Lancashire. WN8 9PT
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Customer Service: 0800 525 893 Personal Shoppers: 0800 083 3083 Melanie Killilea: 01695 712 720 Email: welcomeshoes@hotter.com Web: www.hotter.com
GORE-TEX®, GORE-TEX® GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY®, GORE-TEX® and designs are trademarks of W.L. Gore & Associates.