SLIPPERS are having a moment. Scratch that. Slippers are having their moment - and it’s been a long time coming. Footwear so comfortable, so dependable, so functional, so everything, was always deserving of the spotlight. And if Crocs can stage a coup and get away with it, slippers deserve their soft shuffle centre stage.
Swanky slippers are out and about at present and Akshata Murty - heiress, businesswoman, fashion designer, venture capitalist and spouse of this quarter’s UK prime minister - was snapped wearing a handsome pair that retail for £570. They were beauties. Soft tan suede with shearling lining, a good sole and chunky gold buckles on the top… what wasn’t to love? They’re by JW Anderson too, who you might know as the man who designed Rihanna’s SuperBowl outfit and who is less well known as a graduate of Magherafelt.
Does he have the freedom of Magherafelt? Can he herd sheep down the main street? Does he have a giant key? If the answer to any of those questions is no, Mid Ulster District Council needs to step on it.
Someone else whose love of a good slipper has been getting some much deserved attention is Prince William.
While liveblogging the Baftas a journalist for the Guardian shared a story about the prince’s preparations for the London premiere of Top Gun: Maverick. William and Kate had already availed of private screening thanks to Tom Cruise who also invited them to Leicester Square for the premiere. Such was the future king’s excitement that he commissioned a pair of velvet slippers with embroidered aeroplanes which he wore with black tie and, according to journalist Stuart Heritage, William pointed them out to each and every member of the cast during a lengthy meet and greet.
You can call it a dress shoe, a velvet slip-on if you will, but we all know it’s a formal slipper and that Kate’s inside voice was screaming “IF HE MENTIONS THOSE PLANES ONE MORE TIME”.
To be fair, William has probably gotten great wear out of them since. He does a lot of meet and greets, a lot of nodding and smiling. Imagine the pick-me-up you’d get when you glanced down at your velvet slippers with their cheery little aeroplanes. You can’t put a price on relieving the tedium of boring meetings.
The next big celebrity black tie event the couple attended was the Baftas and Kate made William leave the aeroplane slippers at home because it was her turn. She had taken charge of the leftover velvet and had it made into a pair of opera gloves. And she paired those full length black velvet gloves with an Alexander McQueen dress that she last wore to the 2019 Baftas and ‘updated’ by replacing the corsage on the shoulder with a “flowing sweep of white chiffon”. Isn’t she handy with needle and thread all the same?
Hold on a rootin’ tootin’ minute - did Kate embroider those fighter jets onto the velvet slippers for the Top Gun: Maverick premiere? If so, imagine what she might rustle up for the coronation. All eyes on Wills’ feet come May 6 please.
Mr Blobby is back on the market
A few short weeks after Sleb Safari cursed its misfortune at being outbid for an original Mr Blobby costume on eBay and fate intervened - the sale has fallen through.
Rumour has it the winner of the £62,000 eBay bid backed out, leaving Mr Blobby, that beloved pink and yellow polka dotted demolition machine from Noels’ House Party, still looking for a home.
The seller had warned “the two arms require re-attaching to the body, one of the plastic eyes is cracked, and the bow-tie will need securing” so that explains why bids only reached 60k.
Sleb Safari is going to speak to the bank first thing, get the house remortgaged and get itself onto eBay. Blobby’s coming home.
Amanda and Alan's Italian Job
In need of some gentle TV viewing after the drama of Happy Valley? Allow Sleb Safari to recommend the most feel-good of feel-good shows - Amanda and Alan’s Italian Job on BBC1. It’s Alan Carr and Amanda Holden renovating an apartment she bought for one euro in Sicily and it’s eight 30-minute episodes of laughter, gorgeous Sicilian landscapes and enough tile and paint samples to keep interior decorator heads happy. Sleb Safari recommends you watch it all in one evening and then book flights to Palermo.
