Fool's Gold

I've been wanting a pair of cute oxfords or saddle shoes for a while now. It's a look I'm a fan of because I like the bit of masculinity they can lend to an outfit. And there are so many possibilities with colors, prints, metallics, fabrics, etc.

Originally $88 on the G.H. Bass website, these Enfield Saddle Cognac shoes are now on sale for $59.99. I paid $4 at the thrift store for a brand new pair.

I wanted to change these up, because in my opinion, they were pretty ugly. The suede fronts and sides immediately made me think of either paint or fabric as a means of making these more 'me'. I opted for paint, and metallic, at that! I grabbed both gold and silver acrylic craft paint and a small stiff bristled straight edge paint brush. I tested a small area to see how the paint would go on, then painted the entire side.

I'd thought to go the route of mixing metallics, so I painted the front of the shoe silver...but the gold was too yellow and the silver too gray! They just weren't working out the way I'd envisioned. So, I mixed my silver and gold together (more gold than silver...about a 4:1 ratio) to get the perfect shade. The picture on the right shows the paler shade of gold on the top shoe while the bottom shoe has the much yellower gold.

I had to paint over the silver and gold I'd already painted, so in total, each shoe got 3 coats so as to have the same finish and to cover the 'wrong' colors completely. Much better!!!

Now I've got a still neutral pair of shoes that will go with lots of different outfits. I couldn't wait for them to dry the full 24 hours before trying them on to see how they'd look. So pleased with the outcome and excited to style these this spring :). Once I've let the paint dry a full day, I'll seal them with mod podge and allow them to dry another full day.

Love that I saw potential in these not-so-cute shoes and now have a pair that I absolutely love! It took me a few months to get up the courage to dive into this one, but they are well worth the wait...and the $4 ;).

What do you think? Have you ever refashioned a pair of shoes? This is not my first shoe refashion, and certainly will not be my last!

And just because it was so nice today...an outdoor OOTD pic!

Scarf and leggings: Target, old  Jacket: Express, old  Chambray shirt: thrifted  Converse: Marshall's, old  Coach wristlet: gift

On an April Fool's note, my son has been playing 'tricks' on me all afternoon...mostly hiding things from me that I need ;). Love that they're still such innocent tricks!

Peace,
Andrea