More Custom Design Shoes on Vans Slip-Ons

Our Punk Your Chucks post was a pretty popular one, and it featured a New York City artist who hand paints shoes with custom designs. Over at YourKicks.com, a Beverly Hills shoe company, each Vans slip-on shoe is also hand painted with custom unique designs using acrylic paints that are coated with a protective layer to preserve the artwork. From what I've seen, their work is extremely detailed and carefully crafted. If you're looking for originality and rare Vans, I would suggest checking out Your Kicks and seeing what they have to offer.

TOMS Shoes One for One Movement

TOMS Shoes is a shoe company with a mission: to provide a child in need with a new pair of shoes primarily to help prevent the contraction of diseases and infections. Many children growing up in developing countries come from families too poor to afford shoes or sandals, and walking around barefoot is the norm. However, debris and contaminated soil threaten the health of children walking barefoot when they get cuts and open sores on the soles of their feet.

"The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation." - TOMS Shoes

In their One for One Program, with every pair of shoes you purchase from TOMS Shoes, TOMS will give a new pair to a child in need. A popular way that several groups of people have been gathering support for this movement is by holding "Style Your Sole" parties.



At these Style Your Sole parties, people get together to customize their own blank TOMS shoes - and whether it's to express their creativity, create memorabilia for showers or parties, or just to have fun, all of the shoes purchased for these events still go towards the One for One movement. The white canvas classics are recommended for these get-togethers because they are the easiest to decorate and customize. They are $44 per pair, but orders of 25 pairs or more will receive 10% off. For more tips and information on how to hold your own Style Your Sole party, check out TOMS Shoes website.

Brad Pitt's New Monogrammed Shoes

Brad Pitt was recently photographed wearing a pair of suede monogrammed shoes with his initials BP, given to him as a gift from one of his assistants. He was out at a photocall with director Quentin Tarantino for their latest movie, Inglourious Basterds, at the Kursaal Palace on September 18, 2009 in San Sebastian, Spain. Although there have been some not-so-positive reactions to his particular shoes' aesthetics, monogrammed shoes are actually a great personalized gift idea if you can find a more contemporary style. Zazzle offers Keds slip-on shoes that you can customize yourself, or if you're not much of a designer, MonogramGifts have already created several monogrammed shoes for your choosing!

Nine West Rewards Shoppers Who Donate Shoes

Footwear retailer Nine West is encouraging customers to bring in their gently worn shoes (men's, women's, and kids') in exchange for a 15% discount on a purchase of $75 or more. The shoe drive is being held at 192 Nine West store locations nationwide, and the program will end on September 24, 2009. All shoes donated will be given to Soles4Souls, a nonprofit charity that collects new and gently used shoes to re-distribute to people in need. The 15% discount can be used either in stores or online.

For more information, visit soles4souls.org.

TOMS Shoes and Brandon Boyd of Incubus Launch New Shoes

In a collaboration with Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd and Southern California artist Kristin Jai Klosterman, TOMS Shoes is set to launch their latest shoe design in the inaugural offering of the Collaborative Canvas Collection.

Brandon Boyd and Kristin Jai Klosterman created three canvases (one by each alone and the third with the two together) and individual swaths were cut from each piece of artwork and put back together uniquely in an effort to ensure that each pair of shoes in their collection are truly one-of-a-kind. Seventy-five pairs of shoes in total were created and a few are currently on display at UNDEFEATED stores in Silver Lake, Santa Monica, La Brea, and Las Vegas. They will go on sale at 7 pm on September 26, 2009 for the launch event at the Silver Lake UNDEFEATED store location in Southern California. With every shoe purchased, TOMS will give a new pair of shoes to a child in need.



For more information about TOMS Shoes, check out our blog post on their One for One mission.

Recall on Clark's Children's Shoes

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and C & J Clark America have issued a recall on Clark's popular Crawlers and Hazy Daze children's shoes due to a possible choking hazard. The molded rubber pieces on the sole can detach, and although no injuries or incidents have been reported in the U.S. so far, two reports have been made about children putting the detachable pieces from the sole into their mouths. Six other reports have been made about the rubber pieces detaching. Consumers are urged to immediately return the shoes to the nearest Clark's store for a full refund.

