Wedging My Way to Vegan Shoes

A couple of weeks ago I did a post for my vegan followers in need of cute comfy shoes, particularly for new moms on the go (Payless, Seriously? Seriously!)  What left to be desired were heels, the next level.  I began doing research on vegan shoes gaining more and more curiosity as I came across Beyond Skin, the brainchild of Natalie Portman and a greatly progressive UK shoe designer.  The brand expressly touts they are “genuinely not leather” and goes so far as saying that “no humans, animals or small children were harmed in the making of our shoes.”  This made my heart skip a beat… true eco-chicness that was also truly fashionable. 

I fell head over wedges for the ‘Jenna’ peep toe wedge because of its honeycomb like pattern on the wedge with matching button.  Ordering them instantly, I was ecstatic to see that my order arrived from London to Los Angeles in less than a week, even through US Customs!  At first look, I was a bit worried that their stiffness would be an expressway to Band-Aidland.  Also, there didn’t appear to be a lot of cushion on the inner sole which was a flag in terms of being able to stand or walk in them for extended amounts of time.  Having the texturized fabric overlap into the sole under the ball of the foot is a flag because if its not cushiony or too textured, it can feel like you’re walking on burlap with each step – not fun, not even a little bit.  They were however, not very heavy, which is a plus to avoid that shin soreness the day after you wear heavy shoes. 

I planned my next day’s outfit entirely around these very sweet cream and milk chocolate colored shoes and made sure to have a generous supply of Band-Aids in my purse.  To my utter joy, I only needed one Band-Aid and that was from a blister from my shoe from the day before.  The inner sole was deceivingly comfortable despite the lack of visual cushion.  The stiffness never even played as a factor other than to hold the shoe’s shape.  The textured fabric under the ball of my feet never hurt.  It was actually softer than what I expected it to be.  I got lots of compliments on these for their great patterned wedge.  The bonus with these shoes is really the perfect marriage between eco-consciousness and fashion - if only all marriages could be so eco-chic!  Maybe that’s Natalie’s next project ;)  All and all, I’m very excited to be wedging my way to vegan shoes.

These do-gooder shoes come in three colors, the cream, a black and white combo and solid black.  Check them out or order them online from Amazon.com or directly from Beyond Skin: http://www.beyondskin.co.uk/index.php?searchStr=jenna&_a=viewCat&Submit=&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0. 

Be sure to check out Friday's new weekly post: "What Would Project Runway Shoe?" #WWPRS where I do a pairing with this week's winning look! :)