Sumptuously soft sheepskin

Get set for the party season

You remember

1959

club

We love ournew stores

Enter our exclusive reader competitions inside

Winter 2010

Walking really was a pain,In the sun, the wind or rain,So thinking that I really "auter"?Buy some good new shoes from Hotter.They came in time for me to go,Off on my hols with wife in tow,The shoes were stuck on my aching feet,Then joy of joys, oh! what a treat.

No more aching, wobbly legs,Now springy steps on happy pegs,Hotter Comfort, I praise you well,May all your shoes just sell and sell.I'll purchase more you can be sure,I may be daft but won't be poor,As with your myriad of styles,I'll walk and walk for miles and miles.

Robert Burns, Farnborough

We’ve a feast of festive fun for you in our newest edition of Comfort Club magazine. The big build up to Christmas is upon us and there always seems to be more things to do than time to do them in!

Have a break from your preparations and spend some ‘you time’ enjoying our magazine, where we meet some interesting Hotter customers whose love of our comfortable shoes helps them enjoy their hobbies. We’ve also unearthed the world’s leading expert on shoelaces! Intrigued? We were, find out more from Ian Fieggen on page 5.

It’s important to keep your feet in cosy comfort this winter season so findout how to look ultra stylish and feel toasty warm in our newest sheepskin boots and we’ve suggested some inspirational Christmas present ideas for you too. Have a lovely time meeting friends old and new this Christmas – and remember don’t ever pass a Hotter store without popping in to say hello!

Kind regardsMelanie Killilea Editor, Comfort Club

H

If you’ve a man in your life – abrother, a son, a husband or just afriend – you’ll know that eternal festive dilemma .... what to buythem for Christmas.

So what’s practical (but more excitingthan a tool set), long lasting (evenlonger than that old jumper he refusesto throw away) and even more comfortable than his favourite armchair, ideally placed for viewing TV!Here’s five new Hotter men’s shoesand slippers that you might not havenoticed, Christmas gift inspiration – simple, thoughtful, dependable and .... comfortable.

Welcome

When Hotter Facebook fan Felicity Burkeposted a photo of her in a land army uniform wearing our Hotter boots, ofcourse we had to find out more!

It turns out that Felicity is an active member of living history group ‘The 20th Century Revisited’, and her attire was part of a fund raising weekend for Help for Heroes in Madeley, Shropshire.

“There are hundreds of reactors recreating a range of eras from the 20th century,” explained Felicity, who has six pairs of Hotter shoes. “I also wear my Hotter GORE-TEX® boots at Blists Hill Victorian Town near Ironbridge. Iwear Elegance with a 40’s outfit and Cha Cha with another Victorian outfit.”

Find out more at www.20crevisited.co.uk and why not post your photos on our Facebook page.

hotter comfortVintage style,

Behind the scenes - look at usshooting our Christmas photographycomplete with fake snow...

Keswick

Radar - £69 Detroit - £69

Dakota - £69 Vulcan - £79

Recline - £49

Hot new buys for menSign up…

…to our newsletter for the latest news and offers atwww.hotter.com

2 All shoes featured are available at www.hotter.com

Don’t let the wool be pulled over your eyes! Our range of sheepskin boots are made from premium quality, double sided sheepskin – the best there is. What’s more, you can rest assured that they uniquely include a raft of clever Hotterdesign details for comfort, support and stability including:

• Ankle support• Soft heel cushioning• Ultra lightweight and durable sole• Room for toes to flex• Removable insoles

We also have a sumptuously softsheepskin slipper - Shetland, availablein 4 colours

The Perfect Gift...

Sumptuously soft

In the eternal quest for footwear perfectionour industrious design team have struckupon another wonderful footwear marriage;uniting soft, cosy, stylish sheepskin with supportive, huggable Hotter comfort.

