I came across this great post from Become Gorgeous that features some of the shoe style trends that are hot for fall. The Fall 2011-12 shoes have something for every taste include wedges, stilettos, booties, spectators vintage fabrics, lace, tassels and fur.

Stella McCartney Loafer

See more sizzling shoe styles at Be Gorgeous.com

Happy New Year! Like most people, at the beginning of a new year, I am spurred into taking personal inventory and looking at things that I want to improve. Of course, typically, my list includes getting in better shape. I tend to get lazy right around Thanksgiving because I know I’m going to feast through the end of the years. Regardless of how often my waist size fluctuates, I can always depend on my shoe size remaining the same. What better way to work off my holiday gorge fest than to put on my pedometer and go shoe shopping. During a 3 hour shopping trip with 4-inch heels, I can burn up to 400 calories. Then, Ill’ burn an additional 100 while shopping for shoes on the net. While I’m trying out my new fitness routine, over the next 7 weeks, I will share the best eco styles that I find to help you get a leg up on slimming down your look.

Knee High Boots are not only great during colder months, they work well to elongate the legs are create a sexy profile with most outfits. Whether you have full or thin calves, you can’t go wrong with Knee High Boots. Don’t despair if your calves are too big or small for a pair a boots you’re in love with. Find a good shoe cobbler and they can work wonders by expanding or decreasing the calf width of your boots.  Knee High boots look great with short or long skirts. Skinny jeans look hot snugly inside a pair like the rugged Sandy Black pair pictured above.  Here are some of my favs this season.

Furry but animal friendly from the shoe designers with big hearts. Cri de Coeur Wendy boots will definitely keep the wind out.

Cri de Coeur Winter Boots

These Wellies are just to fun. When the snow is all slushy, you can make a fashionable splash in these Earth Elite Rubber boots.

Earth Elite Rain Boots - Red

To kick it up a notch, I’m adding these Kaila Thigh High Boots because they are just too sexy and their Vegan!

Kailia Footwear Thigh High Boot

Next week I’ll share some cute ankle boots.

More Shoes,

~Ar

I had the pleasure of interviewing and having Kasey of Naya Shoes as a guest on Green Ar Live! I found the interview to be insightful.

ESS: “Naya Shoes is an extension of the Brown Shoe Company Natulizer brand, which epitomizes comfortable quality women’s shoes. So what was the conception story behind Naya?”
NS: “Naya is a brand of Brown Shoe, just like Naturalizer, Dr. Scholls, Via Spiga and many others. To create Naya, Brown Shoe utilized its worldwide sourcing network, as well as Naturalizer’s comfort and fit expertise, executive leadership, and several other corporate elements. However, Naya is a distinct brand, with its own point of view and a different proposition for customers. Brown Shoe’s first eco-friendly brand, Naya, meets consumers’ desire for beautiful, comfortable footwear that leaves a softer footprint on the planet.”

ESS: “Please elaborate a bit on the Renewing Body, Spirit, Earth and how that correlates to the brand?”
NS: “Naya means renewal. We are committed to renewing women’s body, spirit and our earth with comfortable, beautiful footwear and the commitment to choose natural and earth-friendly materials whenever possible, including: vegetable-tanned leathers and linings, fabrics made with natural or recycled materials, foot beds containing natural cork, outsoles made with recycled materials, water-based cements, shoe boxes made with 80 percent recycled paper pulp, soy-based inks and water-based glue. Naya is changing perceptions among eco-friendly footwear brands, as the shoes meet women’s desire to look good, feel good and do good.”

ESS: “My readers are very concerned about sustainability; tell me about the sustainable practices that go into manufacturing Naya Shoes?”
NS: “Naya is committed to softening our global footprint. We choose natural and earth-friendly materials whenever possible, including: vegetable-tanned leathers and linings, fabrics made with natural or recycled materials, foot beds containing natural cork, outsoles made with recycled materials, water-based cements, shoe boxes made with 80 percent recycled paper pulp, soy-based inks and water-based glue.”

