Vegan Shoe Addict

Here’s a cool pair of vegan brogues for the guys. I’d say they’re more in the realm of work shoes than, say, the ultra-cool vintage brogues you’d wear with your zoot suit, but they are still pretty funky.

I really like the pattern both inside and out and the pointed toe is cool. It’s second only to the rounded toe in my book (I loathe square toed shoes for blokes). All in all, these are actually pretty retro and smarter than the Vegetarian Shoes brogues I wrote about a while back.

If you’re a vegan guy looking for a cool pair of shoes to wear with your suit to work, etc. then you should definitely take a look at these.
They’re made by NOHARM who are 100% vegan, ethical and cool. Handmade in Italy.

You can see these on the NOHARM site where you can find out where to get them.

These boots may look like they’re made of suede, but actually they are made out of fake suede. Aren’t the heels odd? They look like someone had made a thicker heel and then changed their mind and cut it out. The multitude of buckles (5 to be exact) means they have a bit of a kinky edge, but the overall look is still versatile enough to wear with your usual every day stuff.
I love straps and buckles on things, especially when there’s no actual need for them to be there. Is that wrong of me? Hell, who cares!

Oh yeah. I’m guessing the original idea for these shoes came from here. The posh ones actually look nicer, but are obviously not for the likes of us.

These boots are undoubtedly irregular and another fine vegan hit from Schuh, who seem to actually have a decent line in attractive vegan shoes. OK, so obviously they are “inspired” by other shoes, but those other shoes are blatantly not vegan, so screw em.

You can get the Vegan version from the Schuh . They are called “Missile”.

As we all know, this type of Converse-like basketball shoes / trainers is a pretty obvious staple of vegan footwear the world over, but that doesn’t mean I can’t review the occasional fine variation on the theme.

These leopard print trainers from Rocket Dog definitely have the X-factor, and not in the horrible UK reality show sense, but in the original sense when it still meant something good you might actually want. Apart from the fact that they are leopard print and therefore already cool (remember kids: leopard print never goes out of style), they also have a red lining and a few nice touches of red in the logos on the outside of the shoe as well.

I also like the thick laces that make these look a bit like skate shoes and the sole which almost looks somewhat creeper-like.
While still placed firmly within the standard high-top trainer department, these leopard print trainers are different enough to stand out and get you some compliments.

In the UK at least, these are available exclusively from Schuh.

These convertible winter boots by Dirty Laundry can be worn as ankle boots or at full height. Fleece lined to make your feet warm (and to look cool), these somewhat resemble biker boots and have a funky side strap on the outside and a zip on the inside for easy on/off action.

These look like a decent enough choice for vegan winter boots, though I am not sure I like the distressed material seemingly used for parts of them. As I’ve said before in my post about vegan biker boots, I think it makes shoes look unnecessarily cheap, but that look seems to be quite popular now, so you may well not mind that “feature”.

While not exactly at the cutting edge of designer fashion, the design is nice enough for the price ($69). These are definitely on the cheap and cheerful end of the Vegan shoe range, but with such a shortage of decent vegan boots, they may well be perfect for keeping your feet warm in relative style. They are also available in brown.

You can get them from the Chinese Laundry site.

I’m not really a fan of Ugg boots and the other slipper-like fabric boots that have become so popular over the last few years. Sure, some of them are indeed vegan, but if I wanted a pair of slippers, I’d buy a pair of actual slippers. They’re really more suited for wearing around the house. Talk about how to instantly dress down any outfit to make it look like your PJs.

These boots here, on the other hand, while definitely of the “comfortable shoes” ethos are actually pretty neat. They come from this green footwear company, Simple Shoes, who are apparently very ethical and enviro-friendly and all. They have a 100% vegan range, but these particular boots are not part of it – they are vegetarian boots. The reason they are not vegan is that the hemp they are made of is treated with beeswax.

The price is a bit steep at 115 UKP. For thar price, I’d expect to get a LOT of wear out of them, which I guess is possible, if your personal style is pretty casual and the shoes are as durable and comfortable as they claim to be. Even with that in mind, I’m wondering whether my 115 quid would be paying for my ticket to ride the green bandwagon, rather than merely for comfort and sustainability alone.

You can get these boots at Simple shoes.

