obsessed with oxfords

I love OXFORDS. Maybe it's because I like to add "manly" elements to every outfit to prevent over-girliness, or maybe it's because they're just so darn comfortable. Whatever it is, I know that one pair of oxfords gets more wear than my entire heels collection COMBINED. I don't know... I just think they really suit my style. 

Ever since I wore my oxfords (seen below) to their ultimate DEATH (to the point where there were multiple holes), I've been searching for a new pair. This past pair was only $10CDN but they  only lasted 5 months, so I wanted to find a more durable pair. 

Well, today I found a store called Elegance Gallery, a shoe store that I happened to stumble upon while walking aimlessly along the streets of Causeway Bay, HK. They have a wide selection of shoes in stock - BUT, if you don't like what they have, you can actually CUSTOMIZE the shoes and change the fabrics/colours (for an extra $50HKD - approximately, $6-7 CDN!!!).

I saw a pair of GREEN cloth + leather oxfords and I liked the style but I wasn't too fond of its leprauchan shade. So I got them customized in two slightly different shades of camel + brown leather. Super standard "boring" shoe colours, but I wanted to have a really wearable pair that I intend to wear for years... YEARS!!!!!!!! They'll be ready in 3 weeks and I can't wait to see how they turn out!

I was also thinking though of getting some crazier customized oxfords: dark turquoise/teal leather or suede for the tips and back of the shoes + a multicoloured woven ethnic print for the middle (cloth) section. What do you think?

Here's a little "inspiration board" I created to visualize the design...

Like? Dislike?

Speaking of ethnic prints, here are some Peruvian-inspired iPhone case patterns from Schatzi Brown. It's actually things like this - being able to make my own customized iphone cases - that make me want an iPhone... not the phone itself. HAHA... I think I just like customizing things.

iPhone cases by Schatzi Brown

Anyway, I'm curious what you think about the shoes... OR, leave me a comment and let me know how YOU would design a pair of oxfords (with two tones/fabrics/colours). When I was at the store, there were pages and pages of fabric swatches to choose from including floral prints, glitter fabric, polka dots, stripes, and canvas in all colours.

 I'm curious to know your design ideas! =P

DIY inspiration: colour-blocked shoes

Really should not be blogging right now but it's in the most critical moments when deadlines are looming that I choose to procrastinate the most. 

No time for DIYs lately (sad...) but here's one I found online that I really love - Colour-blocked Shoes from A Beautiful Mess. 

Such a simple but dramatic change! 

Okay, just a quick post today. Now back to work. 

DIY inspiration: cap-toe shoes

I really like all the cap-toe heels I've been seeing lately, but I've sworn off buying any shoes until all the ones I own are completely worn to death. Plus I'm not a heels-type girl anyway, but I couldn't help thinking about how easy it would be to DIY these types of shoes. All you'd need is your prefered colour of spraypaint and tape (to tape a straight line and cover all the parts you don't want spraypainted). A couple coats of paint on the shoe tip and that's it! You might want to spray on a coat of paint sealer afterwards, just in case. It's such an easy shoe-revamp!

1.YSL Opyum 105 cap toe pumps // 2.4.6. - Zara Toe Cap Heels // 3. Isabel Marant Gava Pumps // 5. YSL Opyum 105 cap toe pumps

These black lace-up boots look so comfortable... and the silver metalcaps would make great self-defense weaponry.

Chanel Toecap Boots

These sky-high YSL Pumps look mighty dangerous too...

Later on, I went searching online and found some simple & easy tutorials for cap-toe shoes. Personally, I think the cap-toe looks better on pointy pumps, but these following tutorials for rounded-toe flats are great nonetheless:

DIY Cap-Toe Shoes (using nail polish) from PostGradChic

DIY Neon-Toe Shoes from Green Wedding Shoes

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I'm on a self-imposed shoe shopping ban, but if you have a boring old pair of heels lying around, you might as well experiment with them and paint on some colour!