These are Blackspot Sneakers. Made in a union shop in Europe, these are more or less a sweat-shop free version of Converse All Stars. They're also "vegetarian shoes", whatever that means. I've had a few pairs of Chucks - I think they're cool and comfy. I don't like that Converse is actually owned by Nike, a company known for using dirt cheap labor to sell pretty expensive kicks. But I can't decide if the sweat-shop free copycats are cool... is it just a ripoff of Converse, or is it an even cooler alternative? I need your help here. 
These are TOMS Shoes. Their slogan is "Shoes for Tomorrow." What they do is actually really cool. For every pair of shoes they sell, they give a pair of shoes to a child in need. I think that's a pretty cool idea. My issue with these guys is that I wrote to them asking about the conditions in which the shoes are made and they wouldn't give me a straight answer. They just said that they are made in safe conditions and that they conduct regular audits. When I asked them to elaborate, they didn't get back to me. Maybe them giving a pair of shoes away is just as good as promoting fair working conditions elsewhere, but shouldn't even the best-intentioned of organizations be examined for fair trade practices? What do you think? The other issue with these is that I think I might think these are sort of ugly.Do you know of any other shoes I should look at? Should I get the Blackspots? The TOMS? Should I just forget about it buy another pair of velcro Vans to replace the old ones, which may have been my favorite shoes ever? Should I not get any shoes and just wear my orange Chucks or my green and white checkered Vans with everything, ignoring any and all fashion crimes I will have to commit along the way?
5 comments:
You could look into Fluevogs. The website doesn't give all the info needed to know if they are made in great conditions, but you could contact them.
http://www.fluevog.com/files_2/help.html#b
Well I'm partial to TOMS but that's probably because I own a pair.
Yes they are fairly ugly but once you have them on your feet they are amazing! They are so comfortable!
I also checked into the way that they are produced and have only found positive things. A friend of mine noticed that their manufacturing is monitored by a 3rd party which gave her the sense of mind that they would make sure conditions were ethical. BUT I still don't know for sure. At least another child will get a pair of shoes though!
If you're worried about committing fashion faux-paux (wait, didn't I spend a semester in France, so shouldn't I know how to spell that???), foux-converse shoes wouldn't fly. I'd say go for the Tom's or stay with what you have. I am on my 5th pair of 991/992's from NB because I fell in love with them long ago. sure, I try on other shoes, but they're just not the same. When you have a good thing, keep it going as long as you can!
Oh and if you decide to go with TOMS let me know. I'll order some with you!
So I'm thinking I'm just going to buy a new pair of velcro Vans and then maybe write them a letter and donate some money to Oxfam as a guilt offering... yeah?
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