Vegan Lucite Shoes, Vegan Harnesses, Vegan Shoes to Wear with Black Milk

I’ve got some more vegan shoe tip offs for you today.

First…

Yay! Someone has made a vegan knock-off of those Jeffrey Campbell shoes. You can get the unintentionally vegan version at Urban Outfitters. I have been hoping for a shoe like this for a long time.

vegan lucite shoes

I think I prefer white over the black.

I am a fan of Lucite. It is kind of taboo, since it makes you think of strippers, but at the same time it makes you think of Cinderella, and for me, pole dancing, which is my passionate hobby.

The logo of my blog is actually a pair of lucite shoes with a big rose clipped on it. Romantic much?

While I am on the subject of cool vegan shoes, I also like this shoe I found at urban outfitters.

vegan harness shoes

It also reminds me of a Jeffrey Cambell knockoff. This shoe reminds me of the kind of shoes that Black Milk encourages girls to wear with their black milk outfits. I am a huge fan of the company black milk for their marketing and generally the way they run their company. They never push anyone to buy anything but somehow they have developed a frenzy around their products. I like how they are a company that is so transparent and homegrown, always trying to befriend their customers, and how they do so many innovative things, their way. Check them out on Facebook for a fascinating business case study. Observing them on facebook brightens my day.

So yeah. Good to have vegan shoes for your black milk addiction. Even though I mostly observe from afar.

Finally speaking of harnesses, I recently hit the jackpot when I found these vegan harnesses.

The following may or may not convince you why I think harnesses are cool:

I could go on. If you think this is a cool look, check out Zana Bayne’s vegan section of her online shop. (she does make leather harnesses as well). Also check out the video–very NSFW but totally awesome.

Vegan Thigh Highs, Goldmember Heels, A New Unintentionally Vegan Shoe Resource, and Musings on Birthdays and the Passing of Time

I found a great site for unintentionally vegan shoes– Urbanog. Weird name, but it seems like all of the shoes on their site are vegan and made with man made materials (let me know if you find this isn’t true). They have a huge selection, and the some of the shoes are pretty cool. Definitely better than a lot of the cheap vegan shoe online retailers I’ve come across. Check it out, if you are in need of some type of vegan shoes. I will add this to my article “where to find cool vegan shoes online“.

I was looking for some thigh high boots. I am tall, so I have some tall boots, but they only go up to my knees. I wear black legging like pants basically every day, and a great shoe to wear over them, I think, would be black knee high/thigh high vegan boots.

I like these. Not that tall, but getting there.

I like these also.

These aren’t boots, but I thought they were pretty cool. They look better on the model,  if you click on the link–I just couldn’t find a good pic of them.

vegan heels

These are pretty cool, too. Very Goldfinger, or GoldMember.

They come in black too.

Remember Beyonce in GoldMember?

Just for old time’s sake!

In other news, I am having a birthday party on Saturday. And I’m calling it a vegan birthday brunch. I am really excited about it! I made fancy invites on paperlesspost, and am getting 40 balloons in pink, purple and yellow, pink and purple streamers, party hats…I am cutting out a pic of each guest and putting them on the hats…I am having vegan appetizers served on silver platters by my sister. Best of all, I am having it catered by Blossom du Jour, with their amazing sandwiches..my favorites being the Burrito Grande and the avocado fake chicken sandwich. I already want to plan like 10 more parties.

So excited. For the past couple of years I have really hated my birthday. I felt like I was getting older, and didn’t have any better clue what I wanted to do with my life. Then the other day I remembered turning 10, and having the same feelings. AS I turned ten I remember sitting under the piano reflecting on getting older. And now I’m so much older. It makes me realize that instead of agonizing over the inevitable passing of time, the only thing to do is celebrate the time we have left. Don’t consciously make yourself upset, simply seize the opportunity to make this birthday a happy day, and one to remember for the ages.

How I used to celebrate…NOT A GOOD IDEA!!

Your thoughts? Do you have any tips for entertaining? I’m really out of practice.

TTYS all. have a great Thursday!

Cool Vegan Shoes on Sale at Cri de Coeur and Vegan Lederhosen

Some interesting developments.

I have now been a raw vegan for 1 week. I have been drinking green drinks, eating salads, making bizarre raw food recipes, eating whole mushrooms–it has been quite an experience. I think I may prolong the experience another week.

victoria bountenko’s raw food pyramid

#1 CHANGE: My sense of smell has sharpened. I have been smelling all kinds of new things. #2 Change: my face feels better. It is softer, and when I look in the mirror, I think it looks great.

Ok, on to shoe news.

