When a resolution to "buy less, but buy better" makes you obsess endlessly over every new addition to your wardrobe, it's especially heartbreaking when said addition breaks or fails you in some way. Such was the case with my Pour La Victoire 'Marne' boots. Remember how happy I was to traipse through autumn leaves in them? That happiness ended abruptly when the spur on one of the boots snapped two months ago. It turns out the spurs weren't made of solid brass, but some sort of brass-coated material. What a disappointment.
Still, I wasn't going to let one broken spur make an otherwise fine pair of cognac leather boots unwearable. So I did what any respectable blogger in this day and age would do: I DIY'd a replacement for the spur detailing. One trip to the craft store and a half hour later, my boots were sporting gold chains.
By "DIY," I mean I had some help from my dad, who cut the spurs off and punched holes in the leather straps. I threaded jumbo lobster claw clasps through the holes. Then I attached jump rings and smaller lobster claws to each end of a length of gold chain. Finally I just clipped everything together.
For the crafters and expert DIY bloggers who are reading this, my wee project probably isn't a big deal. But I'm pretty proud of myself: for $20 worth of craft supplies, I salvaged a pair of boots worth much more.
P.S. Entered my Shabby Apple dress giveaway yet? Do it now!
I probably would have just removed both chains because I'm lazy. But this works too! Lovely boots.
ReplyDeleteI considered that too, but the the strap that buckles across the front of the boot is all warped from having been threaded through the spurs for so long. They looked a little odd without something around the heel.
DeleteI'm no expert DIY person, but they look good to me!
ReplyDeletethis is such a brilliant idea. i've never seen it but it looks absolutely awesome
ReplyDeleteGenius, Lisa! I actually like your version even better than the originals! And I love reading about the ways you are buying less and buying better. It really is very inspirational to me and I'm sure lots of readers/bloggers out there!
ReplyDelete