A Web of Shoes

Long before multiply and ebay.ph were a hit in the local scene, I was already bidding and buying products from international online shops. Like any neophyte, I had a handful of “what-was-I-thinking” purchases—mostly, due to very limited information provided by the seller. Items that I ordered would arrive late, or be mishandled, or it didn’t even look like the one that was posted in their website.


Charge it to experience and money wasted, I am now wiser and cautious when it comes to online shopping. One online retailer that I am including in my list of favorites is Five by Five. Established by Nicole Warren earlier this year, her virtual store offers weekly updates on shoe styles with full details: “We try to provide customers with an online shopping experience. Most shops are limited in terms of posting one or two photos and a short description of the item. Five by five realizes that online shoe shopping has certain constraints. One important factor being that you can't physically try on the item. Therefore we post several photos of the item in different angles including shots of the item while worn. We give measurements of the heel height, material used, whether the sole is treaded etc. Essentially, we provide the customer as much information as possible,” shares Warren.


What keeps me going back are their extra features such as “Real VS. Steal,” where they post hard-to-reach designer shoes and how you can get them at a fraction of the cost through Five by Five. They also have a “Muse of the Month” section, with Tricia Gosingtian being their first one, and Raya Mananquil as this month’s muse. This is a very good venue to showcase how one can wear Five by Five shoes and incorporate them into their wardrobe. Next month is also exciting, as the brand works with Frida Johnson of Sweden, who is one of the top stylish ladies on lookbook.nu. She recently posted her first outfit with Five by Five wedges, which have garnered over 1000 “hypes” (that means “like”) in just two days.

Tricia Gosingtian in animal-printed bootie wedges.

Five by Five on Tricia: She has an incredible number of followers and its not hard to see why as her talent is evident both in front of and behind the camera.

Raya Mananquil in perforated peep-toe bootie wedges.

Five by Five on Raya: This girl has an amazing sense of style and obviously carries it really well, unique confident and strong.

Frida Johnson in Priveleged wedges.

Five by Five on Frida: Her style is hard to define as she mixes and matches pieces to create her own inspiring individual style which has earned her the top spot in lookbook.nu in the world.

Looks like Five by Five should bulk up on their stocks soon. Before you check out their online shop, here are some information that might be of help:


Why the name “Five by Five?”
Nicole Warren: Its simple and catchy. It also has an actual meaning. It is a term that’s used to describe how clear communication was or to determine a signal that has excellent strength and perfect clarity. Presently, its also been used in slang to mean everything is going well or ok, which I thought was appropriate to describe what I was going thru at that time establishing the company.


How many pieces per style do you bring in?
NW: It really depends. As we grown so do the styles we bring in and the pieces we stock on hand. We try to have sellable styles available but as of the moment stocks are limited so we encourage those who are interested to order before they run out.


Do you do repeat orders?
NW: For as long as the item is available, we can process the order.
Stock levels vary each day so we cannot guarantee how long an item will be available.


Do you accept pre-orders?
NW: We list both onhand and preorder styles. This enables us to list dozens of styles which suit different tastes and provide more choices to our customers. We are committed to providing excellent service therefore we try to have items delivered as soon as possible. That being said, we also allot time for any possible delays in the shipment and advise customers to anticipate a maximum of approximately 45days for item arrival for most styles though some are available for preorder with an ETA of 2 1/2 weeks.


Where can they check our your merchandise?
NW: You can visit us at our facebook site and our multiply site