Right now, spring is certainly looking pretty far away, but I keep telling myself it’s just around the corner. Of course, one of the best ways to feel better while going through winter is to plan ahead for all the cool spring and summer shoes you’ll be wearing next season. With this in mind, I present these super simple, versatile and darling little mary janes by blog favourites, Melissa Shoes.
Wear them everywhere, with everything for all your modern, retro and hipster needs.
They remind me of those cute Chinese shoes that were a big hit in the 90s, but unlike those they are obviously made of Melissa’s patented bubblegum scented plastic and have those big Minnie Mouse bows.

You can get them from Fashion Conscience.

Santa, like god, helps those who help themselves. Which is obviously why he revealed to me the Melissa store here in Hong Kong where I am currently traveling (you can read my new travel blog about it if you want). And oh look, they were having a massive sale of 30-50% off and these “Feeling” wedges were on it. Yes, I am totally feeling these. They only had one size left, 40 Euro (7 UK) which is basically one or two sizes too big for me, depending on the particular shoe, but in this case these seemed to fit. Maybe it’s the serious wedge action on them. They’re a tiny bit looser than they ought to be, but perfectly comfortable for standing on and even walking in. Not that it matters. I mean, look at them! There was no way they were going to stay in the big, cold, horrible shop for that price.
So ladies, if you want to get the drool-worthy look I’m going to be rocking from now on (fuck it, I’m gonna be buried in these!), you can get these from NonNon in the UK.

It might not look it, but summer is really just around the corner. You can always tell by the fact that shoe shops start selling summery shoes. Well, these simple vegan sandals come with a nice twist in the shape of the cute little butterfly. They are by Mel, which appears to be a new, more affordable offshoot of Melissa Shoes. Like Melissa’s more high class, designer range, these are made out of that special plastic of theirs and they so far seem to come in red and black (though maybe there are other colours out there, who knows?).

They’re pretty and fun and bound to go with most of your casual summer outfits. You can get them from Office Shoes.

These weird and wicked shoes are a collaboration with Vegan Shoe Addict favourites, Melissa shoes and Gaetano Pesce, an Italian architect and designer.

They are meant to be the perfect intersection of mass production and personal customisation – they come like this, in bootie form and mass produced out of Melissa’s special plastic material, but you can cut away at the circles (if you dare!) to change the shape of the shoe to fit your own personal style. Examples can be seen here, here, here and here.

The holes between the “bubbles” make these fair weather shoe-friends, but they’re bootie-shaped and are therefore fine for writing about in winter as well. I dare you to disagree.

You can get them on Karmaloop.

Check out the weird heels on these! It looks like some sort of pillar or a pole or something – not exactly ultra-feminine but certainly attention grabbing.

I wonder what it would be like to walk around in these? They almost look like posing shoes you couldn’t really walk too far in, but the heel seems stable.
They are by Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Shoes, so no wonder they’re so wickedly odd. This should make them pretty comfortable to wear, as well, as I’ve never had an uncomfortable pair of Melissa Shoes. Do remember, though, that their shoes often run small by about a size.

They also come in black and possibly other colours as well.

You can get them on Amazon.

OK one more from Melissa because I am really liking the new season stuff that’s coming out of there. These kinda remind me of the cool vegan Fluevog shoes I wrote about a while back. Apparently, Melissa think they look like something a circus lion tamer (or ringmistress, I guess) would wear. Either way, they are decidedly different and retro-inspired, while still being, well, made of plastic enough to be modern and cool. Check out the amazing colour combinations on the Melissa site. Of course, you can’t buy them from there, but you can still have a look, note the name and, well, start your quest. I know I will.

Look them up on the Melissa site.

OK, these aren’t “officially” bridal shoes (Melissa shoes are just generally pretty expensive, not specifically expensive because they’re white) but I’m sure you can see the potential here for some totally brilliant vegan bridal shoes.
They are a lovely cream colour with a pretty gold sheen and, as you can probably see, have big beautiful cherries on them. They’re based on the Lady Dragon shoe. This was designed by Vivienne Westwood for Melissa and there are all kinds of variations on the theme with globes, seals, hearts, etc. instead of the cherries. They actually do come in all kinds of glorious colours. These white ones simply caught my eye because I figured vegans need gorgeous bridal shoes too.

Now, these are plastic and they smell like bubblegum, so even though they look utterly hot on, you will probably get some funny looks if your wedding is 100% traditional and grown up. Then again, such a wedding may not look too kindly on big cherries on your shoes either.

You can get these from Dolly Dagger.

I used to have a pair of clear and silver glitter jelly heels back in the 90s and for some reason I stupidly gave them away when they went out of fashion. I’d love to be able to go back in time and make it so I’d kept them, but this is the next best thing.

These are Vivienne Westwood originals from the Anglomania range. They’re by Melissa Shoes and so come smelling of bubble gum and are comfortable and fun. They have a bit of a chorus girl starlet feel to them with the little comfy heel and the t-bar, but obviously have a modern twist with the plastic material they are made out of.

