Vegan Shoe Addict

These classic and rustic vegan men’s boots by Green Shoes will likely last you a lifetime.

They are handmade in the UK by people who love their job and, while not exactly cheap, can be resoled from now to eternity are are designed to be comfortable and hard wearing.

I’ve tagged them with bohemian and hippie, as Green Shoes do have a very earthy, eco appeal.
However, I reckon these boots are classic enough to appeal to the more urban gentleman as well.

Great if you’re the sort of person who wants a decent, manly pair of boots that exists outside of changing fashion trends and will last you for years and years so you don’t have to go shopping for another.

They come in a range of vegan colours.

You can get them off the Green Shoes site.

Here are Airseal’s vegan safety work boots from Vegetarian Shoes. These are unisex, sturdy safety wear boots with steel toes, a padded collar and strong construction. They are made from really tough vegan materials that wear and age like leather.

These boots are tested and approved for site work. They’re also about as waterproof you can get short of wearing wellies, so can be used for hiking as well.

All in all, these are tough, well-made shoes that could come in really handy if you’re vegetarian or vegan but need proper safety work boots for your job.

You can get them from the Vegetarian Shoes site.

These white vegan PU trainers by Firetrap are perforated, which is handy for ventilation. They are a bit manly in style but I think they could work for women too. Sizes go down to a size 6, so if you’re a girl who’s size 6 (UK size 6) or above, you could still rock the look if they fit you style.

I reckon they look sort of summery and smart casual. I’m not really one for white trainers myself, but it’s always good to see a vegan version of a classic. They also come in handy black and also in brown.

They are currently half price in the Office Sale.

I love hearing about small, ethical shoe companies so I’m really happy to feature these Desert boots by Guat Shoes from Sheffield. They manage to be at once both pretty smart-casual and respectable, yet quite bohemian / hippie as well. Excellent.

My friend John owns a pair of these and told me about these people, who make all their shoes by hand, sourcing local materials whenever possible. The shoes are apparently really comfortable and hard wearing and can be resoled, meaning you get really good value for money. The vegan versions are made out of lorica, which is about as tough as you can get for non-leather.

They make shoes and boots for both men and women (there’s also a desert boot version for the girls). I must say they have some real funky looking boots and things. It’s just a shame their “Guat originals” don’t come in faux leather, cause they’re totally wicked.

You can get the shoes from the Guat Shoes website.

These white vegan creepers from Vegetarian Shoes are being discontinued, so this is your last chance to get a pair. The black version only has one size left but there are still a few sizes left in this white version.

These are European sizes and there are sizes in stock for both men and women, although they are running out fast, it seems.

If you’re into this retro look, you’ll know how hard it is to find well made shoes from this style that will last you years. Well, these are it. Vegetarian Shoes make them to last.

You can get them from the Vegetarian Shoes website.

I tried to ignore the whole thing, but apparently there’s no escape, so here’s a pair of vegan football boots. I don’t know why they call them boots, they are blatantly some sort of trainer. Still, who am I to argue?

I’m not sure I like the colours on them, but they are the only ones I could find online, so there you go. Now you too could kick a (vegan) football around the field and feel manly.

You can get them at Alternative Stores

Oh yeah, and for the full effect, there’s this…

Leather trainers look smarter than canvas trainers, sad but true. But here’s a pair of vegan trainers for the boys that look just as smart-casual as the leather ones.

Not quite my style, I must say, but they do a good job of matching some of the popular leather styles I’ve seen around and are apparently very ethical as well as being 100% vegan. They look quite Italian in style, actually, which is echoed by the name of the company, although I think they are in the US.

You can get these directly from the company’s site – Ragazzi Vegan.

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.

