Batamini Spy

I spy with my little eye a pair of fabulous shoes on one of my favourite people. Toolz of the BeatFM...

I was going through my phone one day and someone's display picture caught my eye. It was a pair of legs in fabulous pair of shoes. I was so excited, it was like I was having a shoegasm moment. I immediately asked her to send me the image so I can share the picture with you guys.

what do you think?? Nice huh?

Batamini Story

This day I was having a chat with a very dear friend of mine. We got talking about Batamini and how many shoes I might have (I have no idea actually, I’ll try to do a count) and a painful memory came to mind.

A few years ago, we (my family and I) were moving into another house in England. We decided to do this move whilst I was on holiday in Nigeria with the kids (I hate moving houses). On returning to England into our new home, I discovered that my shoe room looked a bit lighter than normal (we always made room for my shoe collection). I didn’t think much of it and just assumed I had probably left some shoes in Nigeria (we were also considering moving back to Nigeria then). Anyway one faithful day, I decided to wear a pair of foxy knee high boots I bought when I was in Munich Germany, gosh wish I had a picture to shoe you. I looked everywhere for these boots and did not find them. I settled for another pair of shoes, but all day I was disturbed and upset about not finding them (see I am very passionate about my shoes, I can’t even bear throwing old shoes away or giving them out). I got home that evening and was having a conversation with my dear husband. We strayed to my shoes and I told him that it’s weird me looking for these boots (I described it) and I had the shocker of my life.

He said “oh, those boots, I gave all of them to Oxfarm”.

I was gasping for air, I thought I was going to die of shock. I muscled up some voice muscles and asked as quietly as I could “what do you mean “them”?”.

He said “all the boots, we are moving to Nigeria soon so I thought you won’t need them”.

OMG if I could I would have beaten him up like no man’s business (I’m not promoting violence but hey...those were my shoes!!!). I was in shock and was teary eyed. I could not believe someone who loves me would do that to me.

I don’t know if I’ve forgiving him for that. He gave about 10 pairs of my shoes away, including the pair of Burgundy snake skin Knee high boots I bought when we got engaged in Paris in 2001. Oh did I mention some cloths as well. He thought I had too many and I was not going to need them. Erm, let me decided next time please.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this story this week and as I type this, I’m getting upset all over again.... till next time it’s Batamini (yes MY SHOES).

Please share your shoe story with me, send me an email at batamini1331@gmail.com lots of love.

Batamini Story


Today I decided to wear my black court shoes from a store in the UK. I have two of this same pair of shoes in different colours. They are like the most comfortable shoes ever. I wear them almost everyday (the black ones I mean). I have so many black work shoes but I love the black version of this one so much I wear them all the time and this pair of shoes has become my regular daytime shoe.


(apologies, i took this picture at the end of a hectic day)

Batamini Scene- The BlackUp store opening.

French Beauty Brand black|Up Paris Berths It’s 1st International Store At The Ikeja City Mall, Alausa, Lagos

On the 22nd July 2012 at the Ikeja City Mall, Alausa, Lagos, Nigeria saw the launch of the first black|Up stand-alone shop outside Paris.

The Launch event took place at the new black|Up store with special guests and celebrities in attendance. This unique event featured live makeup demonstrations by a team of make-up artists headed by international Celebrity Makeup Artist and Creative Ambassador of black|Up, David Coranson.

Highlights of the day included special beauty presentations by professional models as well as guests being treated to beauty makeovers and an overflow of champagne and finger foods.

Here are some of the guests with fabulous shoes on! I was unavoidably MIA that day (shame)

                                                       Alali Hart & Elohor Asien

                                                       Alali & Nkiru Anumudu (not sure about her combination though)

                                                       Alali & Susan Eyo-Honesty

                                                       Vivian Chilogi, Alali & Titi

                                                       Bernie, Alali & Ngozi (love Bernie's pair of shoes)

Shoe Shame

My sister and I had to attend an event on a Saturday afternoon. We got all dolled up looking like we could be eaten up (no kidding). We got to the event, did the red carpet hoola looking all great and confident. We started walking to the entrance of the hall and the unimaginable happened, her shoe broke. It was like something out of a movie, a horror movie!!! I asked which part of the shoe broke and luckily it was her shoe strap. The unfortunate thing for us was that the pair of shoes needed the strap to hold it in place. So we had to look for the nearest ‘little girl’s room’ to try to sort out the shoe disaster. Now I don’t know how many people saw this happen but it was one of the most embarrassing seconds of my life and she must have felt worse.

