TOMS Shoes: You need these in your life

I just wanted to do a quick post about TOMS shoes, if you hadn't heard of them... then why not? Basically. They are a great shoe company and here's why:

TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we're all about. The TOMS One for One business model transforms our customers into benefactors, which allows us to grow a truly sustainable business rather than depending on fundraising for support.

That's a pretty damn good business model right there. More (or maybe just as) importantly, the shoes are AMAZINGLY COMFORTABLE. If your feet could talk, they'd say 'ahhhh'. So nice. The main style is a simple canvas pump type shoe, they do others but it's all about these really:

Classic colours
They do vegan friendly ones - the ultimate moral/ethical boost; ethically sourced materials that are completely vegan AND you're helping out a child in a a poorer country. Amazing.
Special edition hand painted artist editions...
And my favourite, the plain old cream canvas one - my favourite because you can customise it! Draw on it, paint it, whatever. This is what I plan to do. It may get dirty easier but you can can completely make it your own. Nice. And so great to wear this spring with tights/leggings and a cute dress as it warms up. This brings me on to an event that Topshop help at LFW this year:

The event was called Style Your Sole at took place at Topshop Oxford Circus, of course. This was the "first Style Your Sole event to take place in the UK and was part of Topshop's greater event schedule for London Fashion week. Customers, fans, and fashion week attendees purchased canvas TOMS and had them transformed into one-of-a-kind, hand painted kicks." Sounds like it was great, I really wish I could have gone!

The one thing I really want to talk about is this:


On 8th April, they are holding the 'One Day Without Shoes' event which is encouraging people all over, for one day, to try and not wear shoes. If possible. 'We ask people to go the day, part of the day, or even just a few minutes, barefoot, to experience a life without shoes first-hand, and to help spread awareness. ' Sounds strange (and fashionably questionable) but it's to highlight some really important facts:

• In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to school, clean water and to seek medical help.
• Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
• Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
• In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
• Podoconiosis is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.

Its sounds really simple but shoes can change a person's life, especially if they are living in poor conditions. Not because 'Oh em gee these shoes are amazing, they go perfectly with this outfit, this has saved my life', but because these shoes can actually save lives. So get involved, if you can. April 8th is a Thursday which makes it virtually impossible to go the whole day if you have any kind of employment at all; it's illegal to drive without shoes and pretty unthinkable to go barefoot on the tube (think of the rush hour.. all those people treading on your toes... oh my) but if you can do it for a couple of hours, that's cool. Go to www.onedaywithoutshoes.com to find out more!

You can also follow TOMS on Twitter @TOMSshoes :)

I'll be buying a pair soon. I've only tried them on at work (I work at Schuh... not for long though, I'll tell you why in a new post, hint... tres exciting news...) and so I know how comfortable they are but I have 0 money to buy anything right now, including ethical shoes, so payday they are first on the list.

All images in this post are from the TOMS shoes website, copyright is theirs.

This post has a massive gap at the bottom and I can't get rid of it. Stupid blogger formatting. Very strange. Apologies.