90s nostalgia… Red or Dead

[pinkdelight]

For no reason at all, I woke up thinking about this store in Covent Garden that was so cool when I was a student/in first jobs in the mid/late 90s. I couldn’t remember its name, only that it had bright coloured clothes, funky shoes, and I associated it with that 90s late Friday night Channel 4 vibe like Rapido shows.

I was too skint for it but remember once being able to get a bright pink and blue print dress in the sales there that didn’t really suit me but I loved it because of the brand… whose name I still couldn’t remember… then I got the word ‘red’ and thought I’d have to ask on here, but the magic of the internet revealed it to be Red or Dead, of course!

Seems they were around for a long time after in various forms under various ownership, and earlier in the 80s they did Bros’s watch shoes! But it’s that 90s era that captures it for me.

And of course I remember Wayne Hemingway being around a lot, but had never realised it was his wife too. I found an article on his site from when she (Gerardine, still married afaik) got an MBE and he talks about how no one acknowledged her contribution or even existence, with all the media coverage being about ‘Wayne’s World’ and such, as he was the extrovert but also as he was the man. Which is very 90s too, and perpetuates…

But really I’m just posting for the nostalgia trip to see if anyone else has fond (or otherwise) memories of RoD in that era (or beyond)?

That piece on Wayne’s Wife: https://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk/blog/waynes-wifes-mbe-2006/

i loved Red or Dead. I had a metallic Bluey silver little jacket and a pair of sandals with Red and Dead on them - I wore them when we went on holiday to Jordan and went to the Red Sea and the Dead Sea

I loved it too. I think the only things I still have are a bag and sleeveless hooded top from the range that looked like the Motörhead logo but said Red or Dead.

I took out the bag to use it recently. It's a tiny version of a messenger bag shape, similar to a Kookaï one I had at the same time. It was awkward to fit my phone in it as I guess any phones around at the time would have been a quarter the size of current ones.

I remember that spin on the Motorhead tee! Lusted after that quite badly. Amazing that you've still got pieces from there/then. Canny to hang onto them.

Had forgotten Kookai (can't do the accent) too. Had a black pvc miniskirt from there. That's a blast from the past.

Brilliant about the Red and Dead sea dips in the Red or Dead gear. Like some kind of pilgrimage!

I feel like there was a shop on Knightsbridge too, but maybe it was just another boutique that sold the RoD brand. I have a vague memory of it and the shop assistants were impossibly cool.

I think they did Red or Dead shoes in Office.

I used to go shopping in Rokit in Camden for vintage ski jackets in the 90s, worn with cord flares and Adidas gazelles.

It was so cool, I walked past where the shop was in Manchester in the 1990s the other day and thought about it. Mostly window shopping for me as a student but I did get the odd thing.

Had no idea there were RoD shops in London, it feels intrinsically linked to the rise of Manchester to cultural prominence in the late 1980s and 1990s to me.

A few years ago, I bought some Red or Dead shoes: the T-bars that look like school shoes for young girls. I love them, but they were derided on Mumsnet for being “who wants to look 5 years old?”, and that some posters admitted to wearing them without socks.

Ooh, I've just dug these Red or Dead shoes out. I absolutely loved and love them, just a shame I can't walk in them!

I had a pair of basically fancy flip flops but the strap bits were jade Japanese silk and the soles were chunky platform wood. I want to say I bought them on Kensington high street. They were beautiful and I spent 50 quid on them when I was a graduate trainee in 1999 earning 10k

they were absolute agony to wear. Insanely painful and the strap cut into my toes and I bled all over them. I wore them to a house party in South London and remember having to walk up Stretham high road in bare feet at 3 in the morning. Happy happy times

I had some great RoD slingbacks I got in a sale somewhere! They probably got trashed though

Oh, well the photo will come through, but hopefully these aren't the tbar ones you were talking about @scalt🤣🙈

Ha ha ha, similar fond memories of bleeding on agonising footwear back then.

Never had any as beautiful and precipitous as @scrumpledtitskin's though - those could stay on display purely for ornamental purposes!

It's probably the northern attitude that made them so cool @DeftGoldHedgehog - and so late 80s/90s. The North shall rise again...

I loved Red or Dead. I had black and white floral clogs that I used to wear raving. WH used to have a spot on the Big Breakfast, he always seemed a nice guy.

I was banned from the Red or Dead shop in Covent Garden!

I had just moved to London and saved up to buy a beautiful pair of high blocky T-Bar sandals with foam sole and a glittery buckle.

I wore them once and they split down the sole by the heel on both feet.

I took them back to the shop with my receipt and politely asked for a refund.

The guy at the till refused and said they had a no refunds policy.

I calmly pointed out that I had owned them for three days and they weren’t fit for purpose.

He became extremely aggressive but when I didn’t back down, eventually he threw cash out of the till at me - £90 - and told me I was banned.

No problem, I said - I would never buy from here again, (and I didn’t!)

The shop was crammed full at the time and this guy just did not care about the bad impression he was making.

It’s stayed with me all these years because I had never been screamed at before or since in a shop, but I was proud of myself for not backing down.

I had some gorgeous black heeled boots with a zip, they were so well made and comfortable despite their height.

I had them reheeled and resoled many times before they finally fell apart.

I missed them so much and tried and failed to replace them.

That was terrible from the man in the shop. I remember they used to have a place on ground floor of Afflek's palace in Manchester.

Ahhh maybe that's why I associate them with C4. Big Breakfast was similar bright/loud/subversive I guess, very on brand!

Shocking about the shop ban @IlovePond - badge of honour in retrospect, but terrible behaviour from the guy. Maybe he was on something. It was the 90s...

Afflecks! I got some green Doc Martens from a shoe shop on the ground floor there in 91/92. Wonder if that was Red or Dead and I'd completely forgotten?

I still mourn the pair of Red or Dead platformish shoes I never bought but my friend did. I think about them sometimes...

I loved Red or Dead. Had some lovely shoes from there.

I remember red or dead

Loved Red or Dead. I had many pairs of shoes and still have a dress from there.

I remember the foam chunky soled sandal things. They were so cool at the time. This thread reminds me of Morgan too, a few years earlier I think. All beige, black and white.

Trying to picture the chunky foam sandals - were the soles striped, like blue and white layers? Obviously there were other colours but that's what I'm getting in my head - it's mad how this has been archived deep and you're all dusting it off!

My favourite pair of tan, knee-high, boots were from Red or Dead. I wore them to death. I still have a long denim skirt and a top that I still wear, occasionally

I grew up in London and had no idea they had shops in Manchester.