fashion question

[liviamay]

a little background.... i am a hairstylist and work at a trendy upscale salon near san diego. the dress code is fairly strict, no flip flops or tennies for shoes. i have only become vegan recently and i am having trouble with shoes. this summer has been OK since there are plenty of cute cloth summer sandles, this fall and winter worry me.... my feet are basicly flinstone feet and leather is all i have ever had luck with for dress shoes! anyone know where i can get good quality, comfy dress shoes that are vegan???? i am on my feet all day. HELP!

[chartley123]

Hi there

Vegetarian Shoes and Bags (http://www.vegetarianshoesandbags.com) always have a good selection - look for their dress shoes selection (http://www.vegetarianshoesandbags.com/women/vegan+dress+shoes/search.aspx).

Hope this helps! And congrats on the new job!

Chris

[SupersonicSheep]

I haven't had this problem yet as I'm still wearing out a pair of leather shoes but I know that when I do come to buy shoes it will be a nightmare. My feet are above average size for a woman and usually too wide for most shoes, even if I do find them in my size. It takes me ages to find a pair of shoes to buy anyway without including what they are made from in the equasion! Should be fun!

[Satya]

There is a lot of vegan footware around. I just got some hella cute boots from DSW that look suede but are infact all man made. Also, if you don't mind ordering online, you can try..
http://www.mooshoes.com/

[Clarissa5]

I definitely have a hard time shopping for fall and winter vegan clothing, especially shoes. I think it's wonderful that there are websites that only sell vegan shoes, and I am going to try ordering from them, but they don't necessarily have the basics, such as a great pair of basic, quality pumps that are appropriate for work. I've found my shoes by "treasure hunting" in the dept stores and regular shoe stores. I've found my dress shoes at Macy's and I even found a great pair of knee high boots a couple years ago at Bandolino. It helps to have a great shoe repair store that will fix your shoes using only non-leather products. I found one that has had to special order material for my shoes bc they would have otherwise used leather.

Some mainstream sites like zappos.com even allow you to search with a vegetarian option, although the inventory is somewhat limited. Generally the shoe salespeople look at my like I'm from another planet when I ask for shoes that all manmade, but maybe that will change someday as more people stop wearing leather! Hopefully there will be more shoe lines that specialize in vegan shoes or shoe companies/designers that realize there's a profit to be made in making vegan shoes. Stella McCartney's line doesn't use fur or leather, but her shoes (ranging from hundreds to up to $1k for boots) are out of my price range. Maybe she'll consider designing "for the masses" and designing shoes that are more affordable. Good luck with your shopping!

[liviamay]

thanks for the help, moo shoes has very cute stuff, as does alternative outfitters. i was trying not to order online, since i have a shoe issue anyway.... but i guess i will give it a try. thanks!

[Clarissa5]

I just posted this to the thread about vegan shoe sites, but wanted to also pass along to you how I found cute vegan shoes by searching on shoes.com and piperlime.com. Look for the Rampage brand, which has several non-leather. I know you're reluctant to order online but the good thing about these sites is that shipping and returns are free.