10 Strangest Head-Tuning Heels

Craziest Head-Tuning Heels

1. Keiko Otsuhata Created Pigeon Heels to Befriend the Pigeons of Ueno Park

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Many great ideas in Japan are often inspired by a simple pun. Such was the case for designer Keiko Otsuhata, who was thinking about pigeons one day when the word “hato-heel” jumped into her head. Hato is Japanese for pigeon, and, while acknowledging that it’s rather weak as a pun, she began imagining what hato-heels might look like, and whether or not she could camouflage her feet as pigeons.

So she did what any creative designer would do: she ordered a pair of cheap heels online and went to work. She documents her creative process in an article she wrote but the results are quite fantastic. Using primarily felt and some paint and glue she created an adorable pair of hato-heels.

She then wore them to Tokyo’s Ueno Park, which is known for their abundant and sometimes overly-friendly pigeons. At first the pigeons are a bit standoffish but they soon accept Otsuhata’s hato-heels as one of their own.

Otsuhata has no plans on selling her hato-heels, but she does sell plenty of other whimsical creations in her shop such as water-puking lion broaches and fish cases.


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2. Oscar Tiye’s Minnie Mouse–Inspired Heels Are the Chicest Way to Wear Your Love of Disney

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Minnie Mouse stiletto heels are here and they might be the chicest way possible to wear your love of Disney. Refinery29 reports Italian accessory and shoe designer Oscar Tiye is responsible for the creation, which boasts a sleek one-strap sandal design, complete with a pair of round Minnie Mouse ears at the back of the ankle. Though that detail only appears at closer inspection, as from afar, they can easily be mistaken for a bow-like accent.
Aptly named the “Minnie,” you can pick up these Disney-inspired heels for a cool $450 to $700, depending on the style. The heel varies, in terms of chunkiness, as does the fabric — some are made of satin, glitter, or, even, a denim weave. They all have the same whimsical draw, though: those Minnie Mouse ears.

This isn’t the first-time Disney characters have been at the hands of a designer makeover. Magic Kingdom fans might recall Comme des Garçons’s avant take on the mouse ears back in 2011 and, again, in 2014. (The Disney demand is real.) Not to mention, Gucci’s creative head Alessandro Michele put Daffy Duck at the forefront of his men’s collection last summer.


3. Dolce & Gabbana Siciliano Heels

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Dolce and Gabbana live and breathe Italian spirit - reflected within their collection of sleek ready-to-wear and accessories that redefine Sicilian seductiveness. These multicoloured cotton and leather Carretto Siciliano print pumps feature an almond toe, a brand embossed insole, an ankle strap with a side buckle fastening, rhinestone embellishments, a platform sole, a sculpted Sicilian lady high heel and a signature Carretto Siciliano (Sicilian cart) print.


4. Changeable Heels

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Many women know the burden of wearing heels all day, so this shoe might be a solution for those who don't want to change their outfit, but wants to slow down (or speed up) by the end of the day. Mime et moi created shoes that can have low heels for the morning and high heels for the evening. They vary not only in height, but in shape, and color as well. The sandals can be adjusted to any situation and style in an instant. They are an optimal combination of luxury and comfort, and perfect for daily use.


5. Creative High Heel Designs by Kobi Levi

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Israeli footwear designer Kobi Levi uses his wild imagination to create some of the most unusual high heels you’ll ever see. While his wearable sculptures are absolutely cool to look at, I doubt that I’d have the courage to wear some of them in public.

“In my artistic footwear design the shoe is my canvas. The trigger to create a new piece comes when an idea, a concept and/or an image comes to mind. The combination of the image and footwear creates a new hybrid and the design/concept comes to life. The piece is a wearable sculpture. It is “alive” with/out the foot/body. Most of the inspirations are out of the “shoe-world”, and give the footwear an extreme transformation. The result is usually humoristic with a unique point of view about footwear.”


6. The Wonderfully Nerdy Shoes of Orion's Originals

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These sweet Star Wars shoes might not match, but they go together perfectly. That's because they were designed and assembled by one-of-a-kind Etsy shoe seller Orion's Originals.

Their shoes aren't all inspired by Star Wars -nor are they all heels. These light-up Ghostbusters sneakers look like they've been covered in ectoplasma. In other words, they've been slimed.

And these mermaid shoes have a wedge perfectly shaped like a curvy tail that is sure to make the wearer happy to have legs to put them on.


7. Bird-Witched | Cock-inspired Stilettos by Masaya Kushino

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Japanese shoe designer Masaya Kushino, known for his extravagant creations that walk a thin line between footwear and sculpture, has created a new line of shoes inspired by the chicken. “Bird-Witched” actually takes its cue from Jakuchu Ito, “a legendary painter who flourished during the Edo period in the 18th century,” says Kushino. “He depicted real life animals such as birds, tigers, and elephants in a really ingenious way, tinged with a bit of insanity.”

For his latest collection, Kushino decided to depict the process of a bird turning into a pair of luxurious, feather-clad shoes. But Kushino reassures us that the shoes aren’t only to look at. They are fundamentally wearable footwear which, in Kushino’s mind, clearly separates them from standalone art objects.

Bird-Witched is currently on display at the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art. But Kushino’s heels will be traveling to the US for an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum later this year.


8. Beautifully Detailed Wooden Heels Carved Using Ancient Vietnamese Pagoda Techniques

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For many women, there’s no such thing as too many shoes. But no matter how many pairs you have in your wardrobe, chances are that you don’t own a pair like this. Not yet anyway.

They’re part of a range called Saigon Socialite and they’re made by a Vietnamese company called Fashion4Freedom. Each pair has a leather top and a wooden base that’s carved using techniques taken from Vietnam’s ancient pagoda wood art. The style is both a homage to the country’s tradition as well as a contemporary re-imagining of it, and given that each pair takes up to three weeks to make, they’re as much works of art as they are fashionable footwear.

Orphanages receive free shoe samples and Fashion4Freedom donates unused materials to schools. The company also teaches local villagers manufacturing techniques in order to help them boost their income. So when you buy a pair, not only do you get an awesome addition to your footwear collection – you also get the piece of mind that your money has been well spent. You can buy them on Etsy.


9. Tentacle High Heels And Other Crazy Shoes By Filipino Designer Kermit Tesoro

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“Difficult” shoes like this squid-design have won Filipino fashion and shoe designer Kermit Tesoro celebrity patronage. The 27-year-old drew the attention of Lady Gaga with his famous skull-heel shoes, which resulted in Tesoro’s heel-less design being featured in Gaga’s Gilt collection.

“I want to translate people’s deviations into my own creations,” Tesoro told StyleBible. “It’s like a fashion interpretation of the biological or psychological deviation of a person. I’ve always been driven to create clothing articles based on inner conflicts or the inability to control one’s inner impulses or failure to structure one’s behavior in an orderly way.”

Kermit Tesoro studied at UP Diliman College of Fine Arts. He enjoys going to hardware stores, collects books, and is a Nina Simone fan. Tesoro’s advice for aspiring designers: “Study, research, learn, identify the craft and avoid subverting or revolting without a cause.”


10. Rolling BB-8 Shoes

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If you wear high heeled shoes often, then you know how hard it can be to traverse difficult terrain, such as the deserts of Jakku. That's why you need this modification by Instructables member Mike Warren. His BB-8 heels make good use of the droid's spherical locomotion to keep you on the move.

Warren first removed the heels and replaced them with long bolts. Then he shaped wood spheres into our newest favorite droid, making sure that they rotate freely. Warren also decorated the rest of the shoes in BB-8's colors and graphic patterns.