can you dye (or paint) jute wedge shoes?

September 10, 2022 10:51 PM

I have very bad feet and it is difficult to find shoes I like that I can wear to an upcoming wedding. I found the perfect pair (blessedly comfortable and very cute) but the problem is, despite the upper portion being very sparkly and dressy, the wedge heel is made incongruously of wrapped jute (a very casual look). Can I have the jute part painted or dyed gold by a shoe maker (or do it myself?). I REALLY want these shoes to work!
posted by Lylo to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total)

I think you could paint them yourself with gold acrylic paint! It would probably eventually start peeling and looking ratty, but not in one night and probably not much sooner than that kind of heel starts showing wear anyway.
posted by MadamM at 11:20 PM on September 10, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Oooh, can you link these shoes? I am curious about them for myself.

You can totally diy your shoes. Especially since the material you want to change up is jute, and not leather or some mystery polymer. I’d go to the fabric or craft store and look for gold acrylic craft paint. For a more harmonious look you could try to find a paint that is a similar color to the top of the shoe, plus the metallic gold. Also buy wide masking tape, acrylic spray sealer, and some small soft brushes.

Mask off the upper of the shoe and the insole, actually just cover everything you don’t want painted, using scrap paper secured by tape. You can get a smooth edge by masking over it roughly and then using the tip of an exacto knife to slice away the excess tape. Dilute the shoe-colored paint until it’s a thin consistency and do an underlayer and let it dry completely. Then, daub on the gold paint. Little amounts of the underlayer will come through the gold and make it have more depth and look less like you just dunked them in gold paint. Use the small soft brushes to gently work the gold into the surface texture so it doesn’t clump, building up thin layers if needed instead of doing one thicker layer. When everything is completely dry, spray with the sealer. You can find ones for different purposes, I’d probably look for one intended for use on canvas, but maybe something for waterproofing would be better? Either way a sealant will really help prevent paint flaking in the short term.

All that said, if you like these shoes as-is and it’s just this feeling of casualness from the jute holding you back from wearing them to the wedding, consider just wearing them as they are. Almost nobody is going to notice the material of your shoe’s wedge wrapping, and the only people who matter, the marrying couple, will be vastly too busy to care. I recently attended a fancy wedding with an outdoor ceremony where an absolute downpour opened up just as the groom said his vows. Every single guest was completely soaked. All hairstyles, makeup, fancy shoes… everything got completely drenched. And then after the sun came out we had to do family photos!! Nobody even glanced at shoes.
posted by Mizu at 12:47 AM on September 11, 2022 [16 favorites]

For a texture like jute, I think you'd be better off with a gold spray paint than using a brush. I don't think it's worth finding someone else to do it - just make sure the rest of the shoe is taped/ covered, and that you use the spray paint from different angles to get in all the nooks and crannies.
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:50 AM on September 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Shellacked twine is a traditional finish for bike handlebars, among a number of other thing; so jute can certainly take a sealer, paint, etc. Personally I would not spraypaint due to the risk of runs or other daggy bits if you aren't practised at it and the potential for a light spray to not push any fuzz on the jute down into the main bed of jute, leading to a funny fuzzy look. But I'd thinking brush painting them would work well.
posted by deadwax at 1:53 AM on September 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

I totally have done this - I had the comfiest pair of wedge heels that had the unfortunate jute wrapping, and they didn't go with my mostly-black wardrobe. I just gave the twine a couple really good coats of acrylic paint - like the stuff you get in a small bottle or tube from an art supply store, and they lasted for years. I did find that after the first coat has dried, there were some bits of the fibers that stuck out a bit, so I took a small pair of scissors and snipped off any loose fibers, slapped on another coat and was good to go. I painted mine with a really dark blue/green, but any colour would work, acrylic is great for stuff like this because once it dries it's pretty solid, water resistant, and flexible, so it won't crack or flake off when you walk around. go for it! If you want them really shiny, you can get gold paint that has glitter in it.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:37 AM on September 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: HERE is the link to the shoe as requested by Mizu
posted by Lylo at 4:48 AM on September 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Those are cute shoes! I wouldnt paint them, I think they're pretty enough as-is and I wouldn't think twice if I saw someone wearing those at a wedding (and I am a judgey judgeypants who secretly notices all the "inappropriate" way-too-casual wedding outfits, though I keep it to myself)
posted by stillnocturnal at 5:03 AM on September 11, 2022 [16 favorites]

Yes, you can totally spray paint the jute part gold if you carefully tape off the rest. If it's the texture you find odd, it's very likely that the jute is just glued onto a smooth heel underneath. So you could also just cut off the jute with an x-acto knife just at the edge of the sole on the bottom, and the same on the side where it meets the ribbon and completely remove it. It's very likely that edge ribbon is also just glued on. You could remove it too, spray paint the heel, then glue it back on. Hot melt glue is probably fine.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 6:12 AM on September 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Put me (gay, often trusted with outfit advice) on team “don’t bother painting.”
posted by sixswitch at 9:15 AM on September 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Tape carefully, using a dinner knife to tuck the tape into any crevices at the intersection of jute and non-jute. You could get water-based gold paint and apply it as a wash. Spray paint should work, but solid gold might make the heel too prominent; the top is a bit more subtle. They're affordable, so make sure you can get a 2nd pair if you have a disaster, a lesson life teaches me from time to time.

Agree they look lovely and wedding appropriate as is.
posted by theora55 at 10:14 AM on September 11, 2022

Best answer: I’m actually going to vote against painting the jute gold! I think the chances you’d regret it are pretty high, because it could look tacky if the gold is too fakey-gold or if you’re like me and would mess up. Painted jute will still look like jute, and more coats tend to have the “I dunked this in craft paint” look.

Also, this is a pretty summery casual shoe aside from the jute—the woven fabric texture and the wide elastic strap aren't exactly formal. That’s not a negative! These are adorable and would look great with a dress and are absolutely wedding appropriate! I just don’t think the natural jute is what puts them in the less formal category.
posted by kapers at 10:36 AM on September 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: If the wedding is cocktail attire, these are absolutely appropriate as is. If this is a more formal wedding, you may have to bite the bullet in terms of either wearing a slightly more uncomfortable shoe for a few hours or feeling slightly underdressed. Which are not the worst things in the world!

I would not paint the jute--unless you are very crafty, you will need to have this professionally done to spare frustration and avoid looking like you've created a child's costume. And at that point, you might as well invest in a more expensive pair of shoes that you feel are more appropriate.
posted by kingdead at 11:00 AM on September 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: thank you all for reminding me that I am guilty of overthinking things! I am not a crafty person and yes, I would probably ruin these cute shoes (which are no longer available at DSW) by trying to paint them. I’m just going to wear ‘em, love ‘em, and dance the night away in comfort! You guys are awesome!
posted by Lylo at 12:17 PM on September 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

If the worry is it doesn't look "bling-y" enough, you can probably find some rhinestones and e6000 glue to add a line along the upper edge, and maybe another line or pattern around the ankle straps.

If you don't want to use glue, you can probably find some "clip-ons" for the ankle straps.

https://www.accessories4shoes.com/products/snow-flower-crystal-rhinestone-shoe-clip?pr_prod_strat=description&pr_rec_id=5ff52ff4f&pr_rec_pid=506367836195&pr_ref_pid=9459328068&pr_seq=uniform
posted by kschang at 12:23 AM on September 12, 2022