In the ‘little girls room’ we found a way to hold the shoe together and we walked out like nothing happened. Luckily the usherettes found our seats pretty quickly so we sat and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Have you got an embarrassing story about your shoes or anything else, lets share it on batamini. send to batamini1331@gmail.com 

Love my shoes, love you all. 

Faking it... not my choice at looking good.

A brand of shoes I love and won’t mind spending some form of good money on is the Christian Louboutin brand of shoes. I love the way each pair of shoes look like they have been carefully handcrafted and put together by careful hands. Hmmm, it’s like being in shoe heaven when in the store and always having a shoegasm (you know what I mean). 

These shoes are so good looking every woman wants to own a pair. To an extent that some go ahead and knowingly purchase a Louboutin copy. 

My mantra about anything designer is that I either buy it or I don’t. You won’t catch me going around in fake or copied version of anything designer. If I can’t afford the real thing, I go for high street, no shame in that darling.

These fake imitations do not only affect the Louboutin brand (to an extent where they have set up a website to warn people about these fake products, www.stopfakelouboutin.com ), I recently read a story about Gucci suing an online store for calling itself Gucci and selling fake Gucci products, OMG I don’t understand why people do this. I think, instead of wasting time producing fake products of other people’s brands, why not start small and create your own brand. My thoughts… what do you think??? send me your comments about this please.

I went to the mall recently and I almost passed out at the number of ladies, strutting their stuff in glaringly fake pair of Louboutin shoes, I seriously don't know how they do it, you know, walking around confident that they are wearing fake designer gear.... on another note, I have said this before (I think), I love it when ladies strut in their high heels like they know wassup and can walk miles in them. I saw a lady at an event I spoke at recently and she wore a pair of black patent Louboutin, (the real one) and she looked good dancing Azonto in them. These are not the most comfortable design of shoes, but she rocked them well.

remember to send me a picture of your shoes and why you decided to wear them. send to batamini1331@gmail.com  lots of love.

hey batamini citizens remember to send me a picture of your shoes and why you decided to wear them. please send emails to batamini1331@gmail.com

If Looks gave Money

If I asked for N1000 for every time I got a compliment about my shoes or got a look at my shoes today, I’d be rich by now. I’d have enough money to buy a new pair of shoes and that’s no joke. 

I prayed for the rain to be minimal today and seeing as I was going to be mostly office bound with just one appointment outside the office, I decided to wear my Dehadza shoes. 

OMG I love these pair of shoes. They are so comfortable, I kid you not. You need to try these shoes on to believe me. At my meeting, the man had to say to me ‘wow, I love your shoes, where did you get them?’ I smiled and happily told him and he took details off me and we had a conversation about him loving fabulous shoes on ladies and he admires ladies who wear their shoes with such confidence... i.e like me (big smile). Compliments aside, he said he’d like one for his wife and we ended the conversation and continued our business meeting. Oh by the way, I mentioned I loved shoes so much I started a blog about shoes. He laughed and said he was going to suggest I sell shoes online as a side business... (story for another day).

I got great looks from everyone, spoken and unspoken and my confidence level went through the roof on a new high. Dehadza, I’ll be storming your store soon for another dose of Dehadza Ankara shoes. Proudly Nigerian!

                                          my Dehadza Shoes

Hello Batamini Citizens, how has your raining day been? Watch out for my next post on tips for your shoes this rainy season.

I find myself planning and thinking carefully before making any wardrobe decisions. No suede shoes, no nothing that can be ruined by water, phew gotta be careful with that decision.

Yesterday, I wore this patent pair of shoes I bought at Zara a few years ago, I really liked the shoes as it matched a Burgundy Karen Millen bag I have. 

Here’s what happened, I had a few appointments outside the office. On getting to my first destination, I realised after putting the car in park that I didn’t leave the house with an umbrella. I don’t really like running unless its a mega emergency, so I thought to myself, wow, I’m going to get wet. So I put all my stuff (notepad and phones) in my handbag (which is quite large) and stepped out of the car and walked to the office. In the middle of my walk, I stepped right into a puddle I didn’t see and that was how my shoe began to give way, so sad.  

