Fairly recently, our readers kindly alerted us to the fact that a DIY hadn't been seen on these web pages since the Restyle project. Just a few gigantic exams stood between us and the holidays, so we could have improved our game and done some crafting instead of, well, you know, studying our brains out. But said exams are out of the way now! And Rubi shoes were having another one of their $10 sales, which of course means the following happened...
Hopefully this offering appeases the DIY gods. Put that in your sartorial pipe and smoke it!
DIY Pamela Love for Nine West Boots
I was perusing Instagram for some inspiration the other night, and stumbled upon
Aimee Song's latest boot addition - the Pamela Love for Nine West "Pamela" shoes. Of course, sold out everywhere since their launch at the end of September, and disgustingly hard to track down in Australia.
The DIY lightbulb flicked on!
Unfortunately, I am unskilled in the art of metalwork and hence the pseudo-steel toe is only paint. But that's ok, right?
Anyway, let's begin. We start again with the humble ankle boot (
my staple shoe). This time in turquoise!
Step 1
Mark out where you're going to be taping with chalk or a pencil. From the photos below, you can see the back is just a big triangle, and the front is zig-zagged across.
Step 2
Using masking tape stuck onto some clear plastic, draw out a stepped design (
Pythagoras will be your best friend here). My "steps" were 0.5cm in height and width.
Step 3
Cut your tape and stick it to the shoes in the design you want.
Step 4
Then, (
this is the fiddly time-consuming bit) using masking tape, draw and cut out pieces to make a design you'd like. Stick them carefully onto your shoes. You can make it as intricate as you want, but this part takes forever if you're over-zealous. I chose to use arrows and zig-zags, which are some of Pamela Love's usual designs.
Also, don't forget to tape up the parts of the shoe that you don't want covered in paint.
Step 5
Finally, time for some action!
Gently sponge paint onto the areas you've applied the tape to. I used a metallic fabric paint, and gave it three coats to make sure the colour was even.
Step 6
Wait until the paint dries a little, then take off the tape. You might need to neaten up the edges with something sharp, just to give it that non-DIY finish.
Et voila!
You have yourself some updated kicks :)
Of course, for the lazy bones there's
these similar coloured shoes in an equally rad pattern.
For the rest of you who undertake this project (
or already own the original shoes - you lucky things!), then pair them back with a printed mini (
like this or this) and a slouchy sheer top like
this. A colourful spin to Pamela's boho style.
Go get 'em, cowboy!
xx T