There are some interesting sales in the vegan clothing and footwear world you might be interested in.

First order of Business:

Cri de Coeur is having a sale on their shoes

They have 3 shoes for sale that I love.

1. I love these alpine-esque vegan hiking boots.

Bavarian birds sing to me while I hike in Lederhosen along the white capped, yellow flowered alps yodeling…when I think of these boots.

Hmm…you know, I’d really like some vegan lederhosen. But back to the shoes.

Vegan Alpine Hiking Boots on sale for $40.

I have these in black, and love them.

(also on sale for $40, but only in size 11).

If you put red laces in the tan ones, they would be so cute.

These remind me of going to Switzerland every year as a kid.

I also really like these:

vegan laceup boots

These are odd, but they have potential. Very “sexy witch”.

Join me on facebook to see some cute vids and find out about other cool vegan happenings, and keep in touch!

Vegan Desert Boots, Vegan Mary Janes, Vegan Cyberpunk Shoes, Thoughts on the Movement, Book Recs, and Green Smoothies

Some things.

1. Have you heard of Toronto Pig Save? I just listened to this amazing interview with the quietly heroic founder Anita Krajnc who explains the effective activism practice of “Bearing Witness”. It is so interesting. She got the idea from reading Tolstoy who was always trying to change whatever he saw that was sad or bad in his community. She is a regular but clearly very compassionate and intelligent person who one day decided to just do something, and it grew into a movement. She is a huge reader, who talks about the Grapes of Wrath and Tolstoy during the interview.

2. Remember the interview I did with Natalie. I got the book she recommended and it is amazing. Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko. I have been drinking green smoothies daily. It is so much fun grinding up all the fruit in the vitamix. I started giving them to my dad every morning too. (I work for him). You got to read this book if you are interested in improving your health. Natalie was right that instead of worrying about GOING vegan, simply becoming aware of how unhealthy your diet may be will make you almost naturally make a shift.

3. I read the book Free The Animals by Ingrid Newkirk that the documentary Behind The Mask was inspired by. It is incredible. Five stars. It has made me more and more interested in this whole movement of people trying in various ways to help animals and change the world. It makes me want to try to do more with this blog, like perhaps trying to submit my article about how to find non leather shoes online to different blogs and stuff so that more people could realize how truly simple it is to stop buying leather shoes. It is amazing how when you truly believe in something, the motivation comes naturally, and it’s not about marketing or networking or getting more followers but helping other people and getting what you know out there so other people can know too.

4. I have found some really cool shoe options on modcloth recently.

I found

a. Vegan Desert Boots.

b. Vegan Faux Suede Chunky Heeled Mary Jane Heels.

This is a shoe I always wished I could have because they remind me of the blogger Making Magique who I did a post on here. (Though not many of the pics I tried to add showed up).

and c.

Vegan Matrix Cyberpunk Shoes

I just thought these were really really cool. Unfortunately they run small and I’m a 10-11. Amazingly these are totally vegan.

You like?

As always,  find my nonleather life on facebook. And let me know if you know of any other good websites about animal rights you guys like…I’m in research mode.

-Victoria

Out Of Africa by Isak Dinesen and A Very Cool Pair of Snakeskin Vegan Heels

(Isak Dinesen as a young girl)

Happy Monday everybody.
I am reading a gorgeous book right now–Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (real name Baroness Karen Blixen). It is amazing. It is so beautifully written. It is about this very take charge kind of woman who moves alone to Africa and starts a coffee farm there. She loves Africa and the people, and she writes about her time there. There are so many beautiful descriptions of mindblowing things. For example, yesterday I was reading about how she used to ride her horse through this river, up a rocky cliff and onto this high plateau that stretched for a hundred miles where all these herds of wild animals grazed. She would ride her horse right up among them…I will quote:

Here lay before you a hundred miles’ gallop over grass and undulating land; there was not a fence nor a ditch, and no road….

When the rains come, and the young grass is fresh on the plains, you feel as if riding upon springs, and the horse gets a little mad with the pleasantness. The various kinds of gazelles come to the green places to graze, and there look like toy animals stood upon a billiard table. You may ride into a herd of Eland; the mighty peaceful beasts will let you get close to them before they start trotting off, their long horns streaming backwards over their raised necks…

And I had to excerpt. The whole thing sounds like…..a dream.

I once took a trip to Africa with my family and we went on a safari at an animal preserve. One day, my dad, my sister and I went on a walk (instead of touring in armored jeeps). What a thrill. To be out there, walking on the plains, with lions etc. We saw so many herds of animals doing bizarre behavior like turning around and around in a wheel, sensing us. C’est incroyable!!

