Alexander Wang inspired Gladiators DIY

Hey guys,

I fell in love with the new Alexander Wang tall sandals, and few days later I was scrolling through pint rest and saw this blogger create a pair of Alexander Wang-inspired gladiators...and fell in love even more.  SO, I decided to make a pair.  The pictures loose their quality due to the loss of natal lightning as time passed.  It took about three hours to make them, but I made it a lot more difficult then it needed to be. As I was making there I got to watch the new episodes of OITNB...didn't regret one second of this entire process.

Let me take you though my steps!

Materials:

• a pair of simple, stripy sandals (I got mine from Marshals)
• leather, this is where I made my life a lot harder.  You can get leather/faux leather trim!  
• six stud press buttons
• ruler and measure tape
• in my case plier, to remove the flowers from the shoes
• strong fabric glue
• I used a box cutter knife but you can use scissors or an x-acto knife
• a piece of glass on which I cut everything

1. Get your sandals ready.  In my case I had "cute" flowers on the main strap.  

2. I proceeded to measure my calves exactly where I wanted the straps to go.  I also made marks exactly where I measured and measured the distance between the horizontal straps.  Just like the blogger where I got the idea from I decided on three straps.  Alexander Wang carried the thickness and amount of his, so it's your personal choice.  

3. This is where the "fun" begun.  I had to cut the leather into thin strips with a box cutter....

The straps were a little less then .5" thick and I left them a bit longer for now.  Later I will trim them all equally. 

4. I glued the main strap (the vertical one) starting from the front of the shoe. Then placed the horizontal ones according to the measurements I took before.  

5. I waited for the glue to dry and put a thin piece of plastic on the back of the main vertical piece of leather to keep it a bit more sturdy.  

A few tips after a few wears of the shoes:

• If you are going to make three straps in the exec same placement, make the middle one a bit snug, to prevent sliding down.
• The plastic on the back of the vertical strap should only be between the three straps you added. Don't add it between the lows one and the original sandal strap, in my case it kept the vertical strap tight and irritated the top of my foot.  
• I also left the ending pieces not trimmed for a few wears just in case I had to adjust the placement of the stud buttons.

I will soon add more photos of the final product!

And an outfit featuring these babies.  

With Love,

Maja