The Restory: Reviving and Refashioning Your Holiday Shoes & Bags

Summer is here at last, faraway places, beaches, yachting and the social season beckon. There is a plethora of fantastic destinations where one can go to unwind, recharge and enjoy the benefits of stepping away from the everyday routine. For some, that escape is a stunning beach in The Maldives or Fiji, for others it is time to hop over to the yacht in Monte Carlo or Lake Como, or relax and unwind by surfing in Bora Bora.
And whilst travel most definitely broadens the mind, it can take its toll on our favourite accessories. The Restory, Vogue Magazine’s go-to shoe and handbag restoration service, have a few pointers to keep things not just functional but also fabulous when travelling.
The best way to protect shoes and bags when it comes to packing, if you want to keep their shape, is to stuff them with rolled up tissue paper, or combine socks and pumps as a nifty ergonomic combination. Also, it really helps to wrap shoes in something soft or place them in their original dust bags. If those aren’t to hand, eco bags from the local store are a great stand-in and the soft material means a snug fit over the whole of your shoe and no tears in your delicate silk cover-up.
Remember that although suitcases are packed on their side they spend much of their time upright, so pack your heavier items near the wheels to ensure heavy toiletries and cosmetics don’t crush delicate pumps and heels. You don’t want to arrive at your destination and find that your heels have lost a few inches on the journey!
A travel shoe and leather care kit is a great idea, make sure it has brushes, polish, suede cleaning block and dusters for on the go maintenance. Another great addition is a sewing kit for any temporary repairs that might need to be carried out.
But despite all your best efforts to take care of things, the odd mishap occurs. For example, you find that whilst lying on that idyllic beach in St Tropez your sunscreen has exploded all over the lining of your favourite beach bag. Or your most comfortable deck shoes are no longer in their original pristine state after sunset walks on Coopers beach in The Hamptons. Maybe after indulging in a serious bout of shopping in the markets of Cape Town the handle of your most capacious tote has given up. Well there is a very simple and effective solution.
A call or browse to The Restory will solve this and any other shoe or handbag repair you can imagine. The Restory are an on-demand shoe and handbag restoration service whose highly skilled craftsman can return even the most damaged piece to its’ original state. Their skills mean linings can be repaired or replaced, hardware on luggage and bags taken care of and shoes thoroughly cleaned and renewed.
The Restory, with their ethos of revive, repair and reimagine are leading the way when it comes sustainable, circular fashion. Their underlying philosophy is to care for and maintain our quality purchases, preserving their value, associated memories and heritage. These superbly designed luxury items should exist for more than just a few seasons or even just a few outings. The Restory’s skills and experience ensure that investment pieces and beloved items are kept fit for purpose, improved and enhanced according to our needs.
Perhaps the favourite bag or shoes are simply not in fashion any more, the colour has faded or jars with your latest outfit. Then The Restory can very simply advise and consult on changing the look, colour or tone of the bag or shoes. Their Head of Atelier is also a designer so you can share your creative vision, collaborate or just look to her for inspiration to refashion them in keeping with the latest trends, update them to fit with your latest style or just repurpose them to keep them fresh for you and your friends to appreciate anew. Why lose an incredible design to fickle fashion when it can be made bespoke for you, improving it further with your own creative input, with a little help from the experts of course.
Supreme quality, swift service and ease of use are vital to any luxury service. The Restory will dispatch a consultant to meet with you at your convenience where they will discuss what you would like to achieve. They will then whisk away the damaged item to their Atelier where skilled craftspeople with decades of experience and artistic talent are put to work to restore your pieces. Once the restoration is completed, the item is beautifully packaged up with tissue, dust bags and returned to you, within 72 hours, at a time and place of your choosing. Getting your treasured bag or shoes back, now immaculately repaired or refashioned, feels a lot like Christmas