Blacks, greys &creams....
NIGHT nubuck - Imagine the blackest velvet.
BLACK grained - A good basic colour. This skin is thick and supple.
BLACK smooth - A good basic everyday colour. This skin is satin smooth.
STORM nubuck, grained - A beautiful charcoaly grey. Like storm clouds when you know its going to really hammer it down! SOLD OUT
PUTTY smooth - Just like its name, which describes this very nuetral colour perfectly. A good light contrast for any summer shoes / sandals.
The leathers are all chrome tanned unless stated otherwise (see ETHICS page).
WHY leather?
Only one of each skin is bought making your shoes part of a Limited Edition few!
Each individual skin has its own particular marking and graining, giving them a very unique appearance. Rather than go for perfectly unblemished skins OR throwing away any marked areas I tend to embrace this uniqueness and work it into each item I make. Poor quality areas are never used, they are weak and will not last.
Think of the knots and quirks in a beautiful piece of wood and you will understand what I am rambling on about!! Mother nature is both perfect and imperfect at the same time, which is what makes natural materials so desirable and special over artificial manufactured ones.
Leather mellows and ages beautifully, whereas plastic never changes.
EXTRA colours to choose for small details or back straps only.
The following colours can be added to your footwear as a contrast if you fancy something a little brighter! Ive only a small amount of each of these skins so there isn't enough for a complete shoe or boot BUT maybe just enough for 'faeflips', please ask!
Colours are (names describe the shades very well) : damson nubuck - maroon - Purple - dark lilac - milk chocolate nubuck - buff nubuck - Scarlet - terracotta blush - thyme green - retro blue - ivory.
INSOLING leather colours
Most styles (except those stating otherwise in the item description, such as FLIT) will be fitted with one of these insoling colours.
Oatmeal, Lichen, Chestnut, Golden tan, Black.
I tend to choose a colour which tones well with the uppers, i.e. Oatmeal with pink, lichen with greens, browns and blues, and black with black or darker shades.
There is no plastic whatsoever inside your shoes to cause discomfort or perspiration and the leather insoling ensures continuos odour free comfort. Each sole is stamped with the FAIRYSTEPS logo (men's sizes will have the WOODZIES or more discreet FS logo).
Hopefully helpful hints on choosing colours!
Buying a pair of handmade shoes is a big investment so I am aware that choosing colours can be difficult! The following points may be worth considering before you make your decision.
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If you wear lots of blues & purples then BLACK, DEEP SEA or DAMSON may be a good choice.
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If you primarily wear 'natural' colours like browns and occasionally greens then you won't go far wrong with any of the woodland shades CHESTNUT, CONKER, NUT, TAWNY, OLIVE, HOLLY or RUST.
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BERRY is a good colour for any outfit, naturals & purple / blues.
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Boots in any of the DARKER BROWNS are going to be pretty much a winter mainstay for any colour scheme!
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ROSEBUD, FAE PINK or any of the brights are superb summer colours, and a great contrast for winter styles if mixed with a deeper colour.
If in doubt (we all have our moments) have a good look through your wardrobe and think about what outfits and at which time of year you will be wearing your chosen style. Then base your colour choice on this! GOOD LUCK!
Please always state a second colour choice when ordering!
All colours are subject to availability and vary from time to time. I only ever buy ONE of each skin so all the footwear made from that single skin are in effect LIMITED EDITION's.
I shall be using *LORICA (a well known TOP QUALITY vegan leather alternative) for the uppers and insoles.Colour choice will be very limited as they just dont have the colour range as in leather. Lorica is made of millions of teeny microfibres of synthetic material. Using this for the uppers effectively makes the footwear animal free.
The nubuck effect LORICA suable is less plasticy looking than the shiny coated one, but is less waterproof, apparently its water repellent, so similar to a standard leather nubuck. It has a lovely soft, suede like appearance. Apparently its washable so I will post information about this once Ive washed my test pair!!! It can be polished just like leather which will aid its water repellency values.
If you fancy ordering a pair of shoes in this material simply choose the VEGAN option on the relevant items page, the accessory pages have not yet been updated so please contact me if ordering bags, etc.
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The colours available are all shown above:
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Misty brown, nubuck finish
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Sand, nubuck finish
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Gold, nubuck finish
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Misty Ink, dark blue, nubuck finish
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Misty charcoal, nubuck finish
NOTE! Depending on the style there will be an extra charge due to the very high material costs! This will be approx £15.00 extra for sandals & belt bags, £25 extra for shoes & small bags, £35 mid length boots & medium sized bags, £50.00 tall boots & large bags.
