it all started with this boot.
the isabel marant dicker boot $600.
i loved it the first time i saw it but in reality the heel was a little high and so was the price.
then i moved onto this.
the petty boot by sam edelman $130.
i tried it on and fell in love.
but it was leather and some of you guys gave me shit for even thinking about it.
the one and only fabulous florida mommy told me about a similar pair at target but it sold out so fast i was never able to get a pair.
which finally brought me to this pair.
madden girl krespo $53
get them wherever you can. they are selling out everywhere quickly.
they arrived in the mail yesterday and i cannot tell you how much i love them.
so comfortable, so cute.
they run true to size and the faux suede looks and feels real.
so now i have 4 pair of vegan shoes!
exciting.
until i got these i was really feeling lost without a pair of boots or booties to wear.
now i'm feeling much better. phew.
ok that's about it from here.
xo
Do they run true to size???
ReplyDeleteyes jana. i'll add that in the post. :)
DeleteThanks-I just grabbed a pair on Amazon :)
ReplyDeleteguilt-free & so gorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteI love your new booties...and how you worked to find a non leather less expensive pair. I need knee high ones since the snow here would cover those darling ones up! :)
ReplyDeleteOh good for you! Those are great boots for a wonderful price!
ReplyDeleteCute boots!
ReplyDeleteFor those who haven't yet found the boots you've been looking for, Good Guys Don't Wear Leather of Paris is having a sale on low boots:
http://goodguys.bigcartel.com/product/anna
The Good Guys also carry desert boots, bucks, and saddle shoes in micro suede and canvas.
So cute! I'm tempted to buy myself a pair. Just one question (I am not good at fashion), what syle of jean would you wear with these? One with a little flare, perhaps? Could you please post a pic of yourself wearing these boots?
ReplyDeletecute...I know you'll rock em!
ReplyDeleteI love the format of this post, taking us slowly through the process of finding the perfect vegan boot---I did love that Sam Edleman one though :)
ReplyDeleteI just got mine too. Those boots were made for walkin'.
ReplyDeleteoooo maybe you can model them for us!!!!
DeleteSteve is such a card. Cute boots!
DeleteI have the Dickers, in black, as of last week. I am so happy you have found what you wanted. The archetype is so great, however we implement.
ReplyDeleteForgive me if someone asked this in your last posts, but does this take wool off the table too?
ReplyDeleteYes, though I don't see why: the sheeps on the Outer Hebrides and in the Scotish Highlands are having a good time.
Delete?!
I feel more harmed, working in an office, sitting in front of a desk in artificial light with bad air in the office, 8hrs per day, 5 days a week, not being able to move en plein air. (no irony, not kidding)
Can someone please explain why wool is bad?
Maybe it should be a conditional thing, certainly wool that comes from sheep that are well-cared for should be allowed right? I know people who love their sheep in an otherworldly way but still spin and knit with their wool. Haha and I agree I think I'd rather be in pasture than fluorescent light :)
DeleteMost of us think wool is a cruelty free product but, sadly, nothing could be further from the truth.
DeleteClick the links for more information
"Think wool is harmless? Think again"
http://www.theethicalman.com/wool.html
In Australia, the most commonly raised sheep are merinos, specifically bred to have wrinkly skin, which means more wool per animal. This unnatural overload of wool causes animals to die of heat exhaustion during hot months, and the wrinkles also collect urine and moisture. Attracted to the moisture, flies lay eggs in the folds of skin, and the hatched maggots can eat the sheep alive. To prevent this so-called "flystrike," Australian ranchers perform a barbaric operation—mulesing—or carving huge strips of flesh off the backs of lambs' legs and around their tails.
Wool farming is like the dairy and egg industries in that the animals who've been tortured and abused for things we don't need, are trucked off to slaughter after their productive days are over.
Buying wool directly supports cruel practices such as mulesing, castration, tail-docking, and ear-punching. Industrial wool farming is energy-inefficient, land- and water-intensive, and highly pollutive.
