I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one immediately smitten with the Alexander Wang gladiator heels (and indeed all the gladiator styles that are around this season) when they hit the runway late last year, I knew straight away that I would trying my hand at DIYing something similar come summer. My first thought was to channel the high heeled gladiator version, but decided to go with a flat version for wearability – perfect festival and beach wear, especially worn with my DIY Transparent Satchel!
As you can see I was inspired by the A Wang design but changed it up a little – although on the weekend someone asked me if they were Alexander Wang (I don’t think they made any like this) so I guess they have that certain feel to them.
Wearing: Madewell Silk Shirt, Whistles DIY Cut off shorts, Coach Watch, DIY Transparent satchel, DIY gladiator flats
You need:
- At least 5 yards of leather (or faux leather) trim (try to match the material and width of the straps of your flats as much as possible)
- Sharp scissors
- Flats (I used these simple H&M ones)
- E6000 glue
- 6 press stud buttons
- A multi hole punch tool
- Optional: some pvc or wire to stiffen the main gladiator spine
How to:
1. Start by deciding how many strips you want to go around your legs, I went with three to keep it simple and almost geometric looking. Then measure your calf in the places you want to put the strips.
2. Cut the leather into pieces, I did three pairs matching the different widths of my leg and one pair of long strips to go vertically down the front of my leg and connect to the flat.
3. The top long piece is for the front of the leg while the other pieces are for around the leg.
4. I then glued the long strip onto the front of the flat, I took it all the way down to the edge so the materials matched up.
5. This is how it will look.
6. This is optional. Depending on how stiff your leather is you may want to glue on some sort of reinforcement to the underside of long strip that goes up the front of the leg, just so it doesn’t bow out or bunch up. You can use wire or a strip of PVC like I did. This isn’t absolutely necessary but may help with the overall aesthetic.
7. Glue on the horizontal straps.
8. Let them dry overnight.
9. Measuring around your leg to work out where the stud button should go at the back, make a hole with the hole punch.
10. Insert the screw on the underside and attach the stud top on the right side.
11. Finally, make a hole in the other side so you can attach the strap by pushing it on and off the stud button.
Voila! All done!
Wearing: Madewell Silk Shirt, Whistles DIY Cut off shorts, Coach Watch, DIY Transparent satchel, DIY gladiator flats
Photos by Lauren Engel
