craftgrrl | Making my first pair of custom heels:

As many friends of mine are aware, I <3 shoes.

I had wet dreams about the shoes Louboutin put out for Rodarte's Fall 2008 show. Since I can't really afford shoes that are roughly $1k+, I decided to go DIY style. Which makes them slightly more punk rock anyway. And I finished them today! It's the first pair, I wanted to keep them chic and not too over the top. When I make another pair, they'll be all out nuts and fabulous - much more trashy glam with some chains added in. This is my 'classy goth killbot' pair.

Pics of the original shoes:

First, I had to find a pair of base shoes to work with and found these:
http://www.cutesygirl.com/Qupid_Biso...MID307863.aspx

Not too shabby for $30 (they weren't on sale then).

Then I found a store online, http://www.studsandspikes.com/ , and ordered a round of materials - pyramid studs, nailhead studs, cone spikes. Sadly I could only get the pyramids in black, so the rest had to be painted black upon receipt and then coated in a clear coat.

I've never worked with studs and spikes before, but using an exacto blade to make initial holes for stud backings, the same exacto blade for bending back the backings and then a hammer for securing them tightly....I managed just fine.

First step - Pyramid studs on the straps!

Second step, I lined the edges of the opening on the front of the shoe with the nailhead studs.

Third step, Set in 3 cone spikes on the front end of the shoe.

Fourth step, Used industrial glue to attach 3 cone spikes on the sides of each shoe. This is the only part where glue was used, everywhere else was attached like studs and spikes are supposed to be.

They came out pretty cute! I need to go DIY with shoes more often.

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Yay shoes!

(I probably screwed up the LJ-cut on this since I never use that feature, so work with me if my post is all FUBAR. I promise to fix it!)