"Pulling the Wool over our Eyes"
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/01/pulling-the-wool-over-our-eyes-gary-smith/
More on wool
http://www.care2.com/causes/think-wool-is-a-great-fur-alternative-not-quite.html
Wool Cruelty
http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/wool.htm
Do you know about the company named Icebreaker? Maybe they are a reaction to the bad conditions on the Australian continent? They provide a code where you can visit the farm online, you see where the sheep live and how they are being held.
DeleteIcebreaker claims: No Mulesing
http://eu.icebreaker.com/Icebreaker-Ethics/how-we-treat-animals,en,pg.html
"Merino sheep live free range, and are given extra feed at times of slow pasture growth. The growers who raise them are required to meet our strict welfare code:
Freedom from thirst and hunger
Provision of appropriate comfort and shelter
Prevention of (or rapid diagnosis and treatment of) injury, disease or parasite infestation
Freedom from distress
The ability to display normal patterns of behaviour
Sheep dogs don’t miss out: we have standards of care for them, too."
I mean, animal transportation in the US is different compared to the EC, maybe the sheep in New Zealand live a better live, compared to Australien sheep?
That being said: If I knew a cow that leads a beautiful live, I certainly would eat cheese that has been made from her milk. The reason why I eat vegan is that I have not found that farm (that's where I live) yet - a farm I can trust.
Why keep looking for the right way to do the wrong thing?
DeleteWool industry campaigns to convince consumers that certain practices are less harmful than others are no different from the "happy meat," "humane certified," "free range" promotions misleading people who are concerned about miserable animal factories for food and leather.
http://www.humanemyth.org/
There was once a time when many people had to harm and kill animals for clothing to survive but that's not the case now. There are plenty of readily available good, warm fabrics that are less hard on the earth and don't involve abusing animals.
If you don’t need to use and kill animals for fabrics, why would you? Ground-breaking materials, rooted in compassion, are the way forward.
You mentioned the barbaric mulesing as one reason, why wool is "bad". As the link I posted above shows: Mulesing is not allowed for Icebreaker-wool. I don't think they can afford to lie about the sheep herds. Those sheeps in New Zealand don't seem to be abused. Just like the hens whose eggs we ate at my relative's farm in the 1980's.
DeleteMerino wool from sheep that are living a good life is more environmental friendly compared to synthethic-fibres when petro-oil-industry is part of the production-cycle.
And palm oil - yes, it is vegan, but it is not at all environmental friendly. Also eating Quinoa, that flew around the globe and Cashewcream as a substitute for butter is all not exactly environmental friendy. To me eating vegan is one piece in a set of "concious consumerism". The reason why I eat vegan are animal factories and my health. Eating vegan is not always CO2-neutral or the best for ecosystems. I do care about all that: plants and environment and yes, also humans, who harvest food under really bad conditions, too. I am on my way finding out, which way is the most peaceful. And I have to say: seeing how those people on the Outer Hebrides make their living from sheep wool was very impressive. In a time where every other production outsources towards China.
Your approach is a different one - Animals come first. Maybe we can agree to disagree. I hope my point is clear - since English is not my first language and discussing in words is tricky!
Paula, Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
DeleteWhat's telling about the Icebreaker company's web site isn't what they write but what they don't write.
Icebreaker's "ethics" promotion mentions mulesing but omits information about cruel wool industry practices such as dehorning, tail docking, castration.
Whatever claims the Icebreaker company makes in their "ethics" promotion can't be verified by consumers. Unless consumers make regular visits to the Icebreaker company's wool suppliers (Icebreaker has many suppliers), what those suppliers do can't be known.
The Icebreaker company's "ethics" promotion doesn't mention what their wool suppliers do with their aging sheep when their wool productivity drops. Sheep ranchers aren't inclined and can't afford to keep animals who aren't productive. Like the dairy industry, where cows are trucked off to slaughter when their milk production wanes, sheep used in the wool industry are shipped to the abattoir when their wool production drops. It never ends well for the animals.
Fossil fuel intensive meat, dairy, and wool production is all part of same industry. The human appetite for products made from animals is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future - deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.
