Wha? Those are effing hideous. I'm more interested to know what kind of a sane person would actually pick that as a sartorial statement. The consumerization of charities (ribboning, pinking, greening and so on) is nothing new (but it is pretty silly and annoying).

I'll have to tell my hubby not to throw out his grass and oil-stained mocs that he uses for mowing the lawn just yet. He can be totally "in" and look like he supports the environment. :-P

Give me a break.

I think its an entertaining fun way to be involved.

I actually like the way those look. I would totally wear them.

Help animals...by wearing leather shoes?

"According to Selectism, 100% of the proceeds are going to help wildlife affected by the spill."

Define "proceeds." The tag on the shoe says the "net profits" are being donated. That could very well be a few cents (or even absolutely nothing) per pair, depending on how their calculating costs.

One of the proposed explanations for how altruism evolves is that it is a show of power. Being able to just give your resources away on a consistent basis is an even more honest signal, in the game theory sense of being hard to fake, than spending on luxury goods.

Of course, that depends on everyone seeing them and getting the connection, otherwise you have to go into a conversation explaining how your shoes were bought to donate to the aid effort, and you're not the sort of person who would donate money without something material for yourself in return.

so for this to work you need to be the kind of twat entirely surrounded by other similar twats, and never spends any time with proportionate sensible, self-aware or sociologically minded people. And poor people.

And omg... Expensive shoes tie those fucking plastic tags onto things. I fucking hate those! They are such a pain to get off! I would have thought luxury meant having things not tagged or stickered!

I don't live in the US, so I have to ask - are these shoes so ubiquitous that a passing stranger would instantly recognize them as an "altruistic" purchase? It seems like a fairly obscure brand to me.

My interpretation of the design was more along the lines of a major moment in our shared narrative (in this case, the very well-known oil spill) making its way into the imagination of fashion. If you've been into an Urban Outfitters in the last 10 years, you've probably noticed a tendency in a trend toward vintage dress/business clothes being heavily altered and distressed and reappropriated as offbeat casual attire. And can you swing a dead cat in Brooklyn or Camden or Prenzlauerberg without hitting a boutique selling hacked t-shirts for $30? These shoes fit the fad well enough to pass as trendy, which is Bed Stü's department. Not, by the way, the "garden party" set - their brand is clearly targeting urban yuppies.

Whether they're ugly is a matter of taste. I happen to like the unusual look of the finish, and the ironic sight gag is probably subtle enough when they're being worn. Plus, they're undoubtedly no uglier than the same shoes would look in a generic color like brown or tan. I wouldn't pay much money for them (I can hack my own thrift-store shoes without the stamp of a brand, thank you very much) but I'd be perfectly willing to wear these without informing my peers that I'd saved the turtles.

As for the class aspect - similar shoes on the website seem to retail for $75 - not cheap, but not exactly lavish, even compared to Nikes. Does anyone know how much the oil spill look adds to the price? If they turn out to be the costliest shoes in the store, then maybe Lisa has a fair point!

this reminds me of the stainless steal water bottles and reusable grocery totes. in just a couple of years, they've made it so there are particular neighborhoods where a person would be embarrassed to carry and plastic bag or plastic water bottle and that's still developing and expanding... a stainless steal water bottle is a must have accessory right now, that's a lot better than trashing three bottles of evian a day. and i don't know, on one hand it's just expressed consumerism, every person that chooses the green option isn't doing it to be green, it's a status symbol. but it also doesn't look like this capitalism thing is going away anytime soon, people are going to spend their money on bullshit they don't need, why not endorse a system that moves a little bit of that money in a positive direction. these shoes are silly, but they put some amount of money toward a good cause. AND, when they end up on some silly fashionista's feet, they're going to say, "conservation is cool". whereas, a new pair of whatever shoe they would have bought instead won't say anything about positive living.
if you're realistic about where we are right now and where things are going, it's not such a bad option.