Order Davos, Klosters or Zermatt and your delivery manwill be delighted because these beautiful boots are aslight as air, literally – there are millions of natural air pockets in sheepskin which make it one of nature’s bestinsulators and our trademark Hotter soles are filled withmillions more air bubbles to give you shock absorbingsupport as you walk. But what’s good for the delivery manis good for you too, because this on-trend selection ofadorable boots is made from double-faced sheepskin.This ultra premium material is tanned with a colouredsuede leather finish on one side and a dense wool pile,shorn to a uniform length, on the other and it just happens to be one of the softest materials for human skinto touch. What’s more the natural properties of wool willwick moisture away from your feet guaranteeing dry ,cosycomfort whilst over time its extremely dense, soft andspringy surface will mould to the shape of your feet to give extra support.

Davos can be worn high or turned down to show its softerside – try it in neutral Black and Rust or try vibrant Loganberry if you want to stand out in the crowd. Calf length Klosters and fringed detail Zermatt both come in Black, Moss and Rust.

FreeTo keep your boots looking their best protectthem with our FREE Sheepskin and Suede

protector.

Zermatt - Moss

Davos - Loganberry

Davos

- Rust

Comfort

3All shoes featured are available at www.hotter.com

4 All shoes featured are available at www.hotter.com

Caro, from Sussex, contactedComfort Club to tell us abouther passion for lemurs afterreading about our fund raising knitting pattern.

Developing a passion for drawingwildlife after attending an artcourse seven years ago at LondonZoo, Caro soon fell in love with thering tailed lemur which obliginglyfollowed her round whilst shetalked to it and began to draw.

“This was the start of my fascination with lemurs and withMadagascar too, because it ishome to such a special collectionof creatures that occur nowhereelse on the planet,” said Caro whoowns eleven pairs of Hotter shoes.

“After my initial encounter withthis little lemur, I soon began todraw more animals, birds, dogsand horses, and I was recentlycommissioned to draw a babypanda! “added Caro who supportsconservation and animal charitieswhenever possible by donatingpostcards and prints to help raisefunds. Her work has helpedNewquay Zoo and Animal CareSamos, and she also sells herpaintings and donates a percentage to conservation organisations such as Bristol Zooand The Lemur Conservation Association.

When trailing round zoos, takingher dog for a walk and going oncountryside rambles, Caro wearsher Hotter shoes everywhere, saying: “It is very rare for me notto be wearing a pair, I seem tofind I’m always wearing one of my three pairs of Tone.”

Her enchanting paintings areoften included in exhibitions, most recently at Marwell WildlifePark and this year for the secondtime, Caro had a picture acceptedby the Society of EquestrianArtists for an exhibition at the MallGalleries in London.

Hococo the lemur has been attracting more attention,but this time from Hotter fan and artist Caro Brownhill.

Don’t forget you can download your own Hococo pattern for free from the Comfort Club pages at www.hotter.com or email us atweloveshoes@hotter.com

Lemursinspire artist Caro

To see more of Caro’s drawings andpaintings, why not visit her websiteat www.carobwildlifeart.net.

Caro wears one of her

three pairs of much loved

Tone when she heads off on a painting

expedition.

Customer story

Next time you bend to fastenyour shoes have a good lookat the laces... when he was 20Ian Fieggen did just that and,27 years later, he’s earned aninternational reputation as‘Professor Shoelace’.

Ian’s eureka moment came when he was trying to find a symmetrical way of tying his laces.He advertently developed a knotthat proved to be much faster totie than usual and the ‘Ian knot’was born. His twin passions -shoelaces and computers - led tothe creation of Ian’s Shoelacewebsite, which has received 15million visitors. His shoelace obsession has spawned a bookand more recently an iPhone app– yes that’s right, download Ian’sapp for step by step guides toeverything from lacing to knot tying.

The most common way of lacingshoes is the ‘criss-cross’, which we use on all Hotter shoes, although according to Product Design Director Paul Sayers,

many men prefer the straight lacing which Ian calls ‘shoe shop’ lacing.

Best for photography, however,says Paul is to have no lacesshowing underneath the straightlace, known by Professor Shoelace as the ‘straight bar’.

But laces are just the first part ofthe story because Ian, from Australia, has the answer to everyknotty question you might have.With comfy knots, long lastingknots and even decorative knots,including the noose inspired ‘halloween special’, you could gettied up investigating the myriad of opportunities for your footwear.

