Tuesday 17 August 2010

Plastic fantastic


The rate at which my jelly shoe collection has been growing this past few months is quite embarrassing.

First came the black Vivienne Westwood for Melissa multi-strap flats from Saia boutique in downtown Athens, then the clear blue F-Troupe bathing jellies from Revolve Clothing and the teal Melissa peep-toes from Fenastock.

The latest addition to my jelly shoe collection are the ASOS FAB jelly gladiator sandals in blue and hot pink.

For just €5,29 a pair I'm surprised I didn't get all four colours!

12 comments:

Raquel said...

I love jelly shoes, have two pairs, but don't wear them much, because they make me sweat a lot :( and also I can't believe how cheap those gladiators were!! nice buys.

Panagiota said...

For sure they look really cool!Beautiful colours and something to make an outfit interesting.But are they comfortable?That's the only thing stopping me,from buying one pair..

Anonymous said...

Love 'em all!

ToKataifi said...

ta roz ta exo kego...doro apo tin sis....

se ti ala xromata iparxoun????

Lopi said...

@Raquel
yeah, but the open-toe ones are perfect for the sea (I've already worn mine when I went camping the other day) and the closed-toe ones can be worn with socks or tights come fall

@Panagiota
they're very comfortable, as long as you get the size right. plastic doesn't mold to the feet with time like leather does, so it has to fit perfectly from day one

@kataifi
τα είχανε σε φούξια, μπλε, χρυσό και μαύρο, αλλά στο μαύρο έχουν τελειώσει όλα τα νούμερα απ'ότι είδα
το ροζ είναι ομολογουμένως το πιο πετυχημένο, καλή η επιλογή της sis!

Stratos Bacalis said...

My objection is mainly environmental (I leave aesthetics out for now). These shoes all have limited life spans - so what happens when they get thrown away? Limiting the use of plastic in our lives should be a major priority. And I wonder how healthy it is to have your skin touching this and sweating.

Lopi said...

@ Stratos Bacalis

Allow me to disagree on that.

Normal shoes are made from numerous components like leather for the outer-shell, fabric for the insole, rubber for the sole, metal for the staples that hold it all together and quite often even numerous other different kinds of plastic if it's high-heeled shoes. ALL of which are glued and nailed together in an non-recyclable mess. When their life span is over, you are bound to throw them away, which is not very green.

Plastic shoes on the other hand, consist of a single material, so it's a piece of cake to throw them into the recycle bin when you're over with them.

Camper has been a pioneer in that matter, by introducing a range of shoes called WABI, which consist of materials that can be taken apart at the end of the shoe's life span and be recycled or biodegraded.

"The WABI family consists of six styles of shoe, four of which are made from a single mold TPE (thermoplastic elastomer), one from a single piece of wool felt with a TPE sole and another made from a single piece of plaited yute also with a TPE sole.
The WABI concept is to reduce the production of a shoe to its bare minimum to save consumption of time and energy. The WABI design is made up of only three parts in a four step manufacturing process. This is a radical reduction of the usual shoe making process, which according to Camper can be made up of 40 operations using 60 elements for just one shoe.
The additional benefits are that TPE is a fully recyclable material, which is particularly light, flexible, hardwearing and easy to maintain. The WABI’s inner soles can be detached from the outer shoe and are made from fully biodegradable materials such as linen, Ramy wool or Igusa (the vegetable material traditionally used for tatami matting)."

excerpt taken from this article
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/04/lets_take_a_wal.php

As for the health issue, I guess plastic sandals can't be worse than Havaianas. They're plastic too, right? As for the closed-toe ones I try to wear them with socks, which solves any problem with sweating.

Lopi said...

@ Stratos Bacalis

plus, plastic is supposed to be an inert material and we eat in plastic containers, we drink water from plastic bottles and it is even used for medical materials, so I think it must be relatively safe in contact with human skin

:)

Stratos Bacalis said...

@thanks for the lengthy reply but I still insist - leather and fabric are easily bio-degradable. Plastic is not. Not all plastics are recycled. Not all plastics can be recycled everywhere. You will not believe the amount of non-recyclable plastic used in packaging in the UK alone (first hand experience past two weeks). TPE has not been cleared as healthy yet. Very few plastics have. And don;t get me started on Hawaianas (which are rubber, not plastic).

Mairyliscious said...

jealousssss

Mika's Fashion said...

τελεια!!!!

Tory said...

HI! We're home safe now :( Turns out I'd actually visited your blog before... but forgot. My memory sucks. Anyway, thanks so much for making our trip wonderful. We had a great time, thanks in no small part to your great local knowledge, and that fantastic meal - the perfect end!

My blog is www.curveinthemode.blogspot.com - still very much a work in progress, but have a look (the last five posts are by my friend while I was sunning myself in Samos!) Hopefully see you soon, lots of love,

Tory xxxxx