My happy place October 20th 2022
Me and the beach….
Welcome to Jane's lifestyle section, where you can get insights into her lovely homes and interior ideas. Jane has a beautiful property in Portugal, which she has lovingly restored and decorated with fabulous white French style furniture to create light and airy interiors. In complete contrast to this stunning, sunny property, is her gorgeous Arts & Crafts cottage in Surrey, which has a quintessentially English feel to it, steeped in tradition and exquisite style. Come on in and enjoy a glimpse behind closed doors!'
Victoria Gray, Lifestyle Editor, S Magazine.
Me and the beach….
Covid and Lockdown have changed my mind completely about starting again in business with a new collection of flat shoes and Ballerinas that was planned for last year.
A few sizes are still available, Be Quick and Buy Now!
Princess Diana has once again hit the headlines and so I am offering a brand new re-launch of her favourite shoes from when she was a customer of mine back in 1989 through until her tragic death.
The past three months of lockdown have been a nightmare for everyone the world over. The fear of Covid is everywhere and for most people the past few months have been a massive challenge in keeping their sanity!
I will be launching my new eponymous collection of hand made French Ballet Flats at MICAM in September of this year - Covid 19 permitting!
Well here it is, the sad day I hoped would never come. My wonderful, iconic heritage brand French Sole…
Christmas is almost upon us and once again we have welcomed a new dog into our family!
I simply adore eBay. When I sold French Sole and retired three years ago, I had amassed over two thousand pairs of shoes, all brand new and mostly samples, which I had kept over the years in a storage unit that I seldom visited.
Another question that seems to come up over and over again is “Are you still wearing French Sole shoes?”
A regular question I often get when bumping into my old customers from the early Munster Road or Ellis Street days is - “What ever happened to…” followed by the name of one or more of my amazing girls who were all such an important and integral part of the French Sole story back in the heady days of the Charity Sales and Princess Diana.
The New Year brought a flurry of emails from people wanting to know what is going on at French Sole?
After I sold French Sole back in late 2017, I planned to completely retire, do nothing at all - just laze around enjoying life, my grandchildren and planning renovations in my garden.
Christmas and the New Year are now safely over. The turkey carcass has been thrown away, the decorations are back in the attic, thank you letters have all been written and posted and finally the New Year's Resolutions written out and stuck onto the fridge door for a quick reminder, should I lapse and forget them.
I spent this summer at my villa in Portugal with my family and grandchildren who were visiting from their home in California. Lovely long days spent at the beach - mainly watching out for huge and horrible Portuguese “Man of War” jelly fish!
In my long absence, French Sole was quietly sold and taken efficiently into new owner/management, so I can now relax and say officially “I have retired”.
I was spending the summer at my villa in Portugal with my children and their friends that August. The day started as usual, pretty late as we had all been out the previous night. Brunch was over by mid-day and as began our day of wandering down to the beach or settling down by the pool. That was until someone turned the television on and the holiday turned into sorrow, shock and sadness.
Following the launch of my new Heels Collection I am looking forward to celebrating yet another amazing milestone - French Sole is nearing it's thirtieth year!
Yes, it's official - I have designed my first ever collection of mid-height (2.5”), super cool, traditional court shoes for genuine 24/7 wearability.
Gentleman's Smoking Slippers or Opera Slippers as they are sometimes called, were a unique fashion phenomena during the Victorian era and exclusive to the upper class and aristocratic Englishman who would have these “manly” versions of a house slipper made to order especially to match their silk, embroidered – and often quilted - smoking jackets, which would be worn on evenings that were spent at home, perhaps playing cards with friends while they enjoyed the pleasure of smoking cigars.
I love long boots and almost as soon as the first signs of Autumn approach, I am always the first person in the office to start wearing boots. Hardly have I put away my summer sandals, than out come all my gorgeous long warm, comfortable boots.
I first met Barbara Hulanicki fifty years ago.
Clare Finney, Editor of Marylebone Journal interviews Jane on her favourite French Sole styles for the August 2016 issue.
The debate surrounding heels versus flats in the workplace seems to have stirred much discussion and controversy around appropriate dress codes in the office recently. More than 100,000 people including a number of MPs have signed a petition to ban companies from making high heels a condition of female dress codes. I am very much in agreement that formal flats should be considered a highly suitable alternative and no woman should be forced to wear heels. I am such a believer in this that I have continued to produce and design both comfortable and stylish flats for my brand French Sole.
Finally we have sunshine and spring is very definitely in the air.
The daffodils in my garden did not suffer at all from their early blooming and now the bluebell wood is in full colour and looks amazing. My little dachshund Daphne is addicted to the scent in my Bluebell garden and will madly run around for hours through the flowers.
Collaborations are always inspiring and to work alongside anyone with strong ideas is always a challenge for me as I am “never wrong”! However, when “great minds” think alike - the end result is often spectacular, which is exactly how Mrs. Alice for French Sole came about.
To celebrate Christmas and the New Year I thought it would be fun to have a Christmas raffle competition, which will give all the entrants a great opportunity to win one of three great prizes!
This year has flown by. For me it has been a fun filled time - a new grandson Stanley was born, my mother celebrated her 92nd birthday and with my American grandchildren and family and all the other grandchildren we spent a blissfully happy summer. I have no complaints about the English weather - I simply love it. Summer in England for me is magical - my garden is gorgeous and in August, London is empty and parking plentiful and easy. I even love the winters here - I wear fur!
I first met Rosie Fortescue a couple of years ago and we started talking about our dogs! Rosie was always my favourite “Made in Chelsea” girl - we decided that we both wanted to help Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and since Rosie and I each have miniature dachshunds - mine is Daphne and hers is Noodle - we designed a shoe together embroidered with our little “daxies”! So the Little Dax shoe was born. A gorgeous black suede Hefner style slipper with the Little Dax embroidered across the front of both shoes.