The science

of

“I tie my laces with an ‘Ian knot’ the world’sfastest shoelace knot; make a loop with bothends and simultaneously pull them througheach other to form an almost instant knot”,

Ian Fieggen, Professor Shoelace. * find an illustrated step by step guide on Ian’s website

lacesIf your shoe laces are not symmetrical it’s likely to be causedby an unbalanced Granny Knot.

On an average shoe with six pairsof eyelets there are almost two trillion ways to lace your shoe!

Did you know?

Five favourite lace-upsThe Hotter range includes lace-upsmarts, casuals and sporty stylesfor women and for men, here’sour five favourites:

1 Leanne

2 Vana

3 Shuffle

4 Mambo

5 Edge

Competition

Vana - £59

Mambo - £69

Edge - £69

Name that lace-up shoe!Win a pair of Hotter lace-ups byidentifying the shoe pictured atthe top of this page. Entry detailson back page.

We’re delighted to be bringing Hotter Shoesto you - we now have 11 very special comfort emporiums nationwide!

Step through the doors of any of our stores andyou’ll be amazed. Of course you’ll find all yourfavourite Hotter styles, bright colours, lovely softleathers (the comfort goes without saying!) but you’llalso notice the fabulous, light, airy surroundings andyou’ll be greeted by Hotter teams dedicated to finding shoes for you to fall in love with. We handpick new managers and staff because they love serving customers, they’re trained by our HQ experts so they know Hotter footwear inside and outand they’ll spend time with you to make sure ourshoes fit to perfection.

on your high street

Meet our HotterComfort CrewHere are a few of the Hotter facesyou might meet on your travelsand don’t forget to pop into ourstores anytime to say hello!

Visit Norwich to meetmanager Victoria Sparkes,who before taking up hernew role spent six months travelling aroundAustralia, New Zealand and Asiawhere her partner proposed to her inSingapore’s famous Raffles Hotel.

If you step into our Yorkstore, manager StuartCooke told us you couldbe served by Lin, whosefishing talents gained hera national angling title which paid thedeposit on her first home. Look outfor belly dancing Suzanne in York too!

Test your knowledge of our Hotterstore locations with this quick quiz.We’ll pick one entry with all the correct answers per store to win a£20 Hotter voucher, so don’t forgetto nominate your local store onyour postcard (if there’s no storenear you just write HQ and we’llpick a mail order winner too!)

• Which Victorian seaside town wasthe site of our first Hotter store?

• Which is the walled city in the North West location of another Hotter store?

• Which is the only London borough with a Hotter store?

Send your answers to the addresson the back page.

Bring yourcomfort cluband a friendinto your local Hotter storeand we’ll giveyou both a £5 voucher.

Voucher is for full priced products only.One per customer. Expires Dec 24th 2010.

Competition

In Bournemouth, Siobhan is training tobe ahypnotherapist, whilst Alex is an apprenticewith the National Trust who simply can’t giveup his Hotter Saturday job as he loves it somuch. Store manager Debbie Marsh added:“we once had a hen party call into the store to buy shoesas they were all wearing uncomfortable high heels ... theywere dressed as nurses!”

Find our stores...You’ll find Hotter stores in Bath,Bournemouth, Bromley, Canterbury,Chester, Chichester, Eastbourne,

Kendal, Norwich, Southport and York. We’re planning to have 25Hotter storesopened by the end of 2011 so keep an eyeout for all the latest news by signing up toour newsletter at www.hotter.com or following us on Facebook. Find store addresses and opening times on our‘Store Locator’ page on our website.

Sumptuously soft sheepskin

Get set for the party season

You remember1959

club

We love ournew stores

Enter our exclusive reader competitions inside

Winter 2010£5Voucher...

7

Claret Patent £69La Cruz

Inspired by the beautiful tones ofour fabulously party style La Cruz,we asked our wine expert GrahamGendall Norton to investigateClaret for Christmas......

By Graham Gendall Norton

Christmas

The very mention of claret conjures up eithermen in wigs in some 18th century setting, orthe outrageous prices paid for a Château this or a Château that from a year of the finest vintage.