Ok, it’s certainly been rubber week on Vegan Shoe Addict. But before we move on to other types of vegan and vegetarian footwear (yes, we can have shoes made out of other things apart from rubber!) here are some very lovely wellington boots that come with a fashionable wedge heel. They are marketed mainly for festivals, like all funky wellies, but are obviously good for rainy days all year round.
They were created by a small company in the UK who wanted fashionable and different footwear for splashing about in the muddy fields of England while listening to their favourite bands.

They come in a multitude of plain colours and funky designs, some of which could almost look nice enough to wear on the streets of the notoriously wellie-shy London.

They are now available to buy in the UK and all over Europe via the original Wedge Welly Website and in the USA via the Wedge Welly USA website, which seems to offer even more designs.
These are cute, functional and definitely the fun choice for dealing with nasty weather and big puddles. Lovely!

What can I say about these gorgeous Ashanti boots by one of my favourite shoe companies of all times, Melissa shoes? They are 100% rubber, like all their shoes and are slick and bubblegum-scented. While I don’t own a pair of these, I do own a few other pairs of their shoes. They are usually instantly comfortable (even the high-heeled ones), though they do seem to run a size small, so make sure you factor that in if you’re thinking of ordering any.

Melissa are an ethical, practically waste-neutral company and no animal products whatsoever are used in their shoes. The rubber their shoes are made out of is non-toxic and eco-friendly.

These particular instant classics come in a variety of colours and also in the “Flock” material, a sort of velvety-looking rubber that doesn’t look at all like rubber, but is still waterproof and fairly breathable.

Melissa have a lovely website where you can check out some very sexy photos of their shoes. Unfortunately, you can’t actually buy any shoes from there, as far as I can tell, unless you’re in Australia and, possibly, Brazil. SuperFAIL!
Luckily, you can get these vegan ankle boots on Amazon in black shiny rubber / plastic, blue shiny rubber / plastic or black flock.

Wellies, Wellington boots or rain boots are a somewhat controversial footwear choice when it comes to one’s fashion sense. Originally designed for farmers and gardeners, they are not what you’d normally expect people to be running round in on their way to a night at the opera. But while it’s true that wellies and rain boots are not quite high class, the crappy weather that “graces” the many UK summer festivals, has created a need for funky rubber boots. In the UK, summer is traditionally the high season for the fashion-wellie. In big American cities (and elsewhere), however, I’ve seen women happily walking around with fashionable versions of the rain boot. The recent biblical floods experienced across the British Isles seem like a good enough reason to write about some interesting takes on the concept of the humble rubber boot, because I think some of them are actually quite cute and make for a good and reliable vegan boot choice. Today’s offerings are in the mod and biker department, of which there seem to be a fine variety.

These Sperry Top-sider boots are pretty neat, with a wicked wedge heel and a folded cuff at the top. They come in several colour combinations, seen here in white with a white cuff, black wedge and a big black button, which makes them look very mod indeed.
These are also available from the Amazon.com website

And if it’s the rainproof vegan mod look you’re after, check these out too. Made by Tretorn, who are apparently Swedish, these look seriously 60s in this white version and the yellow version they also come in. There are also two-tone version that look slightly less 60s and are also totally striking. They don’t even look like they’re made of rubber in the picture, though I’m sure they would if you looked closely.
These are also available from Amazon.com.

And now for the rubber biker boot part of this post.

I already wrote about the Schuh version of biker boot-inspired wellies (shown in the post in not very biker-like purple, but they do come in black too). This is the Office shoes take on the biker wellie – full height and with an extra strap, buckle and O-ring detail. Not too shabby for a wellie, really, though still based on the traditional wellie look and feel. Available from the Office website, where you can also find standard wellies with funky designs.

These boots from the Bloomingdale’s website are somewhat similar but are, in fact, less traditional. You can tell the difference between boots that are thought of as “rain boots” (urban) and those designed with the wellie concept firmly in mind (field conditions, such as a festival or a farm).
These are definitely in the rain boot department and are therefore classier and could potentially even go with your regular day clothes. Kinda. Gotta love the looping detail and chunky ring, though the flat sole would probably not work so well in a field (pretty good for the city streets, though!).