Anyway, to cut the long story short, the heavy rain of yesterday did some damage to it and I might have to throw the shoes away. Will keep you posted on what happens after my visit to a shoe cobbler.

SHORT WOMAN SYNDROME (SWS)

I was reading through a magazine recently and it reminded me of a pair of spice girls trainers I had during my Uni days. Do you guys remember those sky high version of a pair of trainers. I hated flat shoes, don't buy them, don't wear them, so it was heaven sent when those pair of spice girls trainers were designed.

                                             I had those exact ones baby spice wore in that picture.

Back to what drew me to my back in the days shoe, there is this new syndrome in town, its called SWS meaning Short Woman Syndrome. I suffer from this syndrome at times, although I have brainwashed myself to believe that I am an average height  for a lady. Polly Vernon (who writes for Grazia, UK), doesn't like the new wedge-heel trainer which helps hide the fact that some of us are actually shorter than we appear to be. Don't understand why she doesn't like them though because to me it's like wearing heels. Don't you think?

Yes they may appear as flats but are not actually, but hey... Its a great innovation.

This pair of shoes is the hottest style this year and even though they cost almost equivalent of N100,000, the Beckett Original sold out in the UK.

Isabel Beckett wedge heel trainers . this retails at about $137

Polly describes a woman who wears a shoe that pretends to be flat but in reality is not as a SWS sufferer and a tall shoe wearing woman who wears her heels inappropriately (like going to the beach in heels or walking your dog in heels) as showing signs of SWS...

If I have SWS because I wear high heeled shoes (and I walk perfectly well in them) to sports games and also do casual walks in them, then so be it. God forbid anyone outside my family or friends finds out my exact height. Chai, the ground better open up...

There are different grades of SWS though, I think I might be suffering from a mid-level SWS, seeing as only selected people can know my real height.

Below are more wedge heeled trainers.

Chloe pair

Austin pair

Nine West

Nine West

What do you think of SWS and these wedge heeled trainers? 

What are you wearing today?

I told one of the friend of the house about Batamini today and just like everyone else she loves batamini (thanks again guys) and she sent me her picture of her pair of shoes and told me why she decided on this fabulous pair.

I must say, Ifeoma is one hot shoe stepper. I love her shoes, this one and the ones I've seen in the past. 

Batamini: Why you decided to wear these today?

Ifeoma: "Y I wore them? Cos the dress I'm wearing is colourful enough! And I wanted something comfortable and hot to dance in all night, since its Friday!!"

                                         Ifeoma

If you'd like to be featured on this page, send your images to batamini1331@gmail.com and why you chose to wear those shoes.

I am so sorry this post is late. I’ve been one way or the other dealing with my internet saga. You know how the signals of everything communication breaks down when it rains??? Yeah.

Anyway, so today’s Friday and I was in the mood to wear something very casual. I decided to wear a work tee shirt (with the name of the company clearly printed on) and a pair of jeans. My shoe of choice was this denim pair of shoes I bought..... Wait for it...... almost 16 years ago.

Yep. I bought this pair of shoes I think in my first year at Uni or when I just got into Uni, can’t remember but they have stood the test of time and I’m still rocking them. Guess what, I have never taken this pair of shoes for repairs at the shoe cobblers or anywhere. It’s been in tip top shape, not even a proper sign of wearing off, the heel is still in good condition 16 years down the line.

I love my shoes and find it very hard to get rid of any of them. Actually, let me put it this way, I collect them as well. Funny, i have quite a number of shoes that might be that old actually.

Don’t know if they make shoes that last this long anymore but I love my denim shoes. BATAMINI

thought I'd give the picture a black and white effect...

Shoe lover

I was going through my BB whilst waiting for a meeting to happen and I stumbled on this as someone’s DP picture and his status read “so you drove all the way to Paris to get a pair of these”. 

I thought this was so funny and yes as a shoe lover, I would probably do the same. If it’s a limited edition, if the waiting list in my resident country is longer than anything and if I have to travel to another country to get them, erm, I’m sorry, yeah, I will travel for them. 

