Mash it Up!

 Some of the most stylish wedge sneaks were found at Yonge Eglinton Ctr.

As long as I love shoes, I will never grow tired of shoe shopping for Carnival.  

I've happily noticed there are more styles this year to consider for the road, with sneaker wedges being the top consideration, as they can be found everywhere.

(Unless you ordered your boots online by last month, you can't find boots as easily locally as shoes. So in this post, I'm featuring shoes.)   

 

The stores on Orfus Rd. rarely disappoint, and for a mere 5 bucks, these are a steal!

  



These were the perfect colour match for my costume, but Suzi had only one pair, and not in my size.

But turns out it was just as well, because I found much better footwear for my costume on Orfus Rd. the same day!  

Also $5, and a perfect canvas if you're into decorating.

Winners and Marshalls have colourful and embellished styles that look like Keds or Toms. 

All of these were spotted at Forever 21.

Every year I see masqueraders in sandals or flip flops. I can't help but think it must be your first time, you didn't know, no one told you, so you thought sandals would be alright. But by the end of the day, you realize your mistake. It was your first and last time wearing shoes with 0 support on the Lakeshore.

If you are a newbie, please, take my advice, no open toe shoes. You may start your day off fine in them, but the route isn't on a beach. Think of the amount of people who will step on your feet, so by 6:00, you'll be mashed up and limping back to your car or the TTC. I always see broken sandals or parts of shoes ditched along the side of the road.

If you haven't found footwear yet, don't panic, get shopping! Your favourite stores are bound to have something.

So what are you going with people - boots, sneakers, flats? Where did you get them? If you want to post a brag picture here, email it to me at:  karabana01@yahoo.ca


Regular blog reader Shaquilla sent these great pics of her gloriously gemified shoes
She explains: I love the look of the sneaker wedge but I will admit that I'm not a fan of them for myself personally only because I find they hurt my toes. However, every year I manage to find an old pairs of shoes in the back of my closet that I bedazzle according to my costume. This year I'm playing in Saldenah's Vortex Reflections section, which is mainly white, silver, and turquoise. I will say that I went a little extravagant with the gems and beads but I think they fit with my costume well. I'm a little bit of a crazy crafter so the shoes are always a fun project for me every year.
Check out her instagram theshurkfiles - scroll far enough you'll see all the old shoes she's re-purposed over the years.

 
   Shaquilla, will you take orders next year? These are incredible! 

by Carnival Exclusives

Kiwana sent this explaining this version is their Frontline foot wear. It comes with feathers and jewels of course at a cost. But for those of us who don't mind splurging a bit its a great way to turn old boots into something spectacular.

Great looking job, there is lots of talent out there!!

Kryssy sais "this year I'm playing as one of the section leaders of the Bliss section from Tribal Carnival. It's a gorgeous costume so I felt like the footwear needed to be decorated accordingly.
I bought some black boots at a discount shoe store for $20 and got spray adhesive, glitter, diamond trim, and silver spray paint at WalMart. A few coats of glitter and paint later, I have these blinged-out boots. I'm pretty sure that I don't want to see glitter again for a LONGGGGGGG time! :)"

Holy glitter Kryssy, wow, these will work wonderfully with the costume.

Thanks for the pictures, keep them coming... nice to see such carnival creativity extending to footwear. 

Ms Carter found these bad boys down at Orfus Rd for just $10 at Sirens.. talk about such a good deal. I for one wasn't with spending a lot money on shoes for Caribana, so when I found these down at Orfus for $10 I could NOT and I repeat I could NOT pass them up. I brought my glitter and gems from the dollar store for $2.. I completed the shoes last night and it wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. In my eyes they look a little simple so I might add on more glitter during the week (a little bit more red) Excited to be jumping with Saldenah - Arawak Princess this year! Saw you're playing in my section! I hope I can spot you in the crowd.. lol

 

Nice deal for sure. I'll be looking for your boots! 

Kick it up a notch

So how's your costume extras shopping going? This year I'm finding many options for not only footwear, but accessories like purses, tights and jewellery.

I've been very impressed with how sneaker designs have improved greatly for us to wear to play mas in. There are so many fun, flashy, shimmery & sequined shoes out there to choose from.

 All found at Si Vous Play Sports On Steeles, $19.99. 

 

 

Wedge sneaks are now the big thing, my personal favourite for mas this year. They are ideal to play mas in. If you don't want to go with a full boot or flat shoes, these are a perfect middle ground.

 

Urban Behaviour, $30

All pictured were found on Orfus Road.

 

 Sirens, $35

 

 LA Star, $40

 

 Ducati, $30

 

 Designer Depot, $20

  

 Rainbow in Buffalo, $30

 

 For those who like to wear flats, Ardene sure has a massive amount in every colour, including glittery silver and gold. 

 I think we'll be seeing these on the road, studded "Tom's" style, only $10.

I've seen so many petite purses and wild wristlets that would work wonderfully with costumes.

I really like these tiger striped ones, $8, and the studded ones below.

 

 How fantastic are these?

 Small flower purses, only $6 at The Go Between Store, Albion Mall.

 

I had to include these eye liner stickers that they also sell, too cute!

Thank God gone are the days when we just threw on our beat up pair of white sneakers that detracted from the costume. Now there's no excuse to not have fun footwear that looks like it's part of your costume, it matches so well. 

So what extras like footwear are you going with, and where did you find them?