Here’s a fun pair of custom made high tops from Zazzle. They remind me a bit of airbrushing artwork from the trippy 80s – all space-inspired and bright coloured. They’d go very well with all them new-retro 80s and 90s looks you young kids are sportin’ nowadays.
Zazzle basically print designs on demand on keds shoes. They’re certainly more expensive than your average high top canvas shoe, but the upside is you’re not likely to see anyone else wearing the same shoes as you (and if you do, you may as well befriend them as they’d have had to especially order them from the same place, so you obviously have something in common).
Check them out at Zazzle, where you can also find loads of other neat designs.
These funky vegan wedges from Beyond Skin are fun, stylish and… half price! They’re made of cotton / canvas material and so are very summery and light.
They come in a few colours, I very much like the black and white combination, because it’s pretty eternal. You could use them to spice up a simple outfit or fit in with a posh one.
They are handmade in Spain at an ethically sound factory, which is always good to hear.
You can get them from Beyond Skin.
A while back, I wrote about these vegan canvas hiking boots from Office. Well, now their little sister shoes are on sale. They’re sort of similar as you can see, but low-top rather than high-top and navy blue with a different flower pattern inside. They’re also only £10.
They are very 90s but I hear that’s all coming back. Plus, these are good if you don’t like leather-look shoes and want to stick with stuff that is obviously and visibly not made of leather. They also come in the high-top version. I used to wear shoes like the high-top ones as a teenager as hiking boots. They’re not quite as good as proper vegan hiking boots but they do hold your foot quite well and while totally not waterproof, they do dry incredibly quickly and look cute.
You can get them in the Office sale.
The 90s are defnitely back! Remember all those cute little canvas and velvet chinese mary janes we all used to wear? Well, you don’t have to remember, cause here they are back in circulation!
Here’s a very sweet example of embroidered raffia mary janes. They’re super girlie and pretty comfortable to wear (these shoes were always sold next to the “manly” version which is the kong fu shoe), though the 90s version had very thin soles that meant you felt every little stone in your path. I’m not sure, but these modern ones look a bit further removed from the ground (if only by a tiny bit).
If the raffia version is a little bit too much for you, you’ll be happy to know that they come in a whole load of other colours and patterns, from the simple solids to the striped, flowered, laced and dotted.
You can get them from Office.
Apparently nautical is very in this season, so all you retro girls out there grab them while you can and you can keep existing outside of fashion in style.
These are called magda bow and are by Schuh’s own label. They’re sort of a modern take on the peep toe espadrille nautical genre thing with the trainer-like lacing, so if you’re not into being totally retro, you can look pretty current at the same time.
You can get them from Schuh.
This has certainly been the week for me being contacted by cool vegan shoe sources!
I’ve just had an email from the nice people at Everyday Logic (WearEveryday.com), a totally vegan, ethical and environmentally sound online boutique. They have some very interesting shoes, including this pair, made out of recycled canvas rice bags from Bali. Aren’t they totally cool and unusual?
Definitely something you don’t see every day and they are unisex too, so I have marked them as Men’s shoes as well for the boys. They are fair trade, as you’d expect from a product sold in an ethical store, so points all round for these.
You can get them from my new excellent discovery – WearEveryday.com
Well, to be honest, these vegan Toms (that’s what these shoes are called) don’t look particularly exciting. It’s just that today is a very pretty sunny day and I’ve just spent a few hours looking for more interesting vegan shoes and didn’t find anything particularly exciting. I want to go out into the sun, so here’s some summer shoes for the blokes. Check these out and I’ll be on my merry way.
These, while simple, are actually quite cool. They are made by a company in LA that actually gives back to the community by donating a pair of shoes to a needly child every time someone buys a pair of their shoes. I think if you’re in the market for some vegan loafer-like shoes that are casual and comfortable, you may as well buy from an ethical company that helps poor children.
I quite like the funky lining too.
You can get these from Schuh.
Well, I’d decided it was high time I took another look at the Vegetarian Shoes site to see what’s new and found this unassuming but interesting flats on there. Apparently the laces are made out of recycled sarong material. Very summery! They’re sort of between a trainer and ballet flats, which I quite like. At the moment they seem to only come in this shade of yellow, which is indeed very summery and pleasant, but may not be to everyone’s taste.
Personally, I think they look quite 80s in a weird sort of way. Sort of like tennis shoes, maybe?
The site says they’re new, plus the pic isn’t the usual sort that you get on Veg shoes, so I am wondering if they are that new only the supplier has the pics so far? Either way, you can get them off the Vegetarian Shoes site.