They come in a bunch of different colours but not all of them are easy to find. I found these on Yoox.

It’s been a while since I’ve written about Melissa Shoes. Days at least! So here’s another style from their amazing summer range.

These flats are simple but the ribbing makes them stand out and look unusual enough to be interesting and instantly fashionable and fun. They come in lots of different funky colours and smell like bubblegum (I’m not kidding. All their shoes smell of bubblegum).

They’re made of a special sort of rubbery plastic that’s reasonably breathable and certainly comfortable. Shoes run a size small.

You can get them from the Amazon.com site.

Well, I was at an event at a designer fashion boutique last night where there was supposedly a sale on this year’s Vivienne Westwood winter collection. Well, to be fair, there was a sale, but I had forgotten how much that stuff costs to begin with, so left with nothing but some pictures of one attendee’s vegan shoes (that will follow), a glass of cheap champagne and an expensive hangover.

This, however, reminded me of the joy of Melissa Shoes and how everyone can affordably own a pair of beautiful Vivienne Westwood shoes, albeit in funky plastic.

These are the famed Melissa Ultragirl shoes, with added bow (lovely) and a whole new see-through leopard print thing going on. Spot the very obvious Vivienne Westwood logo on the side. You can also get them in black with a leopard print bow, though I quite like this version myself.

I found these on Amazon.com

My dream summer shoes are here!
These are just so lovely in so many ways. I love the bright red colour, I love the flower design that’s just so weird and wonderful and I love the fact that they’re by Melissa Shoes, so will therefore smell like bubble gum for a while. My feet will be very happy once I get my hands on a pair of these.

They are apparently designed by Brazilian designer, Isabela Capeto especially for Melissa, which explains the girlie, beach-girl charm they have.

You can get these from Coggles.

More rain boot fun! This time, though, they’re by Melissa shoes and designed by Vivienne Westwood. Sure, they cost more than your average wellie, but they’re, you know, Vivienne Westwood, so will make you instantly 10 times cooler.

These are cute cute cute with their little side buttons that make them fit in with the military-style look while simultaneously also being young, funky and waterproof. I’m quite charmed by the blue colour, I must say.

If you were going to wear one pair of rain boots this year and look incredibly hip and fashionable nonetheless then these are definitely the ones. Pretty pretty but remember that Melissas run a size small.

I found these here.

Wingtip brogues and oxfords have been gracing the feet of many retro fashionista for quite some time now. And with the retro style being so in nowadays, I figured I’d write a bit about the classic wingtip brogue shoe.

This is obviously quite a masculine style and these Airseal brogues from Vegetarian Shoes come in some men’s sizes too (and apparently run large for almost one size so could actually fit some reasonably big blokes). They clearly resemble Doc Martens and Grinders but are 100% vegan and come from a UK-based, ethical company. Vegetarian shoes make shoes that last and in my experience they are generally very comfortable too. Not cheap, but at least you get your money’s worth.

These are available from Vegetarian Shoes. They also come in an all-black version.
In the USA, you may be able to get them from Moo shoes, though I think they only carry the black version.

These women’s brogues are by Dirty Laundry and come in a range of colours and vegan materials, including brown and all-black in patent, waxed (matte) and even fabric.
They don’t look quite as classic or as sturdy as the Veggie shoes ones, but are slightly more girlie.

They are available from Dirty Laundry.

This somewhat battered pair of Melissa Shoes Joy Brogues is my own personal pair (seen here with matching cat) that I’ve been wearing all the time for well over a year. As you can see, they’re not quite as glorious as when they were new (here’s what they look like new), but are still quite striking, very feminine and people keep thinking they are proper tap or swing shoes and rarely notice they are made of plastic. I get compliments every time I wear these. They’re super comfortable instantly, but run a size small like all Melissa shoes I’ve tried.

The only place you can still get these in black and white is eBay on occasion (and maybe some random shops in far away places still have them), but the Melissa brogues come in a load of colours and combinations and new colours come out every season, so you can probably find some variation on this theme somewhere. Current season hits include some “flock” (velvet-like plastic material) numbers as well as an all-black Swarovski crystal-decked specimen for the small price of about 200 quid. Past collections included all-pink, gold and metallic purple.

Yes, it’s that time again when I write about another super cool pair of shoes by Melissa Shoes.
Here’s a sweet little pair of glittery gold shiny flats. They’re made of the flock material which is kinda velvety to the touch but actually made of special plastic. There’s contrasting toes and soles in the smooth plastic too and really cute ribbons to tie the whole thing together (pun somewhat intended).

They’re certainly unusual and funky. There are so many flat ballet pumps out there, but these have a nice twist and would make cute going out shoes or cute going home shoes if you normally like wearing heels when you go out.

They come in a few other colours too, including a very understated grey that you could probably even wear with work clothes. After all, these don’t actually look like they’re made of plastic!

You can get these vegan gold pumps on the Amazon.co.uk site .

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.