I’m going to be my little sister’s maid of honor in a few months (Yay! Hurrah! Cowabunga!), so I’d like to get my outfit together soon.
A recent exchange:
Me: Most of the brown, knee-length dresses I’ve seen look very stuffy and bridesmaid-y OR, conversely, are a little trampy and meant for nightclubs. Neither extreme suits me. I’m not up for making my own shoes, though, and dress shoes are very often 1) blatantly bridesmaid-y, 2) designed for strippers, or 3) matronly. I’ve got months to figure something out.
Annie: Maybe you should just find a pair of bridesmaid-y shoes designed for matronly strippers and just go with it.
If YOU were a Maid of Honor who needed brown or neutral vegan dress shoes, where would you look?
While I like the matronly strippers idea…
-Zappos has a vegan search option
-Here’s PETA’s list of vegan companies: http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/cruelty-free-clothing-guide-vegan-companies.aspx
-I’ve heard good things about Alternative Outfitters (there are some cute brown ones there): http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/clothing/vegan/womens-pumps.aspx\
-And while these aren’t brown, they’re super cute: http://www.thisnext.com/item/0E580E79/0D1ED22E/Vegan-Dress-Shoe-Olivia-Vegan
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Heels? Flats? How snazzy can they look? (Some people are sticky about bridesmaid things looking kinda urgh, though your sister sounds like she’d likely not be one of them) And, most importantly, price range?
I’ve found a few things, but I’ll send you an email so as not to clutter up your comments with enormous links.
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I think if you’re looking for something that is comfortable and not expensive, Steve Madden or Blowfish are often easy vegan finds.
Endless makes veg shoe shopping sorted by color, heel height and size really really easy. Select Women’s Shoes from the top bar, click More and it’ll give you a big selection screen. On the right sidebar you can find “vegetarian” and then search by color, size and heel height.
I feel like Alternative Outfitters picks a few Madden, Blowfish, etc shoes each season but I never really love their selection and find that Endless usually have everything they have…and more. I usually like supporting vegan companies but the ease of searching Endless tends to win out for me.
Speaking of vegan stores, you can always check Mooshoes – if you’re on their email list, they often send out discount codes (I was able to get a pair of Madden Girls cheaper online @ Mooshoes, even though I live in NYC, than at Zappos or Endless at one point).
Hope that’s helpful!
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I wore a brown bridesmaid dress in a wedding last summer (the dress, I’m afraid, was unapologetically bridesmaid-y) and the shoes were tricky. I ended up going with bronze-y metallic summery heels. It worked.
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if you’re gonna be a bridesmaid, might as well bite the bullet and look horribly bridesmaid-y….
embrace the moment. who cares if u look cliche? just get they bridesmaid-like shoes and have fun… if i can accept the fact that i’m female and embrace my girly-ness every now and then, you can wear bridesmaid shoes to your sis’s wedding… LoL
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Katie – Cool! 1. Vegan search options rarely work; many faux leather or manmade options aren’t classified as ‘vegan.’ The Peta list could be handy, I hadn’t heard of a lot of those sites. Haven’t tried Alternative Outfitters yet, but I browse occasionally. The Olivia shoes ARE cute; I love unnecessary buckles.
Millie from Interrobangs Anonymous – Reasonably comfortable heels would be best, sandals even better, and I’ll pay what I have to. SNAZZY AS THEY COME!
Getting an email full of shoe pictures was delicious, thank you! Like having a personal shopper, only cheaper and more convenient.
jesse.anne.o – I’ve had good luck with Madden in the past— didn’t think of Endless, though! I usually strike out with vegan specialty stores, only because they’re small.
Will sign up for Mooshoes mailing list, thank you! I visit NYC every month or so, maybe I should check them out in person.
Evie – Bronze! Could a person get away with muted silver shoes if she wore enough silver accessories?
Sierra – The catch is, none of the bridesmaids have to wear official bridesmaid dresses; we’re wearing whatever knee-length, brown dresses we want. So we’re all hoping to find dresses and shoes both fancy enough for a wedding and worth wearing again. Bridesmaid shoes might look odd at this particular wedding— I’m anticipating a steampunk, retro vibe. Fun. =)
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I sympathize with your dilemma. Am off to Google “Steampunk Mother-of the Bride Dress”.
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Maybe these guys, too?
http://www.planetshoes.com/vegan
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mum – May you find pure concentrated awesomeness!
Katie – Will look, thank you!
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