Yes I spoke french.

She is a hunter, and although I could never hunt and think it is terrible to hunt, she even makes hunting sound beautiful, because it means being out there among all the animals and hunting dogs. She had all these Scotch Deerhounds which she took hunting with her. Listen to this:

“I took them with me when I was out riding in the Game Reserve, which I was not allowed to do, and there they would spread the herds of Zebra and Wildebesst over the plain, as if it were all the stars of heaven running wild over the sky.”

Wow, this just seems incredible to me. Minus the killing part.

Anyway. It’s great. Again recommended by Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project Blog’s book club. (I wrote about another animal book– The Midnight Fox which, she recommended , which I loved, here.)

I found a new African inspired vegan shoe for you. Trip to the Tropics Heel from Modcloth. This is actually my favorite look of heels. And they are vegan, and quite inexpensive, from modcloth. They also come in Orange and are top rated on the site!

A pretty good find.

 

 

 

My Top Ten Vegan Shoe Essentials…that you can always find online.

I’m a blogging kick today and my last post about people with cool style got me thinking.

What are the top 10 vegan shoes that are always available to buy online (unlike most shoes which have a short run and then sell out forever) that every COOL non leather loving person might want to pick up.

Here is what I came up with. I own most all of these shoes, and these are the shoes I wear all the time. They ARE how I live a non leather lifestyle in a leather loving, steak eating : ( world.

Here goes nothing!

1. Vans. There are many vans that are vegan, but not all. See my post about it: “Are Vans vegan? Yes, Some Are“. Vans are the perfect shoe for kicking around but still looking cool.

Why not go for a classic.

2. Converse. Another casual vegan shoe for kicking around that with a bit of sleuthing I determined to be almost certainly vegan. See “Once and for all, are converse vegan?“. Why converse? They are the ultimate classic shoe. They always look cool. I prefer off white.

3. Doc Martens. The vegan ones. They’re on the brain! I’d get the black classic 8 eye boots or whatever they’re called. Reusing a picture:

 If only doc martens did floral vegan versions…I would buy in a heartbeat.

alas.

4. Loafers. I wear my vegan loafers all the time! They are …sadly unavailable from modcloth where I picked them up. They are so comfortable and I wear them as sneakers. If you are so inclined, check out my post on vegan pennyloafers: “At last, vegan pennyloafers and the history of preppy style according to me“.

For an alternative, what do you think about the idea of buying vintage bass loafers which are leather on ebay? I personally do not feel I would do this as I am trying to make a statement by not wearing leather, but I think it is ok to buy vintage leather shoes as your money is not supporting any business perpetuating animal cruelty.

5. Hunter rain boots. I wrote about them in my post “Hunter Rain boots: Ironically, Vegan“. Lol much? So many people in new york seem to have these and for good reason. In the winter, these are now the boots I wear in heavy snow. They are rainproof so they never get soggy, and they make you feel invincible in knee high puddles. PLus they give off a cool Kate Middleton/Prince William/Prince Charles/Nancy Mitford/English countryside vibe. Perfect for anglophiles such as myself. And of course, they’re totally vegan.

6. What about some saddle shoes. I love mine, although sometimes they make me feel a bit silly. Only wear when you are feeling uber stylish. I’m proud of the post I wrote on saddle shoes “Vegan saddle shoes and some awesome saddle shoe style inspiration“. Have you seen Moonrise Kingdom? I thought it was incredible–Anderson’s best yet, and that’s coming from a huge Wes Anderson fan whose favorite movie of all time is Bottle Rocket. Well as you know, Suzy, the main character, wears saddle shoes, or Sunday school shoes as they refer to them in the flick. So now you know why these are cool.

you can always buy them at payless. Just google vegan saddle shoes. They’re less than $20.

7. You should get some high heels for looking hot. I would recommend looking at 3 places.

Modcloth–look for heels around $50 or under and then read the materials.

Urban outfitters–same deal. Read the materials.

Forever 21 shoes. These are all vegan (with 1 exception i saw once).

I found these vegan babies just now at forever 21.

They’re only $24. 80 and like almost everything at forever 21, vegan. So get a cool pair of heels so you can be that person who can hang out in sneakers or can rock a pair of heels–as is so annoyingly stated on every guy’s online dating profile. I’m on okcupid! and annoyed by it.

As you might guess…..

8.  You’ve got to get some sandals for the summer. Oh how I wish they made saltwaters in vegan form. Or those cool swedish hasbeens. I’m weird but I would get Jelly’s! I think these shoes are really cool, and so fun to wear. I wrote about them here: “A patriotic shoe for vegans: Jelly Sandals“. I called them patriotic since they are so obviously vegan, being made entirely of rubber. I love mine.

