Style | DIY Valentino Rockstuds

I am absolutely in love with the Valentino Rockstud heels and flats. They are the perfect combination of edgy, classy, and lux! The pyramid studs look like jewelry for your feet! However, I can't really imagine spending around four digits on a pair of shoes...unless someone buys them for me as a gift *wink*. 

Photo Credit: Neiman Marcus

I bought some BCBGeneration shoes about 2.5 years ago from TjMaxx for $40. When I bought them I was completely in love - I thought they were really classy and comfortable. But they've sat in the back of my closet because I've had not had an occasion to wear this sandal pump hybrid....especially since all I do is work / study and because it is frickin cold in NYC for a large part of the year. Side note: BCBGeneration actually makes a Rockstud dupe called the "Darron" pump, which are a decent dupe (see below, retail $70). You can purchase them at DSW. However, my mom sent me a picture of them and I may be a bit biased, but I think my fauxstuds are better! That is because the studs on the Darron pumps look a bit plastic-y and I'm really picky on show shiny patent is.

Photo Credit: DSW

One day it struck me that the color combination of my heels was similar to the Valentino Rockstuds, so I bought these hotfix studs from an etsy shop, Prisms of Light, for $11 for 100 studs. 

Dang! These angled selfies are harder to take than you think!

They are 7 mm gold pyramid studs made in Korea. I've found other cheaper pyramid studs to look plastic-y, hence the $11 pricier studs. If you do not purchase studs with hotfix glue on the back then it will make it harder to attach to the shoe. If you look closely in the picture below you will see how the studs are filled with clear glue.

How I Made My Fauxstuds (should you have a similar pair of shoes!):

• Each shoe uses approximately 35 hotfix studs. I affixed them with e6000 craft adhesive. This tube of glue is pretty inexpensive and runs from $-$6 depending on what size you get. However it smells horrible and as a side effect gives you a headache.Those drawbacks aside, it is forgiving on leather - if you make a mistake you can take the stud off and rub the glue off easily. If you are taking on a similar project, you will want to remember to purchase the craft version of e6000 and not the industrial version. Another thing to note: I almost used my hotfix glue gun on this project, but then I did some research and realized that if I had done that, the leather would have burned / melted right off...

• Each stud is spaced ~1 cm apart from each other, you can see the original shoe on the left. To make sure my studs were lined up, I used the back of some tweezers to push the studs around / make minor corrections after I had placed them

• I worked outward, then in. In other words, I placed the first few studs strategically on the endpoints of a particular section, for example, the top and bottom of the middle strap, so that I could use them as an informal measuring tool. I relied heavily on my measuring tape between these placeholders. Here you can see the second shoe in progress!

• I made sure not to stud the area where the strap slides in and out - I wasn't really thinking about this initially when I was making them, but thank goodness I stumbled upon a side view of the Rockstuds before I made a mistake

• Try your shoe on and pay special attention to your bunions and how they hit the studs - you want to ensure an especially strong bond between the stud and the shoe at these places
• I tried to follow the studding at the tip of the shoe much like Valentino does - it creates almost a triad of studs
• Below is the final product! I cannot wait to wear these out! I think they will look great for a nice dinner or a jazzy brunch.

Dang! These angled selfies are harder to take than you think!

I definitely have a studded shoe addiction and am looking for my next pair of shoes to deck out, preferably black on black or gunmetal on black. But the headache inducing smell of e6000 will make me wait a little while before I do...

Have you done a DIY shoe project before? Let me know so I can check out your project!