Talking Shoes, Style & Comfort at #HotterWinchester

I’ve been singing the praises of Hotter shoes for quite a while now, so you can imagine my delight when I heard there would be an event hosted for local bloggers at Hotter’s Winchester shop on Friday 2nd October.

If you’re not familiar with Winchester, it’s a city in Hampshire and home to this beautiful cathedral where Jane Austen was laid to rest.

Edit- I have a Hotter discount code for you! See details at the bottom of this post.

And of course, for the best shopping experience possible, Winchester has its own Hotter store on the High Street!

Upon arrival we met the lovely Jenni and a little later the equally lovely Mel, who make up Hotter’s PR team. It was wonderful to finally meet the ladies who I’ve had all kinds of email, Twitter and Instagram traffic with over the last few months.

If you don’t already follow Hotter across various social media platforms, then you sadly won’t have seen how fabulous the ladies are at interacting with Hotter lovers across the world. I don’t think I’ve ever had as much communication with a brand, and Hotter really set themselves apart through their dedication to transparency and creating relationships with their customers.

Here are links to Hotter’s Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest accounts (now you have no excuse!).

So, having met Jenni first of all, the next thing we spotted was of course the food table! It was dinner time, more or less, after all. Hotter laid out a great little spread of nibbles for us and there was Prosecco, orange juice and water for us all too. We really were so well looked after.

Oh, and I should probably explain that the reason I keep saying ‘we’ is because Hotter were lovely enough to let me bring a guest, namely my mum! Although I’m currently back at home, we rarely actually do things together out of the house, so it was really wonderful to be able to bring her along.

Once we managed to tear ourselves away from the macaroons and profiteroles, we had a wander around the shop to see what Hotter’s Autumn/Winter Collection is all about. I took SO many photos, and here are a fair few of them:

Above you’ll see the beautiful Ivy Biker Boots which you may well recognise these from this earlier post. I wore them to the event itself and had some lovely compliments from other bloggers who tried them on after seeing how I styled them (there’s a photo below and another two at the end of this post) which is a pretty big compliment in itself! At the moment they’re my go-to off duty shoes.

In fact, ankle boots seem to be the name of the game in this collection.

I love the exposed zip detail on the Vanity heeled boots, above. Online they also come in a beautiful purple jewel colour.

Another big trend which Hotter have included in this collection is masculine-inspired footwear.

From brogues to loafers to moccasins, there are little accents on many of the styles which lend a more tailored edge the designs. With this in mind, when Hotter gave me the opportunity to choose a pair of shoes on the evening (thank you!), I went for the Shipley Kilties in black, as you’ll see below.

I would definitely wear them with what I wore on Friday night when I tried them on, as you’ll see below.

Just add the Ivy Biker Boots to this look and this is how I styled my outfit for the event. But back to the kilties above, there will be a blog post very soon about this gorgeous pair.

Another gorgeous pair were chosen by my own mum! After much deliberation, she went for the Nicola heels. They are the perfect party shoes for the colder months.

When I write up my post on the Shipley Kilties, there will also be much better photos of Nicola so you can admire them as they ought to be, too. #MotherDaughterHotterMoment

Speaking of heels, there were quite a few in this collection, with my favourite being the different T-Bar styles.

Although Hotter is of course known mostly for shoes, some may be surprised that they make beautiful accessories, too. The shoulder and clutch bags are gorgeously made, and available in a range of colours, sizes and designs.

Also, the Belle boots, as seen on the top shelf, above, were very popular with a lot of the bloggers on the evening.

Speaking of which, all of us sat down for a short presentation given by Mel about the history of the company, and how they progressed from making slippers back in 1959 to applying the theory that all footwear should be as comfortable as slippers to their products today.

Mel also talked about the very exciting news that Hotter was recently awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise! I’m sure you’re wondering, as we were, which shoes Mel wore to Buckingham Palace. Well, wonder no more as she chose the Valetta vintage style dress shoes. Beautiful!

I know this has been quite a lengthy post, but I can’t leave it without mentioning the Hotter Buses. If I could knit, I would definitely have made one of these already. They are the adorable little Hotter mascots which travel around the country, and you can download the knitting pattern by heading to this page.

Oh, and below is a somewhat grainy video showing a little bit of the shop as well as the nibbles being enjoyed by the sons of the lovely Anya from Older Single Mum.

So, today I ventured out in my gorgeous Shipley Kilties for the first time, and I can’t wait to show them (and my mum’s Nicola heels!) to you in all their glory very soon.

In the mean time, why not grab a cuppa and have a gander at Hotter’s website? I reckon you just might be pleasantly surprised.

Charlotte x

One more thing- a few slightly blurry post-event shots! Very happy with mine and mum’s gorgeous new shoes.

 As mentioned in the post, at the event I was asked to choose a pair of shoes from the collection, which I will review on my blog. I have not been paid in any way to write this post or any subsequent post relating to Hotter or the Shipley Kilties/Nicola Heels. All thoughts are my own and 100% honest.

HOTTER 10% DISCOUNT CODE: PNDTEN

Valid until 24th December 2015.

The code entitles readers of The Brezel Diaries to 10% off and free P&P on their first order with Hotter.  (Terms and conditions: 10% off plus FREE delivery is for first orders only. You are entitled to 10% off the total order value of any full priced items in the Hotter range (excluding shoe care products) plus FREE delivery. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional offer or on Sale or Factory Clearance items and gift vouchers.)

*In the interest of full disclosure: we were given the opportunity to choose a pair of shoes each for the purpose of an honest review. There has been no payment for this post, and all thoughts are honest and our own.