Monday, March 8, 2010

Googly eyes are the new studs.

The weather in Boston was drop-dead gorgeous today (so warm!) and I was feeling that spring has sprung and the idea of new beginnings and creativity and so I decided to take a trip to my favorite art supplies store a couple of blocks from my apartment. My Swear patent leather jazz shoes were gathering dust and were in need of a quick DIY freshening up.

Swear patent leather shoes

I wanted an all-over pattern on the shoes, something that approximated the feel of these Louboutins:

Christian Louboutin Freddy flat and Rollerball shoes (via 00o00)

But I felt that if they weren't those exact Louboutins, my shoes studded would look like just another tired blogger DIY project. I was hoping to find tacky 80's plastic gems to stud my shoes much like these:

from Stockholm Street Style

But alas, there were no plastic diamonds in sight. However, what I did find to stud my shoes with was something far more clever and amusing than faux-tough spikes or glam gems: googly eyes of varying sizes.

Googly eyes are the new studs.

For this project, I used Scotch double-stick tape to affix the eyes onto my shoes, meticulously cutting off the excess tape from the edges of the eyes so they don't show when stuck on the shoe. The shiny patent bonds extremely well with the adhesive tape, and I wanted to have the option of being able to peel the eyes off if I wanted to go back to wearing the shoes plain.

Besides googly eyes, what you'll need for this project is probably in your house: scissors and double-stick tape.

I decided I was going to stud just the vamp. I first strategically filled the whole vamp to the seams with the biggest googly eyes, then filled in the gaps with the smaller eyes.

halfway done

The Dandy Project DIY projects may be easy (in that people such as myself with sub-par manual dexterity can succeed in doing them) but they certainly aren't lazy. I spent a substantial chunk of my afternoon cutting tape, trimming the edges, and meticulously pressing each eye on to the shoe.

Here are the shoes all decked out with eyes. (On a side note, check out this Power Rangers villain I found on Lactose Intoler-Art Inspiration that may just be a distant cousin of my shoes.)

The result isn't half as amazing in pictures as it is in motion where you can see the eyes simultaneously look around and end up staring at you.

I like how the eyes appear to be either a print or studs from afar and how kooky they appear up close when you see them moving.


Of all the DIY shoes I've made that typically get a lot of stares, these are the first and only ones that can actually stare back.

24 comments:

Matthew Spade said...

hes done it again, genius! and yeah they can stare back, the perfect comeback

Style Salvage Steve said...

I'm pleased that the store was out of studs and plastic jewels. What an inspired idea. However, I think the post needs a video of you dancing around in them though.

Isabel said...

Heck yes! Someone needs to start paying you to do stuff like this, Izzy. You're an inspiration to us all.

Hard Liquor, Soft Holes said...

ok, these are fantastic.

EJ said...

I second Steve's request for a video! Fab.

Gon said...

That's genious! Bravo ;D


www.dimogonda.blogspot.com

meg // morningmidnight.com said...

followed the link here from your TFS DIY post -- loving it, and i bet it's great how the eyes shift around when you walk!

The Velvet Scientist said...

ha! oh these are absolutely brilliant. x

shopcalico.com said...

Absolutely LOVE this idea! But you may wanna stick those googly eyes on with something stronger than tape, if you're actually planning to wear these babies out on the town (and I hope you are!...)

Andrew said...

Oh my GODDDDDDDDDDDD

love this SO MUCH!! I glued googly eyes on my nose for my club kid halloween costume two years ago and always thought of what else to do with them. NOW I KNOW

I love the ones with the gems too, I hope i can find some similar

fuchsiaboy said...

inspiring! comme-ish ;)

Shay said...

that is a ridiculously good idea.

Noelle Chantal said...

oh my, you never fail to impress me, Izzy! you are very creative and so sooo original!

amazing post as always :)

BJ Pascual said...

INGENIOUS!!!

Super cute!!!

j.a.daye said...

how bizarre! check these out, posted on the same day no less... http://jadaye.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/moustache-hand-painted-plimsolls/

R. Gratz said...

Hahaha, this is freaking EPIC. Nostalgic? Absolutely. Great spin!!

we could grow up 2gether said...

insanely adorable

Liis Theresia said...

Truly cool shoes! Liis Theresia.

OH HELL CLOTHING said...

These are so cool! I am actually the most jealous person IN the world.

Click here to visit me at LITTLE RAZZI blog!

jesus christ on a coke binge said...

So creative! Love it!!

Anonymous said...

what an adorable idea :)

Anonymous said...

Omg!! so different your a inspiration man i dont think ive made anything as creative as you

Emma Homestay Bandar Tasik Puteri said...

verrrry niice! I'd like to see you prance in it. do a video please!

Charles said...

Heh, sweet! If you like googly eyes you might like this site: http://www.allgoogly.com/

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