I read about this in the New York Times the other day. There’s a small movement of people around the country who are going on “shopping diets.” Apparently, the current recession have made them realize how out-of-control their spending habits are. Centered around a website called Six Items or Less, they’ve committed to wearing only six pieces of clothing (not including underwear and shoes, of course) for an entire month.

So the question is: could you survive on only six items for a month?

Wow, just wow. Flats made from recycled Chinese newspaper. These could save the world. I’ll just let Moxsie do the talking:

“Designer Colin Lin hit upon a very exciting idea by using recycled newspaper to create an environmentally friendly ballet flat. These adorable flats are crafted from recycled Chinese language newspapers that are woven into a lattice pattern, then dipped in plastic for weather protection and durability. The coating gives the shoe a waterproof protection, so it’s actually better than fabric or leather.

Each pair uses just three to three and a half pages of newsprint and is handcrafted with the help of cottage industry artists in China. Cutting back on factory production methods and making every shoe one of a kind.”

Wow, London really loves their vending machines. This is the second vending machine we’ve heard about that sells shoes. And they’re both located in London.

The first vending machine we heard about sold running shoes and sneakers. This one, from a company called Afterheels, sells comfortable ballet flats aimed at the club-going crowd. The idea is that if a woman is out dancing all night in her fancy heels, her feet will start to hurt badly. Afterheels flats will allow that woman a chance to change into something much more comfortable. On top of that, the flats come with a small duffel bag to store her original pair of heels..

A pair of Afterheels flats goes for roughly $10 USD. Both the flats and the duffel bag are made from recyclable materials. The flats are waterproof and offer great protection from typical club hazards such as broken glass. They also come in a variety of colors.

For those times when you mistakenly wear high-top sneakers only to realize how terribly hot it is outside, you now have the perfect shoe for that occasion. Deemed the Modular Shoes, these shoes convert into a number of different styles thanks to the copious number of zippers embedded into the design. So you want to rock the flip-flop sandals instead of the sneakers after all? A little zip-zip here and there and voila!

Check out this video showing you how you can uncork a bottle of wine using nothing but a wall and your shoes (and it looks like something with a flat heel would work best). It’s really neat, although I’m not exactly sure in what situation you might want to crack open a bottle of wine but not have a corkscrew. It kinda seems like it’s designed for drinking on-the-go, haha. Whatever the situation, it’s certainly a handy maneuver.

Oh if looks could kill … wait, maybe they can. Okay, not really but they certainly look extremely dangerous. Below are two very violent-looking shoes. The first is the Chanel Gun Heel, a satin platform sandal with a 90mm gun heel. First worn by Madonna in 2008, they were released as part of the Chanel Cruise 2009 collection and went for roughly $2,200 a pair.

To give some sense of how absurd these gun heels are, take a look at these booties with brass knuckle-shaped heels. The weapon theme remains with a brass knuckle heel in place of the gun heel. But these heels are sold at a shop that specializes in adult-themed costumes. Yes, this is a novelty costume item, not made for actual, public use. This is intended to be a costume, not to be real fashion. Seriously, how in the world did anyone think attaching a gun to a shoe would be chic? Oh, designers …

For those of us who were ever into Greek mythology as kids, adidas has introduced what looks like a modern update on the shoes of Hermes, messenger to the gods who wore winged sandals. The adidas Leather Wings 2.0 are designed by Jeremy Scott as part of his adidas Originals by Originals collection. They feature leather wings on either side of the sneakers as well as lace jewels in the classic black-white, three-stripe adidas design. They come out on August 10.

Check out some more pics after the jump. Continue Reading…

Congratulations to the winner of our iPod Giveaway on Twitter, @seasister! @seasister has won a Silver 8GB iPod Nano (5th Generation). Because of her and everyone that entered our contest, @shoemetro now has more than 700 followers on Twitter. Thanks to everyone that participated! Stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages for our latest shoes, deals, and giveaways!

We’re having our monthly clearance sale again this Saturday, July 3 from 9:30am to 5:30pm. On top of the discounted shoes–which can be as cheap as 95% off the original price–we’re doing a promotion on Groove summer flip-flops.

If you purchase $50 or more, you get a free pair of Groove flip-flops. If your purchase is less than $50, you can buy Groove flip-flops for $2 per pair. And if you just need Groove flip-flops without any other shoes, you can buy them for $5 per pair. If you’re in San Diego, you should definitely come on out.