By the way, the guy drove all the way from the UK to Paris for them. Worth it I’d say!

You could send me your shoe story and lets share it, batamini to batamini citizens. Email your story to batamini1331@gmail.com

                                         His Louis Vuitton sneaks

                                         his Louboutin sneaks

Batamini Story

My shoes today are this cream and yellow pair I found by accident at a store in lekki. I love this pair of shoes and they are so comfortable. 

I wore them today because my husband came home last night with a fabulous cream DKNY bag and I now have a philosophy of wearing new things immediately and not waiting for an “occasion”, life's too short. 

So this is my shoe look today. All black outfit with my cream and yellow shoes and matching new cream bag. Divine! 


Check out my buttery looking legs???

What are you wearing today?

I went to an office today and met Ms Funbi, told her about batamini and she was happy to be my "what are you wearing today" feature.

She looked simple and elegant in her skirt suit and pair of black shoes. I really like her shoes, they remind me of a pair I have which are similar to those actually.

                                                     Funbi

Batamini: Could you tell us why you decided to wear these shoes today.
Funbi: "I'm wearing this pair of shoes because they are very comfortable. i can walk around the office in them and also they give me poise and grace when I walk"


hmm Ms Funbi, I agree comfort must come first!

remember to send me a picture of you and your shoes and why you are wearing them to batamini1331@gmail.com

What are you wearing today?

Thank you guys for visiting batamini and also the comments and reviews I've been getting, much love.

So today, I went on a hunt to find ladies wearing nice shoes and then, telling them about batamini and getting them to pose for pictures. Watch out now, I might be approaching YOU next.

Batamini citizens, please make this easier for me by sending me a picture of you and the shoes you are wearing on a particular day and also mail me why you are wearing those pair of shoes that day. Send images and text to batamini1331@gmail.com watch this space, I will be giving away discount vouchers (and shoes *wink) every month to the batamini shoe lady that has the most comments.  (ha ha ha)

So I met this beautiful lady, who was having coffee with her boyfriend. Jayne was so nice and her boyfriend didn't mind us talking about shoes for a few minutes and me disturbing their bonding moment. Meet Ms Jayne and I love her shoes.

I have to say though, she looked really stunning on a Thursday afternoon and she wore the right outfit for her date.

                                          Jayne

Batamini: Please tell us why you decided to wear these lovely shoes today?
Jayne: "I'm wearing these shoes today because i felt like wearing something blue, plus i was meeting a special someone (my boyfriend) and i wanted to look really nice. I put in a little bit more effort"


No worries Jayne, BATAMINI LOVES.

batamini partners 

Hey Batamini citizens,

This month, Batamini has been able to do a deal with DEHADZA, a fabulous shoe store in Surulere, Lagos Nigeria.

Over the next few weeks, you will see me spotting one of the shoes from the Dehadza collection. They are fab shoes made with Ankara fabrics. BATAMINI LOVES!!!

Visit Dehadza @ Shop C23, Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall, Surulere, Lagos.
BB Pin 27179b3d

Shoe Story 

This shoe story is not actually a shoe story but a leg story. It is associated with shoes though, since shoes go on our feet and our feet are attached to our legs.... yeah???

Anyway, I hate it (and I say that with a passion) when I see beautiful ladies, wearing a skirt, a short dress or a pair of shorts, baring their legs and I clock the unbelievable...UN-SHAVED LEGS!!! To me, seeing a pair of un-shaved legs is the same as someone raising their arm up and we see underarm filled with hair.

Let me say this, I'm not perfect in the grooming department although I would say I try, but shaving your legs is all part of the grooming process and all part of the femininity process too.

For the ladies that do shave their legs, you would agree that after a shave, our legs feel like butter, so smooth you would want to rub on them all day. I used a shaving stick I got from one of the Sheraton Hotels in Frankfurt recently and my legs felt like butter, literary, I tell you no lie. I felt like hanging on to that shaving stick for life. My legs felt so smooth and I'm sure my partner felt it too.

There is always a special feeling or should I say buzz when your partner runs his hands down your very smooth shaved legs. aside from that, we look really nice and clean with our shaved legs under that fabulous skirt or short. if un-shaved, I think the legs look like monkey arms or legs coming out from under a skirt, dress or shorts.

