Never been into fairies, but this one had some expensive fairy dust.

I saw this accessory on a recent trip to Christchurch and thought what a great idea to be able to dress up a shoe by wrapping this ‘Fairy Gaiter’ around the ankle and up your leg. The elderly and very helpful shop assistant told me I could also wear it as a necklace and/or around my wrist.   This looked like the perfect accessory, made of smooth satin and exquisite lace.  I was sold and wanted it.  She had a great selling technique and it seemed such a simple idea yet so effective.  I was then gobsmacked when I asked how much it was – can you guess?

Before I reveal the answer perhaps I need to tell you a little about the brand, Wolford as I didn’t know anything about them.  The company was founded in 1949 by Walter Palmers and Reinhold Wolf, located in Austria, and is a marketer and manufacturer of woman’s hosiery, lingerie and ready-to-wear of the highest quality, with uncompromised style and elegance.  Some say the brand feels like a ‘second skin’. Wolford has worked with international designers as far back as the early 1980’s including Karl Largerfeld, Emilio Pucci, Missoni, Zac Posen, Valentino and Philippe Starck.  In the 1990’s, Emmanuelle Alt of French Vogue described the “Black stockings” by Wolford (in a campaign shot by Helmut Newton in 1995 in Monte Carlo) as one of her top fashion favourites. So a few hints along the way, would make you start thinking that can’t be quite as cheap as I am thinking. I was presuming somewhere around $30-50 (as a little bit of lace and some satin isn’t expensive and labour costs can’t be high). The actual retail price was $260!!  Initially I thought it was $26 but I was obviously only seeing what price I wanted it to be. I somehow misplaced the other zero. The last question to ask is – did I buy it?

Helmut Newton for Wolford & Missoni for Wolford

Fairy Gaitor