ESS: “I know that there is a challenge when it comes to making leather shoes that are eco –friendly. Can you explain how Naya Shoes leather process differs as it pertains to producing earth-friendly shoes?”
NS: “Naya’s leather is sourced from two longstanding Brown Shoe partners in China and India. Our leather is vegetable-tanned, therefore eliminating the use of harsh chemicals to tan the material.

Additionally, Naya utilizes scrap leather for linings. Leather linings are part of Naya’s comfort promise, as they make the shoes feel smooth on the foot.”

ESS: “I love the way that Naya Shoes have captured comfort, classical styling and feminity. Can you describe the design elements that goes into creating your shoes?”
NS: “Naya shoes are created with the belief that shoes should be beautiful on your feet, soft on your step and gentle on the environment. Naya’s shoes are trend-conscious, infused with vibrant colors, feminine silhouettes and creative details. The concepts for Naya start with our designers in St. Louis and include collaboration with our international design team based out of Italy. The beautiful shoes feature wearable heel heights, leather linings and plush cushioning for premium comfort.”

ESS: “What is the inspiration behind the current collection?”
NS: “Naya’s Fall 2010 line features flats, pumps and boots that incorporate fashion trends including clogs, peep-toe booties, lug soles, shearling leather, platforms and lace-up boots.”

ESS: “Who is the Naya Woman?”
NS: “The Naya woman is someone who wants to look good, feel good and do good. She is a woman that wants to make eco-conscious choices without sacrificing style or comfort.”

ESS: “I know you’re on Twitter, because that’s where we connected. Where else can customers connect with you and purchase Naya Shoes?”
NS: “Naya is available nationwide through shoes.com, Zappos.com, Piperlime.com, PlanetShoes.com, select Naturalizer stores, Nordstrom (and Nordstrom.com), Dillard’s stores, Anthropologie.com and more than 60 popular independents. Naya is also available in 16 countries outside North America, including China, Japan and Australia. Visit NayaShoes.com for a full list of retail and online locations. You can also follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nayashoes) for eco-friendly tips, updates and contests.”

ESS: “I love sharing shoe stories with my friends and I love that your website Nayashoes.com has an interactive section on the Green Room page in which shoppers can share their Naya experiences. Can you share with us more about the Naya Community?”
NS: “The Naya Green Room is a blog that provides eco-friendly living tips and regular features on notable women and how they “Naya,” (renew their body, spirit and the earth). We love the Green Room because women actually share their tips for eco-living and provide feedback on the Naya line. It has been a great way to connect with and learn more about Naya women.”

ESS: “I also found it impressive that Naya had a tree planting campaign. What other socially responsible activities is the company doing?”
NS: “During April, Naya partnered with Plant It 2020 for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. For every pair of Naya Shoes bought on shoes.com, a tree was planted. We met our goal of planting over 5,000 trees in one month.

This fall we are planning a campaign where women can return old pairs of shoes to be donated to people in need or if the shoes are at the end of their lifetime they will be recycled. We will provide you more information on this campaign as soon as possible.”

ESS: “What is in store for the future of Naya Shoes? Do you see the line expanding or merging into the Naturalizer line thereby all the shoes being produced in an eco-friendly way?”
NS: “Naya is Brown Shoe’s eco-lab and we’re really pleased with the progress we have made so far. We see this as a journey, with Naya as the first step. We’ve made a lot of progress in finding earth-friendly materials and components and we’re excited about the changes and our ability to make them affordable for women. What we learn with Naya could have applications across other Brown Shoe brands, including Naturalizer. However, Naya is and will remain a distinctive brand in the Brown Shoe portfolio.”

You can also watch the broadcast of the show on Green Ar Live!. It’s archived under Naya Shoes November 10, 2010.