Claret is red from Bordeaux and the majority of the wines made there are that colour. Oddly,when the growers first started exporting toEngland in the middle ages it was more thecolour of a rosé so it was called ‘clairet’, whichmeans pale in French.

From Marks and Spencer, we have four bottlesto discuss, all excellent for the festive seasonand available to win in our seasonal competition. Let’s begin with the reds.

Bordeaux has a complex method of classifyingwines, which in the past never gave the names

Claret for

This year we’ve got Christmas coveredwith shoes for parties, slippers for presents and lots of lovely leather gifts foryour loved ones. Throughout the run up tothe festive season there’ll be 101 things todo, to remember and to buy, so to makeyour Christmas plans as comfortably simple as possible here’s a few Hottershopping suggestions. Just call to orderand we’ll deliver direct to your door - likethe red suited man himself!

Spread some

comfort and joy!

Uncle Ken Enjoy your skiing tri

p

in Jan!

Cousin Melody

To keep all that make

up tidy xx

Albany - £40Black leather wash bag

Elizabeth - £35Red leather cosmetic case

and mirror8 All shoes featured are available at www.hotter.com

For your chance to win the four bottles mentioned here,courtesy of M&S send your answer to the followingquestion to the address on the back page.

Q. If you love Merlot, which Bordeaux area appellation should you look for?

of the grapes in the bottle, but exactly where it camefrom. However, there’s an easier way out if you’re not awine buff, a general category, called Appellation Bordeaux Contrôlée. M&S’s ‘Classic Claret’, vintage2008 (£6.99) is a good example. There’s a savourynose, with strong raspberry notes. In the glass, thecolour is an appetising deep ruby. You might find thefirst sip a bit sharp, though it’s unoaked. Here’s my tip,double decant - pour into a jug and then back into thebottle. Give it five minutes in your glass (half full, neverto the brim) to open up. Those sharp tannins are muchmuted, just right to balance the black cherry fruit and atouch of liquorice. Now it’s smooth, including the finish.

Another general category is Bordeaux Supérieur. Mostsupermarkets and wine merchants work with reliablefirms – négociants, which often both buy wine andmake their own. This “Classic Claret” was provided byrenowned Sichel.

The main grapes used in red Bordeaux are CabernetSauvignon and Merlot with, to a lesser extent, CabernetFranc. If you’re a lover of Merlot, look for Saint-Emilionon the label, like our second Claret, Château RoserieDumont 2009 (£7.99). The family vineyard which itcomes from has gone for a modern style, full of fruit,unchallenged by any oak -spending no time in the barrel - as can be expected, good moderate balancinggrape-skin tannins.

These two reds go well with festive fare, roasts, turkey,beef, and cheeses. We have two further Bordeaux,whites, the first, their own Sauvignon Blanc 2009(£6.99) again via Sichel, from the most vaunted part ofBordeaux for this grape, Entre-Deux-Mers. Unoaked,with lemons on the nose, makes a fine aperitif, as doesBergerac 2009 (£5.99) a blend of the former grape with

Semillon, giving a slightly sweeter hint to a sophisticated blend, Muscadelle. Though not within theBordeaux classification, it adjoins it and the wine makercomes from there, so, a good country cousin!

Jane - A perfect match

for those lovely Hotter

shoes you bought!

MumKeep warm and cosy,

with love xxx

For me! Just a little

something special to

keep me comfy at the

Christmas party!

Beatrice - £25Woven leather belt available

in 3 colours

Wrap - £45Soft suede slipper available

in 3 colours

Broadway - £69Available in a choice of 5 colours

Competition

9

Heather and Geoff Phillipswere married on a BankHoliday as his mother ranthe village shop and PostOffice which was closed all weekend. For their honeymoon they flew to Guernsey – their first flight.

On Easter MondayMichael and Valerie Siggins married in Bromborough on theWirral after meeting at a Church Youth Social.

Simone Farrer of Abernathy

sent us a photo of her dad,

one year and four days old,

at the 1959 wedding of her

Great Uncle John Farrer and

Great Auntie Doreen.