So, the other day I was out hiking with my cousins while my house was being robbed… No, that’s not some funny blog thing. Some fuckers actually broke in and stole some important stuff, including the laptop I use to do things like write this blog. But, as they say, the blog must go on…

I realised I don’t actually have any proper hiking boots and these vegan hiking boots by Vegetarian shoes caught my eye. They’re unisex, though they look kinda manly and they are sturdy and hard wearing, plus generally pretty hard. Great for hiking and kicking things while pulling your hairs out thinking about all the stuff you had on your PC that some wanker is now looking at instead of you (or kicking the people who stole my stuff in a very non-pacifist way if I ever got anywhere near them).

But let us get onto cheerier things, as these boots actually deserve a happy blog post. They are of very high quality, as the veggie shoes stuff always is, plus they are 100% vegan and ethical. I’ve been hiking with my Nova boots, which are nice, but not exactly trailblazing boots when compared to these. Sure, the Novas are sexier, but they’ll never hold you the way these do…

I found these on Mooshoes , though you can also get them directly from Vegetarian Shoes.

Oh I do like the Macbeth trainers / sneakers / skate shoes for the boys. They are just so… understatedly cool. It’s like the people who designed them know they’re just shoes and that shoes should know their place, but they also know that people often judge you based on your shoes, even if it’s only as part of the grander scheme of what you’re wearing.

These are black, simple and sexy but are just real sweet at the same time. If you wore these and wanted people to know you were vegan, you’d have to wear one of those “nobody knows I’m a vegan” T-shirts (do they exist? I think they probably do).

These are just so much about having the sort of super cool skater or grungy look thang that no one would think anything of it and you wouldn’t get instantly tagged as a vegan anarchist. See? Understatedly cool…

You can get them via Mooshoes.

Well, these unisex trainers are definitely unusual. They’ve been around for a while. I remember seeing them a few years back on a site and thinking they were odd but cool or cool but odd. I think even though they are officially unisex, they’re really more shoes for men, cause they don’t look particularly girly, do they? Then again, if they go with your look, then they go with your look, right?

They are by Adbusters, who are pretty damn cool, so you should check them out regardless of whether or not you like these particular shoes.

The shoes are… Well… We’re back in love em or hate em country but I’m still sort of on the fence deciding which way to fall.
They are very much in the vegan anarchist activist territory, which can be both good and bad, depending on whether that’s decidedly your style or a stereotype you’re trying to free yourself of.

Either way, they’re very different and we do like shoes that are different here in this blog, don’t we?

You can get these from Mooshoes.

What great boots from Vegan company, Novacas. They are pretty generic, but also pretty funky with it. I particularly like the cool soles. It’s apparently an anti-skid sole, but it goes above and beyond mere anti-skidding into the realm of looking almost artistic.

If you’re the sort of man who likes wearing the same shoes day in day out, then these could be for you. OK, so they’re brown and that’s not always the best colour to go with everything, but that doesn’t seem to stop people from wearing brown shoes with everything anyway.
If you favour earthy, natural tones for your clothes, then you should be OK.

These are handmade in Portugal by a 100% Vegan company, so no animal-based glue nonsense. They are made to be sturdy and long-lasting.

I found these on Mooshoes, an American site that stocks loads of great vegan shoe brands.

Happy new year! And here is the first pair of vegan shoes for 2010. These Ed Hardy trainer boot things are so cool. They come in a load of different and funky designs, are shin high and are definitely very unusual. Check out the tattoo geisha artwork with the whole skater-urban-somewhat LA awesomeness. Are those silvery sequin trims too? Oh I do believe they are! Not much else to say really, as I think these speak for themselves. This isn’t exactly a new look (OK, not at all) but who cares?

I fear we are, once more, in the realm of the love ‘em or hate ‘em, but these would definitely fit right in with a few very distinct types of personal style. I am not actually sure whether these are officially for men or women. I think these are pretty unisex. Just remember to order the right size.

I know this sort of basketball boot look is the obvious fall back plan of any vegan, but at least with these you can make a statement that isn’t “there’s no other shoes I can get”. I’m thinking more of a “check out my totally awesome crazy shoes” kind of statement.

I found these on Amazon.com .

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.