More shoes,

~Ar

Today I came across an excellent article from The Business of Fashion that examines the eco fashion movement over the past ten years. Stella McCartney is quoted in the article about her priorities: “Obviously, I don’t use any animals which has a hug impact on the plant. But my first job is to make desirable, luxurious beautiful clother for women to want to buy. Then I ask myself: can I do this in a more environmental way without sacrificing design? If I can, then there is no reason not to. I think that women buy my product because they like how it looks, feels, fits and being sustainable is an added extra bonus.” I totally agree with Stella, don’t you? To read the article in its entirety, follow this link The Business of Fashion .

More Shoes,

~Ar

I’ve conducted a poll over the last couple years asking people how they plan to commemorate Mother’s Day. Responders include people with large families with several siblings, only children, people whose mothers’ live a distance and some whose mothers are deceased. The common thread among these individuals is that their Mother’s played a very significant role in the shaping of their lives. They view Mother’s Day as an special opportunity to give back to their Mom’s. For me, on Mother’s day, I too reflect on my own unique experiences with my Mother and mother figures who played and continue to play significant roles in shaping me into the woman I am.My mother and these other women are strong, spiritual and sassy. My mother unwittingly, helped mold me into the earth loving shoe diva that I am. As a young girl, with narrow feet, it was a challenge for her to find shoes that fit me. We shopped at specialty shoe stores that were beautifully laid out with a variety lovely shoes. I have very vivid memories of Saturday “shoe outings” to specialty shoe stores to find the perfect shoe with the perfect fit. I recall feeling special. My delight was barely containable when the salesperson brought boxes of shoes for me to try on. I felt as if I was being catered to as the shoes I carefully slipped my foot into shoes. It was such a glorious experience!

In this post, I’ve sourced shoe eco friendly shoes that pay special homage to Mother Earth in their sustainability, use of recycled materials, and custom-oriented designs and fabulously creative women at the helm. These shoes are as lovely as a Mother’s Day bouquet.

Okay if your a subscriber or regular reader you know of my affinity for NeuAura Shoes. NeuAura is simply one of the most exciting eco/vegan shoe companies out there. Each season I am more excited by Arti Upadhyay innovation and soulful designs. The Cypress shoe is typical of what you find with NeuAra, sexy, sustainable, and oooh so womanly. And the fuchsia color is perfect to brighten up your outfit for Mother’s Day brunch.

Neuaura Shoes Cypress - Fuschia

The Hetty Rose shoe experience likens to my childhood. What I feel is special about Hetty Rose is the client participates in choosing the style and fabric for their hand made shoes. Hetty Rose, located in the UK is eco because all shoes are not only made of recycled fabrics, but exquisite vintage Japanese kimono fabrics. What better gift for Mom than a pair of shoes made specifically to fit her? You can create your own special shoe memory with Hetty Rose shoe. I encourage you to visit the site; while there you can view a short film on the making of their shoes. It’s a fascinating process. http://www.hettyrose.co.uk/

Hetty Rose Keep & Love Collection - Sweetheart

Another company known for its luxurious custom vegan shoes is Olsen Haus Shoes. I’ve featured some Olsen Haus shoes before. Olsen Haus is known for their high fashion vegan shoes and creative uses of eco friendly materials such as cork and linen. I love these little wedges that pair linen with a splash of color.

Olsen Haus - Wit Wedge

Charmoné Shoes is a female led design house that aptly strives for harmony with mother earth with their beautiful vegan shoes. Charmoné takes it a step further by donating 5% of all profits to charities that support people, animals and the environment. The first charity slated for donation is Women for Women International, a charity that provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources they need to move from poverty and crisis to stability and self-sufficiency. What a powerful gesture.

Charmoné Shoes Longwing in Warm Burgandy

Happy Mother’s Day to all who are Mother’s, Mother Figures and love Mother Earth!

~Ar

Earth Day is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year an and annual event that raises awareness about environmental issues. Earth Day founders strongly believed all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. This premise is still relevant today.

To wear on Earth Day, I found the adorable Anita shoes from PURE that looks like is sprouted out of a lush organic garden. These are available on Style Feeder.com.