You be the judge, what do you think??

 Looks like Beyonce forgot to shave before attending Her House of Dereon event

 There are quite a number of images of Monique and her hairy legs, I don't know maybe she just hates shaving....

Smooth like butter, try shaving. Your body will thank you for it.


I must say though, that yes ones you start shaving you must continue the tradition, but of course you have to. Its like shaving your head or your underarm, the hair is expected to grow back and yes, you do have to shave them off. The snag with the legs though is the fact that the hairs grow back like thorns, which is why you must shave regularly.

My Tip

•  On a 'I cant be bothered to shave' day, I wear a pair of long trousers, so no one would know and I'll do my leg shaving ritual on another day!
• Another tip is to shave legs while wet. My sister told me a story of her thinking dry shave might be best and she tried it. for about a week, she was in pain as it felt like she used the shaving stick to scrape her legs (not really funny but lol)
• If you don't like shaving, you could have your legs waxed. Be warned though, waxing hurts... or better still, use a shaving cream, there are so many of those around.

So I decided to go on this health walk with a local school in my area. The funny thing is, when I was invited to go on this walk, I told them I was the last person to ask because I don’t own a pair of flat shoes let alone a pair of trainers. They all laughed it off like it was a joke. I didn’t know how to react to that and thought not to bother explaining to them that I was serious.

I woke up on the Saturday morning, all excited to go on this walk. I don’t do much exercises and the most I do when I do exercise is swim, so I had no sportswear to go on this walk. After much deliberation and opening and shutting my closet, I decided on a pair of short jeans and a t-shirt and the shoe of choice was my most comfortable pair of wedges. 

I bought this pair on my trip to the US in 2008 and they are still as comfortable as ever. I could walk miles in them. Seriously!

When I arrived at the starting point of the walk, everyone thought I was joking until they saw me walking with them and I was doing it in heels. At one point one of the ladies pointed at my shoes and said I would be in extreme pain by the time we’re done walking and I had to say to her, no actually, I would be in extreme pain if I was wearing flats. 


At the end of the walk, I was in perfect form, no pain or anything.

People think it’s absurd that my feet would ache in flats instead of in heels, but it’s the truth. Anyone who knows me will confirm that I can walk and even run in my heels and won’t survive doing the same in flat shoes. I found a medical reasoning behind this. Read about it in my next post.

Love u all and I love my shoes.

Shoe Crush 

My shoe crush this week is on Victoria Beckham, I want her shoes, in fact, all of her shoes. I love her sense of style.

Sometimes, I don't quite agree with her clothes, but she makes up for it by strutting in fabulous, fabulous heels.

what do you think?

See what I mean about her sense of style. I love the very high waist belt.  My interest though is the black sandals

 Not too sure about these outfits but, hand over those shoes pls.

 The Dress, the Shoes I want (and maybe the man....... lol)

 You have to be adventurous with everything and it shoes Mrs Beckham is very very adventurous

 Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, hand them over pls

 Even when out and about with the kids, Victoria's shoes are still on point

 Who wouldn't want to drive a Range Rover in those heels???

Not too sure about the thigh high boots, but I love the ankle boots and the court shoes.










all images sourced from the internet.

MY EXQUISITE SHOES

Hello everyone, so I decided to start this blog because of my long time love for shoes and all things fashionable. I have to be honest though, its really because of my love for shoes and I feel the need to share this passion with everyone and also let all shoe lovers have this platform to show me their collection. Now in as much as I don't wear other people's shoes, we might have a few shoes in common with others and they can help purchase them.

My Brief Shoe Story
My love for shoes started as far back as I can remember, always trying on my mum's shoes.  Funny, I did have my own shoes which my mum bought me. I think she fueled my shoe addiction, because she would always buy me shoes and although I was grateful to her for them, I wanted high heeled ones and she thought they were not age appropriate for me at the time.

When that day came, when my feet were big enough and we began to wear the same size, it was like Christmas. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I wore her shoes all day and begged her till she gave me about two of them to start my collection with.

So there we have it, lots of years down the line and hundreds of shoes and counting, I decided to start my blog; BATAMINI, MY SHOES. I hope you like the Batamini blog and do place your comments, good or bad (smile)