Friday 17 May 2013

Shoes of Prey

You know the feeling.  You have the perfect outfit and you need the perfect shoes to go with it.  You hit the highstreet, ready to see what goodies they have on offer.  6 hours later you are tired, grumpy, your feet hurt and you are still perfect shoe-less.



I don't think I will ever have that ordeal ever again.
I saw an advert on TV the other day promoting a website where you could design your own shoes.  As someone who loves her quirky and unusual shoes (Iron Fist and Irregular Choice are my two favourite brands) I thought that this would be right up my street.
I was wrong - this wouldn't just be up my street.  This was the kind of street I would quite happily build a home, get a cat, annoy the neighbours, attempt to make jam and kiss the kids goodbye as they left to go to school every day.
This was my dream home of the website world.
Founded by 3 friends in Sydney back in 2009 Shoes of Prey have been featured in Vogue and the hype seems totally justified to me.

I logged on, searched for the website, created a profile and got designing.
2 hours later I had 40 new shoe designs and one rather miffed husband who a) didn't have the computer and b) had a grand total of 0% of my attention.  Oops.
The only issue?  Around £100 a pair. Admittedly they do hand-make them to your exact design and to your shoe size (including one shoe bigger than the other if needed!) and deliver them 4-6 weeks later.  I wouldn't normally baulk at investing £100 in a decent pair of shoes.   My problem would be deciding which ones to invest in!
Anyone got a spare £4K lying around that they don't really need?  Wing it my way if so!
You get to select the type of shoe, heel shape, toe shape, heel height, straps, trimmings and details like bows or ruffles and then play with a selection of different colours and fabrics.
You can even select the sole and the lining!  The screen rotates your designs 360 degrees so you can check out your creation from every angle.
It is ridiculously easy to do and really rather moorish.  They don't just offer heels either, there are all sorts of design options for flats.
There are 'Inspiration' pages you can use if you are running low on ideas and the system saves every design you create.  
I could be lost for days here, just designing and tweaking and playing and then quietly grinding my teeth that I can't afford them all.
I was also really impressed by the fact they offer Vegan options for people who for whatever reason are not comfortable with animal skin
I think it was quite clear from my designs that there are certain styles and colour palettes that I am drawn towards!

These shoe boots were easily my favourite design and given the option would be the first ones I would order!

Oh and for you cynics out there, this is not a sponsored post but I sure as hell wouldn't mind it being one if Shoes of Prey want to comp me a pair! :)
I'm really intrigued as to what people think?  Is this something you would do?  What do you think of my designs and what would your dream shoe look like?

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