Shoes to Dye For

Courtesy of OakNYC

I’ve always loved LD Tuttle and this Parabolic Slip on Heel is one of her greatest creations. It’s turquoise with a soft, slouchy lambskin ruffle and a stacked wooden heel.

I snapped up a pair as soon as they went on sale, but soon found that there’s a drawback to beautiful blue leather. It fades. After a few months, my shoes turned from a brilliant turquoise to a sort of aqua, with tinges of pale green and yellow. Not good. I also had a couple of water marks that spread when I tried to get rid of them. I suppose I might have been able to get the shoes  replaced, considering that they have a serious design flaw, but I had other plans for them.

After looking up info on shoe dying, I found lots of pictures and  real-life stories of people painting Christian Louboutins on the Purse Forum. This was enough to give me the courage to go for it with my LD Tuttles.

Freshly dyed LD Tuttles

I ordered Tarrago self-shine shoe dye in sky blue off of Amazon, and painted my heart out. The end result: a uniform, smooth color, and the lambskin ruffle is a bit more sculptural than slouchy.

Admittedly, the leather does feel a little tacky, but I’m hoping a few applications of leather conditioner will help with that. The upside is that my blue shoes are a lot more durable now and I can wear them without shying away from a few raindrops or little patch of sun–and all of which is priceless.