Tuesday, June 23, 2015

A Little DIY Shoe Transformation

I bought these shoes at Target on clearance last year for a ridiculously-low price.  It's rare for me to find cute shoes I like that are large enough for these size 11 feet of mine ... finding a pair on sale like this was even more unusual.  The rope-covered wedge heel on these is a great height, high enough to be stylish and low enough to be comfortable.  I love the big gold zippers ... but the linen color of the cloth upper part of the shoe wasn't my favorite.  I could learn to love that, too, or so I thought.




These shoes have been tucked away in my closet ever since I brought them home.  Every once in a while, I would try them on and admire them, decide that they I still probably didn't have anything to wear them with, and back into the closet they would go.



Recently, Goth Gardener posted about a pair of shoes that she bought under similar circumstances.  Her solution was to use paint to make the shoes into something that was a better fit with her personality and her wardrobe ... and now you see where I'm going with the DIY portion of this post.

No turning back now.


I used regular black acrylic craft paint and a small angled paint brush, working carefully so I didn't get paint on the rope-covered wedge part of the shoe, and thinning the paint slightly so it flowed into the grain of the fabric.

Halfway finished ... One down, one more to go.


When the paint was dry, I buffed it off of the zipper with an old toothbrush.


... and here is the finished product.  All it took was a bit of paint (that I already had) and some time (while I was hiding in the a/c because it was too hot outside to work) and I now have a pair of shoes that are perfectly ME.



Before:  Cute clearance-sale impulse-purchase shoes, good for a nice spring outfit, but not exactly my style.



After:  Black shoes, totally my style, with that fantastic funky gold zipper, that I probably would have bought even if they had been full price.



In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I still haven't worn these yet.  Now that they're black, and I love them more than I dare to admit, I imagine that they will come out of the closet and into regular rotation in my wardrobe very soon.

20 comments:

  1. Love them! They turned out great. I know you're busy this week but perhaps you'll wear them to a future Poe Museum Unhappy Hour :D

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    1. Thank you! I especially thank you for the inspiration to make this happen. I would have worn them to THIS Unhappy Hour, if I didn’t already have something planned that day

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  2. Oh wow! They look so great black! Funky and fun!!

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    1. As much as I would like to think that I can be a beige shoe sort of gal, it’s just not me. I have always been into dark clothing, and black shoes like this fit that perfectly.

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  3. Pretty shoes and in black I'm sure they are much more wearable.

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    1. Thank you, I'm glad you like them. You're right about them being much more wearable ... most of my clothes are dark (black mainly) and I am excited to wear these now that they fit my personality better.

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  4. Those look GREAT, Connie. The kids still laugh about the fact that I used to spray paint their shoes so they looked like new ones when they got tired looking. lol xo Diana

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    1. I SO would have spray painted my kids shoes if I had thought of it. That’s brilliant!!

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  5. You did a great job with it!

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    1. Once I decided to do this, I just started right in with the paint. If it didn't turn out well, there was no harm done ... I wasn't wearing them anyway. Now, I think they're perfect!

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  6. Those turned out great!!! So much better than beige.

    FlowerLady

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  7. O~ to find a pair of cute shoes, in size 11 would be like hitting the lottery.
    I love how stylish they are in black.

    Linda C in Seattle

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    1. I like to say that I save a ton of money on shoes, because so many that I like don't come large enough for me. So many stores go to size 10 and that's it. When we were in Key West a few years ago, my friend took me to a cross dressing store because she was sure that I could find dress shoes in my size there. :)

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  8. What a transformation! They turned out really cute and now you have a brand new pair of shoes! What a fun idea! I'll have to tuck it away and remember this. Hugs, Diane

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    1. Thanks, Diane! It was so easy … the hardest part was holding my breath, painting oh-so carefully, and hoping that I didn’t get any paint on the rope part of the shoe. I’m really thrilled with how they look now.

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  9. Fabulous!
    I Love this idea.
    (And I wear the same size. And sometimes they still don't fit!)

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    1. I can see it now, the expression on your face as you leave yet another shoe department, where offerings only go to size 10. Do you have a Nordstrom Rack store nearby? Their shoe department is completely amazing, and it goes all the way to size 13! Most of the stuff there is too trendy for me, but I like to go there to try on stuff and play, and to just stare at all the shoes that I *could* buy if I wanted. It's a luxury to find a decent assortment of shoes in our size ... something that the average person with a size 8 foot doesn't understand.

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  10. Very clever, Connie. You are lucky you can wear cute shoes. ♥

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    1. I'm going to wear them today, in fact, to lunch in Richmond with a friend.

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