These Marco Tozzi vegan boots are pretty unusual: white faux leather with a flowery pattern, highlighted with beige faux suede and some mad stitching. Nice!
They sort of remind me of cowboy boots but are a slightly different shape. The overall feel is pretty cowboy-esque, but quite girly with it and certainly stylish and different. You’d definitely get some compliments wearing these, I reckon, as they are definitely a fashion statement. Would go well with skinny jeans and a heightened sense of cool.

These vegan boots are available on the Bourgeois Boheme website

These vegan platform boots are solid, chunky, durable and 100% vegetarian / vegan!

OK, so it’s not exactly difficult to find vegan goth / punk / alternative shoes on the Internet, but these are reasonably priced and not as flimsy as some of the other ones out there.

These are the ones I nearly bought, but in the end I bought a pair of the Nova boots, as I thought I’d get more wear out of them (which I have. I wear them all the time).

Like the Novas, they were instantly comfortable and look absolutely great on. Somewhat biker-style, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the kind of outfits they’d go with. Some boots are made for walking, these are definitely made for stomping. They are definitely on my shoe wishlist for this winter and beyond.

These are truly impressive vegan boots and although not quite victorian, they could still blend in with a steampunk outfit. If you’re keen to look more “period”, though, I’d check out the other vegan steampunk boots I wrote about earlier.

These boots are available from Schuh directly. They are self-explanatorily named “Schuh Multi Buckle Lace Boots”.

Steampunk by its very nature is a very leather-heavy look. They didn’t really have patent PVC and PU back in them days.
But while snooping around the Bourgeois Boheme website I found an unexpected surprise. These vegan “victorian inspired” boots are pure steampunk, while still being adaptable enough to be worn with your street or work clothes. As expected, they come in black and brown. I personally feel the brown looks somewhat more steampunky than the black, but they both work, really.
What more can I say? Nice knee-high style, lacing and a size zip (style and comfort) and at 55 UK pounds, they are, in fact, a bargain.

Bourgeois Boheme are a 100% vegan, ethical company based in London, UK.

For more vegan steampunk boots, you can also check out Pennangalan. They custom make their shoes and boots and have a whole range of Steampunk-ready stuff.

These chunky vegan lace up boots are really rather dishy. In fact, I’m tempted to grab a pair for myself because I’ve been looking for boots of this general style for ages.

I love the lacing, I love the side zip (cause while I love the laced up look, I hate actually doing the lacing thing every time I take boots on or off) and the overall look is simple, yet versatile enough to suit a whole range of sexy outfits. They’re a little bit punk, a little bit goth, a little bit rocker, a little bit girly and all-round gloriously chunky. You could even wear them as part of a steampunk outfit.

I found them while cruising the Miss Selfridge website for something completely different (which I will write about later). Turns out Miss Selfridge have quite the range of leather-free footwear so I shall be writing more about them here in the very near future.

You can see more pics of these shoes and buy them off the Miss Selfridge website.

Not quite classic biker boots but said to be “biker inspired”, these are really awesome boots from Schuh’s own brand. I actually own a pair of these and can confirm that they are hard-wearing, instantly comfortable and look even better on than they do in the pictures. I bought my pair in Edinburgh after seeing a girl walk around in them and being bitterly jealous thinking they must be leather. Then I saw them in the shop window, had a look and…the rest is history. I walked all around town in them on the day I bought them and didn’t even have a single blister, then took them to Burning Man festival where they survived an apocalypse of corrosive dust and intense daily walks and cycles. They came back so covered in dust, the woman who sold me the shoe polish for them wanted to know what colour they were (BLACK! They are BLACK boots!). However, they quickly cleaned up beautifully and are as lovely as ever.

They have an inside zip for easy on/off action and run a bit large so you can wear thick socks inside. Currently selling at 59.99 at Schuh.

With a name like Killdoll, I don’t need to tell you the target audience of this shoe company, do I? Or rather, the target age. Yup, they’re a bit weird, but in a totally acceptable way and very girly and cute.

A modern take on an 80s/ early 90s style, they are trendy, fun and ever so slightly emo and alternative. The lady whose face is on the shoes reminds me somewhat of Siouxsie and it makes me a little bit sad inside that many of the people who’d buy these shoes would do so without having a clue who Siouxsie is. Kids nowadays, eh?

Be that as it may, these vegan ankle boots are best worn with big hair and heavy eyeliner as you’re standing outside the club having your rebellious cigarette. Black also works.

Buy Kill Doll Face up to it ankle boots at Office shoes