Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I know there are big threads about this in The Mall, but I'm starting one here because I'm frustrated at seeing the exact shoes I want available in one shop in
Wisconsin, or something.

I need work appropriate shoes. I walk to work so they need to be super comfy, and ideally go with both trousers and skirts, but I'm happy to buy separate ones for skirts. Mid heel, brown. Could be wedge heel or block or even a little pointed one as long as they're comfy. Give me what you've got.

Thanks for opening the discussion!!!!
I know how you feel: like, there are basically 5 or 6 shoeshops in Europe! :P
But, I assume you've already been to the shops in London and Brighton?

(the ones mentionned there: http://www.veganlondon.co.uk/)

How much do you want to spend? Beyond Skin always has nice fancy shoes but expensive... I've never bought any. I used to like Bourgeois Boheme but that seems to have gone downhill lately... there is this pair: http://www.bboheme.com/index.php/woman/ ... -1423.html but only if you're a size 8.

Do you ever look at M+S? Sometimes they have stylish comfy vegan ones in the limited collection. Autograph and footglove are always leather but it's worth checking out if you live near a big store with a sizeable range.

Unhelpful post: Men have the same issue.

Vegetarian shoes sell endless amounts of supposedly smart shoes, which are completely unsuitable for use at work. Most look like they're school shoes, not office shoes. The best I've had were from Borgouis Boheme, but they ran out of stock long before they closed, otherwise I'd have bought several pairs to last the next few years.

My current 'make do' pair are from Vegetarian Shoes. They're just about passable at first glance - on second the pleather's a bit too shiny to look realistic. Their soles are completely smooth - no grip at all. They're meant to pick up grip over time, but I personally can't see the point of making shoes that you almost slip over in whilst trying them on in their shop.

How difficult can it be to make a smart looking, practical shoe?

Whilst I'm on my high horse - suits. Almost all non-wool suits in this country are cheap, marketed at people who can't afford wool. Linen suits crease like crazy and rarely come in black / dark colour. I was at Macys in the US last week and found loads of synthetic suits by well known brands (CK, RL, TH etc). Why are we so obsessed with leather, wool, silk and butter in this country?

I've had good luck with shoes in Indian shops around Tooting. Since most Hindu people are vegetarian you can find non leather shoes in these type of shops. There is a brand called Rocket Dog and those shoes are usually vegan. They make mens and womens, you can find them online and I think shops like Office sell them.

I've got a pair of brown suede shoes from Vegetarian Shoes and they pass both the "work shoe" and "nice shoe" benchmarks. The sole is, as you say, very smooth; it had a design on the bottom, rather than grip, most of which is worn away after three years. I haven't slipped over because of it, that I can remember.

They are pretty beautiful, and I wear them to non-work things too because they're just really good shoes.

However, I had to pick suede because the leather ones looked like, as you put it, school shoes.

Personally, I favour buying leather ones from charity shops over new plastic ones, especially at times in ones life when one cannot afford to spend £65 on work shoes. I've been told that it promotes the use of leather, but I can't see how wearing fake leather does any different, unless I carry round a placard saying "Actually, they are vegan! Isn't than wonderful!", which I tend not to do. It's not vegan, but it's recycling/reusing something and and it's contributing to a charity at the same time and that doesn't bother me, really.

How about Blowfish shoes? They're man-made and go for silly cheap prices here:

http://www.mandmdirect.com/01/?Search=Blowfish&fh_sort_by=+mandmgbp_sellingprice

Don't know if there's something I'm missing veganism wise, but I find all the cheap regular women's clothes shops amazing for vegan shoes (Primark, New Look etc) and also local market stalls that have shoes under £25!

M&S Limited Collection have got some great boots in - biker, wedge, knee etc. I have super wide feet and finding non leather + brick shaped is not fun but M&S seem to have cracked it. Material is good too, esp the biker ones.

Glue. Plus cheap shoes tend to fall apart far quicker and end up being a false economy - if you can afford to it's better to pay 2x for shoes that last 3-4x longer.

besides, it's usually not very fair trade either (although I must admit I happen to buy "just no leather" running shoes).
This said, to my opinion, second hand charity leather sounds at least not worse than cheap plastic from sweatshops.

I'm not satisfied with the brand "vegetarian shoes" either: expensive and unconfortable. But I could find McBeth in London recently and they are 100% neutral, confortable and appropriate for work. I'm quite happy with my NAE shoes, too, but I don't know if they are available in uk? (found in Spain, portuguese brand).

or:

Do you all know about this site?
http://www.fashion-conscience.com/
They have a great selection of labelled "vegan" bags and shoes. It also specifies that the products are made in factories vetted for ethical practices which I feel better about than say "New Look" and "Primark" which I'm a little distrustful of...

Oh, for flonkety plonk, why do none of these sites have any men's clothing ever? It doesn't say "for women" or anything on it... I'm going to boycott clothing altogether I think. That'll learn 'em.

ahahah! good idea! (although England/winter might not be the best place/time)

Anyway, thanks for this link, greenknittinggal, I had never heard of these brands!
Have you an opinion on Chinese Laudry?