These shoes were sold nationwide at Clark's retail stores from February 2009 to July 2009 for $35-40. Clark's Crawlers were sold in infant sizes 2 to 3 1/2, and Clark's Hazy Daze shoes were sold in children's sizes 4 to 6 1/2. You may also identify these shoes by the "Clarks First Shoes" label printed inside the shoe's heel.

Here is a list of recalled names and model numbers of Clark's children's shoes:
Little Kyle Blue Crawler, Model #89823
Description: Blue with red and black trim

Little Kyle Tan Crawler, Model #89824
Description: Tan with blue and brown trim

India Sparkle White Crawler, Model #88000
Description: White with light green trim and pink stitching

Kirstin Pink Crawler, Model #88109
Description: Light pink with darker pink trim

Hazy Daze White Sandal, Model #88234
Description: White leather with cream and tan trim

Reports of incidents or injuries can be made to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Additional information may be obtained by contacting C & J Clark America at (800) 425-2757 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Fun with Feet - Body Painted Shoes and Optical Illusions

REPOST [by popular demand]

Over on a website called Mighty Optical Illusions, I found a few shoe-related images that I thought were pretty cool. The following are along the lines of the last post about custom painted shoes.. except these are painted feet:





Artists John Maurad and Jenai Chin were commissioned for a New York Magazine article titled "You Walk Wrong," which basically claims that shoes hurt your feet and the best thing to do is to walk barefoot. I don't know if I buy that theory. Humans are so much more pampered today than we were way back when, and I know that if I have to stand or walk around barefoot on concrete or tiled floors for long periods of time, my feet will get exhausted much faster than if I had a good pair of sneakers on. However, I could see high heels doing physical damage to your feet.. But as the article acknowledged, it can elevate your self-esteem for a night and really make you feel sexy. Take this optical illusion below:

Bedside Slippers Rug Concept

Here's another cool concept: the bedside slippers rug. Designer Daniel Meyer created this small bedside rug with porthole cutouts for your slippers. Apparently, he knows all about slippers getting separated and kicked under dressers and beds. Now, with a specific place to put them, they'll probably be less likely to disappear on those cold early mornings. With this creative design, you'll always know where your slippers are before you get in and out of bed! Have you ever been victim to lost slippers?

Night Slippers with LED Lights

Now here's a concept that I really like -- light slippers. These creative night slippers allow you to easily move around dark areas without turning on any lights. Two powerful LED lights are placed inside the front of the slippers, illuminating as far as 20-25 feet ahead. Built-in light sensors do not allow the lights to turn on if there is sufficient light in the area. Built-in weight sensors do not allow the lights to turn on unless you are standing on them, and they also automatically turn off when you remove the slippers. Two, easily replaceable lithium batteries power the lights. I've seen these being sold for as much as $40 on Amazon and other websites. You can find these on eBay for half the price with free shipping! Would you buy these LED light slippers?

Disposable Soles for Your Bare Feet

If you're the kind of person who likes to walk around barefoot but hate it when you end up with black feet at the end of the day, then you might actually like this idea. Jun-Soo Choi designed this concept: sticky foot-shaped sheets that you put on your soles if you want that feeling of walking around barefoot but still keep the bottom of your feet clean. All you have to do is step on a sticky and you're off! They're supposedly good for hygiene and protect your feet from whatever danger lurks on your household floors, but I don't quite like the whole idea. First of all, the sticky sheets would have to be incredibly thin and flexible for someone not to notice that they're not completely barefooted. Secondly, I could see MORE dirt and hair being attracted to the sticky parts that aren't fully covered by your foot. To me, that's not hygienic. And finally, how sticky is it if it's to stay on your foot all day long? Will the film stick to your foot when you peel off the disposable sole? It may not be worth it if you'd have to wash your foot at the end of the day - because that's exactly what you'd end up doing if you had just been walking around barefoot anyways. What's your opinion on these disposable shoes?