What would you do if you had the opportunity to design your own shoe? Would you design something unique representing your personality or go completely over the top? Maybe, you’d copy a shoe that you’ve been coveting like that wild pair of Christian Louboutins (yes they do make them for men!). Well, that was the dilemma I faced when Omar from OSK Styles asked me to design my own custom shoe.
The thought of owning a custom made shoe was a luxury that seemed to be out of my reach. However at a price point of around $299, the dream quickly became an accessible reality. Now that a custom shoe was within my grasp, next came the fun part…designing the perfect shoe. Using OSK Styles online 3D site, I set about crafting a beautiful pair of shoes.
Let me tell you designing your ideal shoe is tougher than it looks. You get choose ever aspect of the design from the shoe style, the materials used to every component from the sole to the laces. I wanted mine to be just right so my design project soon turned into several hours of scrutinizing every choice, making adjustments and second guessing myself. In the end, I believe it was worth it and did I mention fun?
I had a few criteria for designing my ideal custom shoe:
- Work well with a suited look
- Be versatile. I wanted to have a lot of options to wear it
- Have a unique design, something you wouldn’t normally find in a store
With millions of options, it’s really easy to design a shoe that’d never been done before. I didn’t want something that was too over the top or garish. Yes sometimes I can wear a bold statement piece but I was thinking subtlety. I think I succeeded.
What did I design? I chose a blucher style dress shoe, in a mix of dark brown calf leather and blue faux crocodile. I’m really happy with the way it came out. It’s a shoe that will work with a variety of suit colors… brown, blue, gray. For my first look, I tried them with one of my favorite blue suits.
I’m pretty happy with the shoe and will definitely design another custom shoe in the future. What do you think and how did I do? Let me know your thoughts.
Shop My Look/Details
Custom shoes – OSK Styles; Blue suit – Armani Collezioni; Striped blue shirt – Joseph Abboud; Blue polka dot tie – Ties.com; Blue floral pocket square – Harrison Blake