Anita PURE By Ricard Shah

PURE (Promoting the Use of Renewable Energy) is the genius of the eco shoe industry’s perfect pair Elizabeth Rickard and Binith Shah. The husband and wife team are known for their shoe style brilliance and their shoes have been seen on many conscientious celebrities.
Richard Shah PURE line gives shoes a new soul. Each pair is not only made from natural and fair-trade materials like soy and leather-alternatives. leather we found and use is treated using Rhubarb, Oak and Tara seed pods. And all ingredients used in the dying process are sustainably harvested. The supplier uses the citric acid from the rhubarb for detergents and composts the remainder. Plus the Tara pods can be used as sore throat medicine. They also only use lime and natural enzymes to strip hides of their hair. No heavy metals, NO CHROME and no off gassing has been used in treating the leather.

What I appreciate about this shoe line is that the couple has taken proactive steps to respect the environment. As a result beautiful sustainable shoes are produced. What more can you ask for!

Take time and honor the Earth.
For information on Earth Day:
Earth Day.org
Earth Day Network
Enviro Link.org
The Nature Conservancy

More shoes,

~Ar

I’m excited to share with you that NeuAura Shoes has recently announced the two charities that will receive a generous 10% from all online proceeds. Not only does Neuaura Shoes offer uncompromising fashion footwear to animal-friendly consumers, they truly do bring fashion and consciousness together in style. Every season organizations are selected as part of the shoe company’s give back efforts. For Summer 2010 NeuAura Shoes has chosen the Associated Human Societies of New Jersey and the Humane Farming Association.

Associated Humane Societies of NJ, founded in 1906, is the largest animal sheltering system in New Jersey. We comprise three shelters located in Newark, Forked River, and Tinton Falls. The Forked River facility also includes Popcorn Park Zoo. Established in 1977, Popcorn Park Zoo is a sanctuary for abandoned, injured, ill, exploited, abused or elderly wildlife, exotic and farm animals, and birds. The mission of the Associated Humane Societies, including Popcorn Park Zoo, is to consistently provide the highest quality of care to all animals, domestic and wildlife, including their rescue, housing, veterinary care, placement whenever possible, and when required, a peaceful end. It is also our mission to prevent cruelty to all animals, primarily in New Jersey, but also throughout the United States.

Humane Farming Association (HFA) is the nation’s largest farm animal protection organization. Founded in 1985, HFA is leading the campaign against factory farming and slaughterhouse abuses. HFA is also home to the world’s largest farm animal refuge, Suwanna Ranch. HFA’s goals are to protect farm animals from cruelty, to protect the public from the dangerous misuse of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals used on factory farms, and to protect the environment from the impacts of industrialized animal factories. HFA’s comprehensive programs include: anti-cruelty investigations and exposes, national media and ad campaigns, direct hands-on emergency care, and refuge for abused farm animals.

The announcement is timely as we observe Earth Month. The efforts that are taking place globally are endless and it is heartwarming to see the eco momentum that is taking place. Earth Month is a perfect time to renew and in doing so, consider the many ways we can lessen our impact on the environment. I’m sure you will find a few animal friendly pairs of Neuaura shoes that will complement your summer wardrobe. Visit NeuAura Shoes to shop for shoes, learn more about these causes and others, and support these organizations. You can also locate many hard-working environmental causes in your local community–or better yet, start your own!

More Shoes,

~Ar

Stella McCartney has once again enlisted Mother Nature’s help to assemble some sexy and sustainable shoes for her Spring Summer 2010 collection. Cork is the sustainable material chosen to give life to this chic collection. This assortment of wedges, pumps, flats and sandals pops up like spring tulips!

Stella McCartney Satin Cork Platform Sandals in Sunflower

What makes cork such an excellent component for eco friendly shoes is that cork is an environmentally friendly renewable material. It is produced from the bark of the Cork Oak tree that grows primarily around the Mediterranean Sea region. After the trees reach 25 years of maturity, the cork is harvested every nine years; the quality of cork gets better as the trees age. Cork is a perfect material for shoes because it is lightweight, dense, impermeable, resilient and provides good cushioning and support for the foot. One of the qualities I find most impressive about eco friendly shoe designers like Stella McCartney is their daring approach to using sustainable materials to finely craft wearable glamorous shoes. Stella’s Spring Summer 2010 collection captures the simpleness and conveys the versatility of cork in the high fashion style we’ve come to expect from her.