New York City – vegan designer shoe capital of the world? Well, it would certainly seem so, as I just discovered yet another proudly vegan, eco-friendly, ethical shoe company that hails from there.
Just feast your eyes on these hot hot boots from the super stylish Cri de Coeur. These may come from NY, but they wouldn’t shame any Italian designer showing on the Milan fashion week catwalk.
They feature classic lines, trendy open toe and sides which is very very now, plus they are handmade, carbon neutral and totally feminine and sexy.
Pair these with a classically cut little black dress and some Gucci sunglasses and you’re laughing. Celebrities, get your wallets!
You (or your personal stylist) can get these from Amazon.com
Let’s be honest – the reason I like these is that even though they sort of look like your average, vegan-staple canvas baseball boots, their strappiness makes them look a little bit like some kind of straight-jacket, which instantly makes them just a little bit more kinky than your average, vegan-staple canvas baseball boots.
You could totally play on that, if you wanted to, or you could just wear them as neat vegan boots with a side zip and straps instead of laces. I mean, not everyone has a somewhat sick mind like mine and would instantly think about insane asylums and bondage when seeing a harmless pair of simple canvas shoes, right? Right!
Either way, you could get these from Office.
Oh my god, Palladiums are back! I mentioned these recently in passing as a nostalgic memory of my misspent teenage years (when those were the only vegan shoes around). I actually looked around recently online to see if they still exist, but all I found were recent suede and leather shoes they make. Now suddenly I see these! Yes, they are totally back. It must have been long enough since they went for new people to be introduced to them and think they are either retro or just plain cool. Welcome to the 90s. Again.
Well, I still own a few pairs of these going all the way back to when they were originally cool. I know they are comfortable and they last. I used to wear them as hiking boots in the days before synthetic hiking boots were a reality.
I’m glad these are cycling their way back into today’s mainstream, though time will tell if the whole 90s revival thing catches on.
These are called pampa hi trainers and are available at Schuh.
OK, I know it’s cheating to write about so many shoes from the same place over one week, but just this one more pair cause they’re so wicked. Vegan steampunk trainers, oh yeah!
I know it’s Valentine’s day, so I should really be writing about some shoes with a heart on them (like the awesome Melissa Dragon Lady), but hey, these are brilliant too and steampunk is (apparently) forever.
Check out the really intricate, delicate gear print. Nice!
I’m also liking the pinstripe / sort of aged, almost parchment combo. So now you can basically still look steampunk even when it’s trainer-weather and you’re in your street clothes looking a different kind of cool. The whole design is at once very modern but also somewhat old-school with the whole Spats look and Victorian charm.
Totally casual and neat and you can be sure no one in your vicinity will own a pair. There are a few other steampunk designs on there that are also worth a look, though these were my favourites so far.
You can get them from Zazzle.
Another good find on the Zazzle site. These Rasta-inspired trainers are soooo cute!
They have the right colours if you want to do the Jamaican thang, but also a cool pattern to go with, so you can wear them even if you just like the design and the colours and it won’t necessarily mean you’re overtly Rasta. So wink, if you may, or you could work them into a bigger Jamaican, Rasta look.
I like the cute red piping and the splash design. The base design of the trainer itself is pretty neat in a simple sort of way, making for a really desirable shoe.
You can get these from Zazzle.
Simple, cute and stylish – I do like these. They’re a different take on the usual canvas high top trainer, with straps instead of laces.
I think these would make nice smart-casual trainers to wear to work if your office is funky or for going out somewhere where you need to look vaguely smart but also vaugely trendy and have your shoes just blend in with the look. They’re a good shade of neutral (navy, apparently. Looked grey to me on this screen, but I guess it’s denim of sorts). They also come in black synthetic, which is also handy, though they look like they might look a bit cheap in real life in that style.
Both of these are on sale right now, so they *are* actually cheap, which is always good.
You can get these directly from Aldo.
Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn’t it? It’s now a full 20 years since 1990 and the 90s retro stuff starts appearing. Yes, apparently there is 90s retro and this is it. Shoes like these canvas high heels. They’re a bit weird, let’s be honest, but true to the grungy and chunky spirit of the times.
They are Schuh’s own brand and as you can see they have a very chunky heel and somewhat of a trainer-like feel. I remember owning something similar myself in the 90s.
I wasn’t even convinced there *was* a 90s look that could be brought out of retirement and into vintage stores, but this is apparently it and it does make sense. So if you want to relive the wonder years of 90s fashion, now’s your chance. Oh yeah…Don’t laugh at the concept of 90s retro. 80s retro has been around for ages now, so this is the next logical step.
These are called the carrie bar shoes and you can get them from Schuh.
