DIY Strassed Shoes

My Wedding Shoes

So this is the first of my DIY projects for my upcoming nuptials. With barely 6 months to go, I seem to be at a lost for what to do- I feel like I have a long list of things to do but on the other hand I feel like what I need to do FOR NOW, is done. Oh well I guess I shall realize much too late that there is indeed lots to do and have a mad rush towards the very last day. Having said this, I shall embrace the fact that I work well under pressure. 

Anyways, enough about me, I'm sure that everyone is curious to know more about the shoes. Few things that I'll clarify first:

1) I bought plain white shoes made with cloth. ( You can opt to use shoes with a suede base too)

2) I hand picked ALL the crystals and glue them on individually. Yes I DID!

3) I used ONLY Swarovski Crystals

Now, everyone who has seen the shoes, thinks I am insane and keep asking why I don't just go out and buy a pair that is already bling-ed out. Reason I didn't want to do so was because I wanted Crystals that were placed with as closely together as possible so as to have more of a WOW effect. In order to be able to minimize the gaps, I used many different sizes of Crystals. Being extremely meticulous, I used ss8 as my base. Other sizes used were ss6 (this is for the really annoying small gaps), ss10, ss12, ss16.

I used approximately:

ss8 (2pkts X 1440pcs) = 2880 (SGD137)

ss10 (1pk X 1440pcs) = 1440 (SGD 68.5)

ss12 (2pkts X 144pcs) = 288 (SGD24)

ss16 (2pkts X 144pcs) = 288 (SGD24)

ss6 (2pkts X 24) = 48 (SGD8) --> which as I mentioned isn't necessary but I am a little OCD. 

Total Crystals: +/- 4920pcs 

Cost of Crystals: +/- SGD261.50

My shoes were from Studio Tangs at Tangs Orchard. I had seen them at Great World City but as my luck would have it, Tangs Orchard was having a 50% sale!!! Yay! I paid about SGD49.90 for them and they are comfortable enough to dance the night away in! What I have done is ultimately taken a $50 pair of shoes and turn them into a $300 pair of shoes. I didn't take too long to complete the pair because once you get your momentum going the strassing becomes very easy to do.

It is definitely a sense of accomplishment and this will mean that I will have the one of a kind pair of shoes that I had originally dreamed of. This is better for me than any pair of Jimmy Choo's or Louboutins because I can say, "Oh yes, I did it myself" and I can be sure NO ONE will have the same pair of shoes! Extra points on that!

There is a guy in the United States who make a living of strassing shoes or specifically Louboutins. Customers send him their shoes, he picks a Crystal that will compliment the shoe and he charges USD1200-1500 for them! Is that insane? If anyone reading this is based in Singapore, and has a pair of Louboutins they want strassed, hit me up here. I'll do them for you and charge you the same in SGD! Hah! (Seriously, I would!)

Anyways, really proud of myself!

And I hope anyone who wishes to DIY strass their shoes will be able to get some ideas from here. 

Havainas...just flip flops?

What are Havainas but a pair of REALLY comfy flip flops?

Is it really worth blogging about?

Well, today I just purchased a new pair of Havainas for $50. I spent at least 15 minutes staring at the walls of flip flops until I realized I was being absolutely ridiculous and picked up a pair and went to pay before I changed my mind about which one I wanted. Anyways, I need only one to tide me over for now till my delivery comes in direct from Sao Paulo...I hope. And this time, in the spirit of Kiasu-ness, I ordered 4 pairs...and am tempted to order more. 

Why so many you ask? Well just in case I lose another pair or more (god forbid)!!! Absurd- but in the months of July and Aug, I've already lost 2 pairs of Havainas to bloody flip flop thieves! And I can't understand why anybody would want to wear another persons shoes moreover steal them...

Incident 1- Azzura, Sentosa 

I was getting ready to go and decided to pop into the toilet before I left and for whatever reason decided to leave my slippers under a deck chair. No one was around accept for this lady sitting on the bench across me and it was dark so I figured it was pretty safe. Boy was I wrong!!! I came back and my slippers were GONE!!! I thought that I had maybe put them in the wrong place and started looking around with my friends and it was not to be found. I even asked the lady on the bench and she said she didn't see anyone. My guess is, she probably took it herself and was having a laugh at my expense watching my search in the dark with my phone camera light. Bitch! So, home I went, barefoot and miserable. Goodbye my Swarovski Havainas...

Incident 2- Sabaii Sabaii Massage, Boat Quay

I was really tired last Saturday and had been told by a friend that there was an authentic Thai massage place 5 mins from where I live. So I went with my boyfriend and we got an amazing body massage (1hour) and foot reflexology (45mins) for $216, more about this in another post. The experience would have been perfect if it wasn't marred by the fact that after I was done, again...guess whose slippers were missing? And in its place, a yucky old pair of Havainas! ARGH!!! I wanted to laugh at the irony but at the same time cry! What is this luck with my flip flops? I mean, seriously, even if the lady had worn my slippers by mistake, there was so much difference between mine and hers! To begin with, mine had purple strips, hers were white, mine were slim, hers were regular. If that isn't enough, I would definitely realize if I wore someone else's slippers out! Goodbye another pair... 

Point here is, all over the world Havainas are known to be one of the comfiest (if not the most) slippers. But only until it came to Singapore did it somehow gain reputation as a "branded" slipper, making it highly coveted by most. In the USA, a basic pair would set you back about USD15-29. In Australia, its would set you back about AUD25. I paid about AUD50 for my Swarovski Slim. And here is Singapore it's a whopping $50 for a basic pair...WHAT?!?!?! My stupid Swarovski ones cost $90!!! What is the genius excuse for this daylight robbery? Consumerism here is ri-donk-culous and I'll be damned if I have to pay more (again) for something that doesn't even cost so much elsewhere.

Moral of the story is, for the love of my flip flops, I will now carry a plastic bag in my hand bag and should I need to remove my slippers, for any reason whatsoever, they go straight in my bag next to my wallet and phone! And to the two culprits who took my slippers, whoever and wherever you may be, I hope you get toe warts for life!