10 All shoes featured are available at www.hotter.com

Vivien and David Garrard

both worked in their

family hardware store in

Ipswich. As Wednesday

was half day closing,

they worked until 12noon and were married

in the afternoon.

Wedded bliss...

Practical jokers Joan and

John Bracegirdle returned

from their September 195

9

wedding to discover a larg

e

plastic stork on their

chimney, a washing line f

ull

of baby clothes and the

contents of their salt and

sugar bowls swapped

around!

p o s t

Last year we celebrated a fabulous milestone for Hotter - our 50th birthday so we asked

Our 1959memory box

11

Jane Cole, from Groby, finished school on her 16thbirthday in July 1959, andtwo days later started workin one of the local shoe factories. Whenever shesmells new shoes the memories of those daysflood back. Here she is with her daughter, son and

grandchildren on the Great Wall of China(wearing her Hotters!)

F irst Job...Travelling 250 miles fromher home, Patricia Meebegan Teacher TrainingCollege – a career which

lasted over 40 years.

New home...After three years living withparents Joan Durling andher husband bought ‘ourhouse’. “It was a strugglemanaging money from payday to pay day, to savemoney I made most of my own clothes and myhusband did the d.i.y.

and down under...

In February 1959 Mrs A

McDermott began her big

journey on a train from

Nottingham to Tilbury and then

by boat to Australia - for £10.

Meanwhile 18 year old Julie

Matthews was one of 32 girls

in the Luton Girls Choir taking

part in a three month tour of

Australia and New Zealand.

c a r d

you to send in your special memories of 1959, the year wewere established. We loved yourstories so much we decided tocreate a Memory Box – we’ve included as many as possiblehere, and we’ve crammed in evenmore in our online Comfort Club;sign up to our newsletter atwww.hotter.com so you don’tmiss out. Thank you to everyonewho took the time to reply, we’re just sorry we couldn’t

include them all.

Send in your stories, photos and competition entries to Melanie Killilea, Editor, Comfort Club, Hotter Shoes, 2 Peel Road,Skelmersdale, WN8 9PT or email weloveshoes@hotter.com.

Unless otherwise stated competitions in this edition will close on 24th December 2010 – winners details will be printed in our online Comfort Club at www.hotter.com or contact the Editor for a full list.

Customer Service: 0800 525 893Personal Shoppers: 0800 083 3083E: weloveshoes@hotter.comW: www.hotter.com

Hotter Comfort Concept Shoes@hottershoes

corner

Ode to Hotter ShoesI think it was about half past three

When a man in a van brought a parcel to me

I said to the man, “this is good news,

You’ve just delivered my new Hotter shoes”.

I opened the box with a grin and a smile,

And just stood there admiring them for quite a while.

I put the shoes on and walked with aghast,

How I’ve suffered with pain and grief in the past.

Some shoes are alright, to be honest and fair,

But with this lovely pair I am walking on air.

So, if ever I am down and feeling the blues.

I just smile and think of my new Hotter shoes.

John Derek Hill, Lancashire

Hotters are the shoes to buyWhen you wear themYou’ll wonder whyYou never bought beforeThe shoes delivered to your door

So stylish, comfortable and smartWith them you’ll never want to partThe colours with so much to chooseYou’re really spoilt for choice

So be a Hotter fan like meIt won’t be long before you’ll see That to walk the Hotter wayYour feet will thank you every day

Mrs Spencer, Essex

PoetryWe love hearing about your tales and seeingyour photos, we especially love poems, so wethought we’d share a few with you, we hopeyou enjoy them as much as we did.

Send us your poems and letters to weloveshoes@hotter.com or upload them to our facebook page.

Walking really was a pain,In the sun, the wind or rain,So thinking that I really "auter"?Buy some good new shoes from Hotter.They came in time for me to go,Off on my hols with wife in tow,The shoes were stuck on my aching feet,Then joy of joys, oh! what a treat.

No more aching, wobbly legs,Now springy steps on happy pegs,Hotter Comfort, I praise you well,May all your shoes just sell and sell.I'll purchase more you can be sure,I may be daft but won't be poor,As with your myriad of styles,I'll walk and walk for miles and miles.

Robert Burns, Farnborough