Women's shoe question

March 1, 2009 3:14 PM

Ms. Vegetable wears a size 10.5 wide shoe. She is looking for vegan shoes in her size - black, brown, grey, and/or colors, but not white or metallic. In particular, she is looking for shoes for the office - ones that can be worn with pants or skirts/dresses, with a slight heel, with a T-strap or a Mary Jane-type look.

Examples: These, but in her size. Or like this, but not leather. More examples she likes

She's also looking for more sophisticated weekend shoes. Right now, she only wears sneakers on the weekends because that's what she can find. She's looking for ballerina-type-flats, or Keen-type

Probably not too chunky (her feet are large enough as is), probably not with huge straps. Closed heel. Closed or open toe.

Price range< $150

posted by a robot made out of meat to clothing, beauty, & fashion (7 comments total)

What about the Merrills at Zappos?

Something she might consider, if she can't find anything feminine enough for her liking, is to compensate for plain shoes with cute tights.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:42 PM on March 1

She may be able to find something here: Vegan Wares (Australian)
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:43 PM on March 1

It seems as though many vegan shoes top out at size 10. I am 10.5 wide, and generally find that I can wear 11's in most shoes. Alternative Outfitters as this page of size 11 vegan shoes.
posted by kimdog at 3:54 PM on March 1

Simple makes vegan shoes up to size 12.

I had a pair of Simples, they were SUPER SUPER comfy. Only downside: they wore out after a year. A year of constant abuse, but still.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 3:57 PM on March 1

You obviously know about Moo Shoes, but there's also Vegan Chic and Ragazzi Vegan. But the problem I seemed to be seeing, which you probably were too is that not a lot of vegan shoes come in wide width. Or if they do, they're not the cutest.

Payless ShoeSource has a lot of wide-width shoes that are vegan in the non-leather sense (but as for the whole "certified vegan" and non-sweat shop sense, if that matters, not so much). But they are cheap shoes (I've had a few pairs that have held up, but it does vary).

I think I'd email some of these sites (MooShoes, etc.) and see if they know if any of the shoes tend to run wider than others, even if they aren't necessarily marked "wide width." It's worth a try, in any case. (A lot of shoes come in whole sizes -- maybe some of the shoes in size 11 would work for her.)

Good luck. I am well acquainted with the difficulties of finding cute vegan shoes so I definitely understand.
posted by darksong at 4:00 PM on March 1

DesignerShoes.com just added a vegan section. They carry a decent selection of shoes in a huge variety of sizes. I've been shopping there for years. Good luck!
posted by nursegracer at 4:55 PM on March 1

All Torrid shoes are made for a wider foot, are non-leather, and they sell up to a size 12. Some of their styles are a little out there, but perhaps Ms. Vegetable could find something she liked. I bought some non-leather T.U.K. mary janes there a few years ago, but they don't seem to have any this season. Something like this could be cute for work, though.

You can also buy direct from T.U.K.. A lot of their shoes will be chunkier than Ms Vegetable wants, but these mary janes are adorable. They're only in stock up to size 10, but their shoe FAQ says they sell up to size 12 so the site could be worth a wander.
posted by Georgina at 6:05 PM on March 1