Evidence demonstrates that animal agriculture is responsible for 51 percent of greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.
Click below to follow URLs to further information
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20121107/OPINION02/121109731/0/WIRE?Title=Letters-to-the-Editor-for-Nov-7-2012
According to recent estimates, 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions of all food production arises from "livestock," reported Samuel Soret, PhD, Professor of Environmental Health and Geoinformatics Sciences at Loma Linda University School of Public Health in California.
The good news is, we can all do our part in improving the environment by adopting vegan habits. Vegans’ GHG emissions are 41.7% lower than non-vegetarians’ according to the Loma Linda University research just released a few days ago.
More on the Loma Linda research here:
http://dietsforhealth.net/environmental-footprint-of-vegan-and-vegetarian-diets-30-lower-than-non-foodnavigator/
KO, have you tried emailing Icebreaker to ask them all those questions?
DeleteThere are companies out there who are genuinely trying to do the "right thing," and I think it's unreasonable to assume that they are hiding bad information before at least trying to reach out to them.
It seems that there is a conflation going on here between the environmental impact of a vegan diet, versus the impact of not using any animal products at all.
Plastic is a major environmental issue, and of course the plastic industry is responsible for a lot of brutal animal deaths as well, when you consider the effect of land use and waste disposal.
I'm not arguing against a vegan diet or lifestyle, but I do think it's important to remain critical when evaluating information.
The Loma Linda research link doesn't work. Do you have an academic study that you can link to? I looked up the researcher but could not find any recently released papers.
Hi Abby,
DeleteI hadn't planned to chime in again under the "booties" post but since the article link I provided on the environmental footprints of various diets doesn't work, here's another:
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science/Environmental-footprint-of-vegan-and-vegetarian-diets-30-lower-than-non-vegetarian-diets-say-researchers-We-have-to-drastically-cut-consumption-of-meat-and-dairy
This new study is just one of many showing vegans have lower carbon footprints than carnists.
2009 World Watch institute research concluded that over 51% of greenhouse gases emissions come from "livestock."
http://51percent.org/
The link below provides URLs to more research on animal agriculture and the environment
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20121107/OPINION02/121109731/0/WIRE?Title=Letters-to-the-Editor-for-Nov-7-2012
Just as the dairy industry implicitly supports the meat industry by supplying it with veal calves and female cows whose milk production levels have dropped, wool funnels sheep who are no longer producing profitable levels of wool into the meat industry, often through live export which entails its own unique set of abhorrent practices. Ultimately, nearly every shorn sheep will be brought to slaughter. Meat, wool, milk, leather ..... they're all part of the same cruel system of animal exploitation. Fortunately, consuming them is simply not necessary.
Plastic is bad in many ways. People don't have to choose between plastic and animal products. There are many other materials available and new technologies are emerging all the time.
On an upbeat note, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart's Vaute Couture vegan line made a splash at New York Fashion Week. Some of the fabrics in the Vaute line are new.
Vaute Couture at New York Fashion Week: An Historic Moment
http://www.ourhenhouse.org/2013/02/vaute-couture-at-new-york-fashion-week-an-historic-moment/
In summer I love cheap faux suede shoes, they are so so comfy, welcome to comfort!
ReplyDeleteThose boots are great, I can't live without boots in my life either! x
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that you find stylish options to fit your life. I am interested to know how well they hold up over time so please do let us know. The prices are lower compared to leather footwear but still, a disposable culture isn't great either.
ReplyDeleteThose are some mighty fine booties!
ReplyDeleteWanted to share this website with you, I found it while browsing Elle at the spa. I haven't checked each and every piece of footwear but all I've seen are synthetic and stylish. And featured in Elle, no less.
ReplyDeletewww.callitspring.com
Thank you so much for the lovely mention, Janet! I am so happy to hear that you finally found a pair that you love, and at a great price, too! Can't wait to see them on you! :)
ReplyDeleteThose booties are so cute and perfect for your Vegan free lifestyle.
ReplyDelete