Cork’s most notable use has been for stoppers in wine bottles. But, if you’re wondering what to do with your corks, I encourage you to explore ReCork America’s natural wine cork recycling program by visiting recork.org. This recycling program is being sponsored by Corticeira Amorim of Portugal, the world’s largest producers of natural wine corks. ReCork America is collaborating with with American Airlines Admirals Club(®)/Sodexo, The Wine Tasting Network, Wholefoods and others to collect corks that may have otherwise ended up in landfills. Instead, these corks can be re-purposed for shoes, flooring, insulation and myriad of other uses.

Stella McCartney Linda Wedge Sandal

Strap up, sling back and pop a cork!

More Shoes,

~Ar

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the First Greenabulous Affair in Atlanta. This event was produced by the areas premier event organizers All About Me Mixer, Futuristic Branding Solutions & Events, Broccoli City, and W Social Marketing. The event team transformed the ultra chic Nouvelle Nail Spa and delivered a spectacular evening of eco-luxury. The guest included both eco aficionados and an eco prurient or two seeking to achieve a greeanbulous lifestyle. This affair had something for every aspiring Eco Diva, eco friendly jewelry, a tasty organic buffet with deserts and cooking demonstrations, organic wine, refreshing juices, an array of eco friendly beauty products samples including nail treatments by Nouvelle Nail Spa’s own using eco friendly nail lacquers.

Cri De Coeur display at Greenabulous-Atlanta, GA

Eco Shoe Source was able to display several stunning samples from eco friendly Cri De Coeur’s upcoming Spring Hearts of Darkness Shoe Collection. This luminescent collection is anything but dark. Cri De Coeur certainly has not missed a detail with this lovely collection of pumps, flats and sexy gladiator inspired shoes, which delighted shoe fans in attendance. This vegan trio featured sparkling sustainable cork heel wedges, sexy satin embellishments, and sultry strappy sandals (pictured: Stella, Lizzy and Emma). I can’t wait to share more with you on this collection in future posts.

Greenabulous Affair was a treat for me also, as I had the opportunity to meet some of the Greater Atlanta areas most greenabulous professionals including the Keynote speaker, Lynnette Young, CEO of Sustainable Atlanta; Zkano Organic Sock creator, Gina Locklear; Beauty Expert Shalawn from Lamik Beauty; Gourmet Skin Care Chef Yolanda Owens of Iwi Fresh; Couturecycle was showing off some of their whimsical eco-message T’s; and never one to miss an event with shoes, Atlanta’s Shoe Shopping Examiner Monique Colbert graced the affair sporting a pair of HOT boots. And to top it off, a lucky winner received a weekend of driving compliments of Smart Car of Buckhead, which auctioned one of their eco friendly vehicles.

Greenabulous Affair effectively accomplished the goal of providing an opportunity for guest and participants to experience the luxurious side of eco and walk away feeling Greenabulous!

More Shoes

~Ar

The UK’s largest independent online fashion and beauty retailer, ASOS.com has officially launched the Green Room. The Green Room is a dedicated destination on the ASOS.com site to support social and environmental awareness for conscientious shoppers. Featuring ASOS Africa, ASOS.com own fair trade label, a collection of clothing and accessories designed, sourced and produced in collaboration with several small communities in Africa. The site will be populated with a virtual Who’s Who list of top eco brands ranging the spectrum of shoes, clothing, accessories and beauty products. By accessing The Green Room, shoppers can follow the journey of their eco friendly products and read stories from the real people behind the brands.

In the Women’s Eco Shoe category, Beyond Skin, Terra Plana, Vivienne Westwood for Melissa, and Swedish Hasbeens (pictured) are brands slated to be offered. ASOS.com is ethical shopping at its best!

More Shoes,

~Ar