Doll Style: Designer Shoe Dupes

Designer shoes for everyone! Eva, Rooney, Simone, Bruni, Estelle, and Kensee

We have been working on customizing a lot of different accessories, this time it’s all about creating our very own designer doll shoe dupes! There are a lot of styles that have come out recently and in the past that can be customized to add some luxe style to your doll fashions. Read on for some fun ideas!

Disclaimer: All photos of designer shoes were found on Pinterest using a search on the brand name and shoe style.

Louboutin inspired

We’ll start with the easiest and everyone’s favorite! Create your very own red-bottomed shoes! Here’s my rule of thumb though, I don’t just add that candy red gloss to just any ole doll shoes, the style and colors must resemble a real Louboutin design.

Eva, Maria, and Rooney looking for Loubs!

I used the craft & hobby enamel mentioned in last weeks blog to create the perfect red bottoms. This will take a few coats in between drying. This enamel paint will dry in 30 minutes, so the wait time isn’t too bad! As with other customs, I finished these off with either a coat of clear nail polish or gloss Mod Podge.

 

The loafers were the only shoes I changed the color of, but I simply painted the peach colored shoes using my black enamel paint and sealed them.

Valentino inspired

 

Valentino Rockstuds have been all the rage for quite some time and Barbie (TM) has certainly gotten on the band wagon with this stud style.

Kensee, Aditi, and Samantha rock the red carpet in their studs!

For our two-toned version, I used nail polish for the nude area since I had one handy from the Dollar Tree and then my trusty craft & hobby enamel for the black portion and silver highlights.

 

Unless you are a master artist (not me), there will be some small imperfections, but the overall look is great! I don’t have the steadiest of hands anymore, but eating a hearty meal before doing detailed painting can be a good idea, lol!

There are so many pre-made styles that can be turned into Rockstuds with just a touch of gold or silver. After drying, I sealed all of the painted areas with touches of gloss Mod Podge to finish each shoe off.

Gucci inspired

What is more classic and bougee than a pair of Gucci loafers?

Bruni & Simone…girl power!

These classic vintage Barbie pumps found on Ebay are a perfect candidate for a Gucci style transformation.

All they need is a somewhat steady hand (lol) and some gold paint! I used a tiny brush and the gold craft & hobby enamel to highlight the molded bit detail. Finish with a touch of gloss Mod Podge and you are ready to conquer the world!

Manolo inspired

 

These shoes are simply art and pure eye candy. I can remember visiting Barney’s in NYC and almost getting in trouble taking a photo of a grouping of the gorgeous jeweled satin pumps.

I used a variety of basic pumps to create several inspired versions of the classic jeweled satin pumps that made Manolo Blahnik famous.

Eva, Isabelle, and Kensee jeweled up!

To achieve the shiny satin colors these come in, I used pearlized nail enamels in gorgeous colors. To add the classic jeweled affect, I used doll sized rhinestone buckles found at the Tiny Frock Shop. I trimmed out the center bar and glued them onto the shoe with E6000. For the other shoes, I used small rhinestone earrings found at Claire’s. I trimmed and filed the post area and also glued them on. As much as you want to fiddle with these, give them ample time to dry (24 hours minimum).

By the way, have you checked out the Netflix original documentary about Manolo Blahnik called “The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards?” It’s a great story, I highly recommend checking it out!

BTW, here’s the photo I took at Barney’s in NYC 7 years ago.

 

Chloe inspired

 

The Chloe Susanna bootie can be found in just about every fashion blogger’s wardrobe at a pretty price! They go for over $1200.00 in your size! The most popular version seems to be the black leather with gold buckle accents, but they come in a ton of varieties.

Gabrielle & Estelle strutting their stuff!

I know we all have at least a dozen of these buckled booties in a variety of colors, so all you need are the metallic paint accents.

I simply used my silver and gold hobby & craft enamel to highlight the buckle and stud accent areas with a tiny paint brush. This paint is great because it dries in 30 minutes, but it is not terribly forgiving if you make a mistake. Pure acetone is definitely needed to correct any mistakes (have some on hand). None of these are perfect, so I am sure many of you could do a better job.

I thought about trimming the tops above the buckles off to make these even closer to the originals, but I haven’t tried it yet. I’ll definitely try it soon.

Chanel inspired

The classic Chanel ballet flat. This shoe is near and dear to my heart because I am an extreme Coco Chanel fan and I happen to own a pair of these shoes (a huge splurge when I visited NYC).

This transformation is probably the most customized because I simply didn’t have a pair of simple flats for my dolls.

Bruni & Poppy channeling Coco!

The shoe I chose to use was the pearlized t-strap flat that came with one of the first wave of diverse Fashionistas. I trimmed the straps off and got to work painting the shoes. I painted the entire flat with a custom mixed nude acrylic paint mix first.  After that dried, I used 1/8″ masking tape to tape off the tip and painted that portion black.  After that was dry I added a coat of gloss Mod Podge. Trust me, this photo just doesn’t do these justice, they look a bit too shiny and gloopy in this photo, but they aren’t. I’m actually really proud of this transformation.

To create the tiny bow, I used one strand of black embroidery floss. Although not a perfect match to the original, I chose black for the bow because I thought it would stand out more. I created a stiff tiny bow brushing it with matte Mod Podge after sizing the bow just right. I also glued the bow onto the shoe using Mod Podge.

For the booties, I used the classic quilted tall and curvy boots and added some chain detail along the ankle opening using E6000 and added a small pearl that I literally wedged into the heel area. I also added a layer of gloss Mod Podge to add some shine. I don’t have an exact shoe that these look like, but they are certainly Chanel inspired!

That wraps up this weeks post and thank you as always for stopping by! This was a really fun post to put together, I hope you have some fun designer transformations in mind! We’ve been focusing a lot on fashion items so far this year, but starting in March we are going to get back to what is near and dear to my heart, dioramas! I have lots in store and possibly an exciting challenge announcement! Be sure to Follow us so that you will get notifications each week when we post. Until next week…

A la Prochaine

Rie & Bruni