Today I decided to give a plain old pair of brown lace-up shoes a new lease on life by showering it with a thunderstorm of colorful acrylic paints. I was inspired by this picture of a pair of Alexander McQueen Spring 2010 shoes,
via Dazed Digital
of which I spoke to twitter buddies Steve and Mat about replicating at home with an old pair of shoes and some paints (or more like they were talking amongst themselves and I went on to beat them to their idea, thanks guys hahaha).
McQueen Spring 2010, aka nearly the only Milan collection that mattered, was inspired by a painter's wardrobe. See the same shoes in this look.
I already had in mind the perfect pair of shoes for this project.
the "before": plain brown leather shoes from French Connection
So I took a quick trip to the art supplies shop and went straight for the primary-colored paints, as I imagined they'd make for a nice pop-art graphic accent to my wardrobe of blacks and whites. The basic primary colors weren't available, but I was still quite happy with the pseudo-primary colors I came home with: a saturated ochre yellow, ruby red with just a little hit of rose, and a brilliant cobalt blue. I started by literally splattering some paint with my fingers to form odd shapes, I quite liked this yellow triple-tadpole shape I formed:
I then used a variety of paint-application techniques to build on the pattern: paint-brushing, dabbing on with gloves, swirling ribbons of paint from a height, and smudging colors together with my fingers, it was therapeutic!
A dewey sneak peek at the finished product. Notice the texture of the paint, it's real as can be!
As a personal touch, I decided to paint the heels white to provide a clean, crisp contrast to all the chaos going on up top. I was really pleased with the result.
There's something about the juxtaposition of a formal shoe and the messy paint splatters that makes it very charming. I reckon it wouldn't be quite as quirky if I paint-splattered a pair of sneakers.
Now, what to wear, what to wear, what to wear them with?
28 comments:
Those shoes look amazing! That's a really great idea for a DIY
you did get there first!! i just need to find some suitable shoes, i sold all the ones i didnt wear anymore. ah man you went mad with the paint didn't you! looks so messy and thats the reason why i need to get on with it. no-one else is going to have a pair of these bad boys thats for sure.
great touch with the heal too, im sure me and steve will be keeping you posted.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR SHOES! One tinsey dislike is the fact that the white you put on the heal looks to me like it got on the shoe... and I wouldn't have done that myself but to each his own! STILL LOVE THE SHOES AND ANGRY I COULD NEVER IN MY LIFE DO THAT!!
Oh one question though... how'd you get your IFB patch on the side? I mean I'm apart of IFB but I can't find the logo for a link...
do u have any seersucker shorts? maybe even some pastel colored socks, like lavender? those would look so "dandy" with them!
Wow, only a few days after the MCqueen collection was released and a DIY already in the works. That's genius! I'm seriously loving your take on it a lot better. You can actually still see the shoe somewhat. In the original it's just 99.9% covered, so I think that will work better when you pair it up with something else. Good luck on finding it!..
I found them!!
This is so so cool! McQueen is such a genius. Your DIY turned out amazingly well!
This is a pretty cool diy. I like what you did with the heel! The final product looks great!
oh wow!!! I love DIY, and your result turns out amazing!!!! it's more "filled" rather than "dirty" effect like McQueen's either way both are good, but somehow I am drawn toward yours because it makes a bolder statement. are those acrylic paints?! I wanted to make a splattered paint shirt too, but I use acrylic paint for my artwork, I wasn't sure if acrylic will last. =_= so I didn't do it, instead I shredded it lol.
I´m in trully love.
I´ll be there the entire JULY!
I´ve got some things planned(even casts from agencies)
Neat! I think I like the bright colours on yours better. I'm wondering how you'll wear them :) I definitely agree about McQueen being the top in Milan. The rest just don't add anything new... at all.
loub cactus slippers?
now, painted shoes. LOVE.
i am gonna have to call you
chauss jr.
i think you pulled it off! the problem usually with doing this kind of DIY "paint splatter effect" is how to make the paint blots random and not orchestrated! wee another DIY inspiration
- B
oh i weep for the old shoes but i celebrate the new ones - i like the white heels against the brown background. i trust you will come up with something to go with these.
those turned out really well!
malena, mat, markese, deanne, HT, isabel, james, quan, h, frederic, sabrina, c, b, tom, steve - thank you all, regular commenters and those who were moved to comment by their amazement with the shoes, I really appreciate it. I was feeling iffy about the shoes when I came to post them, but perhaps that was just because I was sick of staring at them all day the day I worked on them.
deanne: thanks for the suggestion, I can imagine how dandy that would indeed look!
quan: oh no, I hope these last!
frederic: good luck! you're really talented!
well if you arent sure about them after a while you could always add more paint! its like a new pair of shoes everytime!
mcqueen's look is pitch perfect; the idea of buying pre-painted shoes is anathema to me; doing it yourself is pitch-perfect.
:D
They look great!
you actually did a really breakthrough job! I thought they wouldn't look good, bt they turned out amazing...
great idea
yvestyle.blogspot.com
Zara had paint spattered shoes last season.. it was some kind of special edition.....
loves your shoes izzy.
great result, love it
i like the result, like DIY. great pictures!
I do some DIY myself..
best wishes
www.vigdisheisler.tk
/ http://nyckmaskin.blogspot.com
WOW!! That is wonderful...Iam going to do this to these stillettos I've had for 2 years and never wore because they look so plan...now I have a cool DIY project to upgrade them, I just might make a bag to match!!
Thanks for sharing
great, but the colours look like they have come straight out of the tube. I have the exact same acrylic colours myself. Next time maybe you could mix your own colours, like an artist would do. They'd mix a little bit of ochre and magenta for a rich orangey hue that it completely unique for example.
The white heel is a great touch.
great tip, anonymous. thanks!
Great idea for people who can't draw. And first time I've seen it on guys' shoes. Awesome. :)
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