Check my post for a link to the topshop ones I got, or simply google jellies.

9. Let’s put one on here for the guys, in case any of you reading this are guys or have significant others who would look super SEXY in pink and teal shoes from none other than honestly the coolest vegan brand around Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather. I wish I had a boyfriend that I could buy these shoes for. I mean, of course I want the pink and blue for myself but I think they would look so cool on a guy. Check out my latest post on the good guys “The MYsteries of Spring Cleaning and Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather: their offerings and vision” .

and check out their tumblr which i love.

and 10. Ok guys, I have to go. But what do you think 10 should be? Any suggestions?

Hope you have enjoyed this! Let me know what you think.

With fond affection,

V

Vegan Jeffrey Campbells, and Vegan Litas

You feelin it?

I’m feelin it.

Jeffrey Campbell (maker of cool all non vegan shoes) has done a collaboration with Convert and made a vegan line.

The above shoes are my favorites!

The others are very hemp, hippie-chic… that’s not really my style.

Do people still think all vegans are hippies? Cause they’re not.

You have heard of Litas? They are the black platform boot shoe. All the fashion bloggers wear them…

Now vegans can too. They call the vegan version Vitas.

I’m not really a fan of them though. They kind of remind me of hooves.

Not really sure why.

I think this is a good sign for vegans. Little by little shoe companies are taking notice of vegans.

My best friend watched food, inc the other day and told me she has to become a vegetarian now. Change…

Do you like these? I really love the lace up black high boots.

New Vegan Shoes at Urban Outfitters That I Find Cool and Intriguing…Along with other Musings

Ok here are some new vegan shoes from around the web.

First of all, I made a purchase and now I own a pair of cri de coeur shoes. I love them. I got a compliment on them already but it was from a guy who was trying to con me into giving him money…not sure that counts. I wrote about them here and a very similar one from urban outfitters here. I intend to put some swiss ribbon around these or paint them with little blue flowers to achieve a sound of music like effect. I used to see those kind of shoes in the Gorsuch Ltd. Catalog when I was younger and read a lot of catalogs.

1. First from Urban Outfitters, there are really nice looking vegan riding boots. These look very classic, and I have always wanted a pair of shoes in this style.

These classic vegan English riding boots recall to mind the Mitford Sisters, Kate Middleton and Ralph Lauren himself.

They have a five star rating, are totally vegan, are $68 and you can buy them here.

2. Next is another shoe from UO, that reminds me of a Guess ad.

Check them out here, $ 69, totally vegan–obviously.

I love vintage guess ads, and did a big post with lots of them on my other blog here, if you are so inclined to delve deep into the history of vintage guess ads from the 80s and 90s.

3. Guys, by the way saddles shoes are becoming a hot trend! Check out the lookbook for this brand current/elliot (why does that name annoy me so much)

On that note, why do all look book images with models looking all hunched over and like sad bored little girls annoy me so much. Why can’t they look like they are enjoying life for once. I think that is one of the reasons I like vintage Guess ads so much. Anyway, saddle shoes–You heard it here first, am I right? Such a trend setter! Jk.

4. Another UO find, a vegan chelsea boot. I had a great Chelsea boot that I wore for a couple years straight from Marais. However since they were vegan the paint scuffed up and the plastic underneath was revealed. People kept telling me I had to throw them out..so I finally caved in an effort to look more professional at work. This would be a good replacement–very simple.

for $59, vegan chelsea boot, also available in black.

5. While searching the shoe section of UO I found an awesome shoe.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone. These remind me of a secret Chinese New Year Party I want to go to, but have no one to go with. You have to dress in vintage asian influenced attire. These would be perfect. I really like these. They remind me, a bit of a stretch here, of a movie I have been thinking about lately: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I kept thinking about the love story and the lanscape it took place in–the barren mongolian wilderness…or somewhere like that.

Back to the shoes…these vegan asian inspired painterly platforms can be bought here…and I hope they will be bought..for $59.

6. On a different note, I like these a lot.

They are vegan, and look like something Jessica Chastain’s character from The Help would wear. Did you see/like that movie?

Can be bought here, vegan rainbow heels, for $59.

Ok well I only got through Urban Outfitters…and this post is now long. So I will save the others for another day.

Tell me: What did you think of these shoes? Also, if you have any other leads or good vegan shoes you think I might like to feature–I will check them out and thank you! How is life? I think my next shoe purchase will be those candy colored vegan oxfords from the good guys though, I think they are coming out soon…

ttys.

Rookie Magazine, David Bowie, Vegan 70s Platforms, DIY Vegan Glitter Shoes

I have been obsessed with Rookie Magazine ever since it came out. For those not in the know, Rookie is a web magazine created by fashion blogger and 15 year old Tavi Gevinson, whose blog I read ever since I saw her Rei Kawakubo rap make the viral video rounds.

Tavi is one of my biggest inspirations. She is a really funny writer, and Rookie magazine makes me maniacally laugh inwardly at the thought of how all teen magazines (fashion magazines, cosmo, etc) must be hitting themselves on the head with their magazines and saying “why didn’t we think of writing about this!”.

Rookie posts important stuff, like stuff about sexual abuse, cool things on the internet, advice for teens from really awesome people, list of cult classic books and music to read–all written by teens or by super cool people. There is nothing in it like your typical….pun laden, womens mag jargon filled, weight obsessed, pamper yourself fare from any magazine on the stands. It is inspiring. I don’t even know if I’d have been cool enough for it as a teen–on second thought, I would have loved it probably even more than I do now.

This is all to say that lately I have been sensing some David Bowie obsession on Rookie. I think because Tavi, the editor in chief, must be really into him right now (she just recommended Hunky Dory in their article of the best dance party album recommendations). A taste of her writing while I am at it:

When David Bowie isn’t busy being totally normal, I like to imagine him as the little old woman who lives in a shoe, only the shoe is a gold platform and the children aren’t children but, like, little bits of his brain (which is bright purple) everywhere. And instead of making them broth and sending them to bed, he sprinkles them with glitter and puts them in jumpsuits and sends them out to us, the mortals.

Haha. Anyway, for whatever reason, David Bowie has been on the mind recently. Maybe it is also my obsession lately with Black Milk, this amazing clothing company from Australia that makes tight crazy leggings–look them up on facebook and fall down the rabbit hole. They make leggings Ziggy Stardust would have worn.

Searching for David Bowie on Rookie, I find some amazing inspiration, here, here, and …wow my subconscious was correct. In Tavi’s editor’s letter, which she writes every month on the first of ever month she states “David Bowie is a real hero of ours this month.” and there’s a big picture of him, so I’m on to something here.

Anyway, all of this is to say, I found some vegan seventies esque platforms:

Can be bought here on zappos or if you want the black ones on mooshoes, to support a vegan business.

And you know what’s amazing I recently saw on a blog a DIY glitter tutorial. Basically you cover your shoe in glue and then cover it in glitter. To be even more Studio 54 you could do that to these shoes.

I found this on the delightful blog Elsa Billgren, a blog tip if there ever was one, but the post is in Swedish…however you get the idea with these pics

I also found these leopard print ones for $26.80 on Forever 21.

If you want these buy them because Forever 21  runs out of sizes quickly.

How is everyone’s week going? In the market for any shoes? Will any of you DIY Glitterify your shoes? Do any of you read Rookie by chance? 

Mohop Shoes: Vegan Sandals with Interchangeable Ribbons and Soles that Mold to your Feet

While browsing Etsy I found another amazing vegan shoe company.

Mohop shoes. 

Though their website and etsy stores are a little hard to navigate to understand the full story behind these shoes, I believe I have pieced it together, and it is an amazing story.

Annie Mohaupt went to architecture school and then decided to begin designing shoes in her spare time. She uses this 3d modeling architecture program to make extremely comfortable ergonomic wooden shoe soles (kind of like clogs) and then finishes them off with ribbon ties. The ribbons are interchangeable and she also has a project working with women in India using recycled saris as ribbons:

Produced in collaboration with Jhoole, a non-profit social enterprise based in India, these ties are created from recycled sarees. Each pair of ties is one of a kind, handmade by women who earn fair-trade wages so their children can attend school, with the goal of ending the cycle of poverty in their family and community.

I am inspired that this woman started this unique company. You can see videos of her online explaining her 3 D Modeling tenchnique and actually hand making the shoes.

I find the construction of the shoes quite genius. The ribbons are tied in intricate patterns making the sandals look complicated and beautiful, like some sort of Japanese kimono sandal, but also quite cool and hip, like I could picture fashion bloggers wearing these as well.

For example,

They have one shoe called the moped that can be creatively styled in all these different ways:

Only an architect could come up with something like this.

Here are some other shoes. I am marveling at the ribbon tying patterns.

mens sandals (i want these)

To break it down for you, they come in flats, low heel, mid heel, and high heel.

All materials used are vegan, and the wood is sustainably sourced.

Here is the etsy store Mohop

Here is their website

Here is a pic of the founder, Annie:

Your thoughts?