When a new crop of shoes comes out, I start blubbering.

The Naya shoe line is completely drool worthy, and it’s also completely sustainable. The brand was “born from the belief that shoes should be beautiful on your feet, soft on your step and gentle on the environment. Because you should never have to choose between what looks good, what feels good and what is good for you and for the earth.”

Hear, hear!

The current Fall collection includes “Origami Rose,” “Tailored Temptation,” “Beautiful Bows,” “Super Soft Suedes,”  “Rugged Resource” and “Kimono Knot,” each collection a comfortable and trendy take on what’s hot.

Naya’s sustainable points:

• Vegetable-tanned leathers and linings
• Natural or recycled content fabrics
• Water-based cements
• Footbeds containing natural cork
• Outsoles containing natural materials
• Boxes made with 80 percent recycled paper pulp, soy-based inks and water-based glue
• Reusable shoe bags and shoe forms made with recycled PET

Naya means “renewal,” and the only thing they’ve asked in return for giving a lucky EcoSalon winner a $285 Naya gift card towards the purchase of one pair of shoes or boots is that they make a comment on renewing as it pertains to some aspect of their lives.

So leave an inspiring little comment below relating to the theme because if you don’t stick to the rules on this one, you don’t qualify.

(Legalese: contest rules and FTC compliance.)

The post Naya Shoes Giveaway: $285 Gift Card! appeared first on EcoSalon.

A few years ago, I was trying on a pair of Melissa shoes when the shop owner, a good friend, said my feet were too wide for the shoe.

“All that foot cleavage isn’t good,” she said, as I stared down and looked at the sides of my foot over-spilling the non-existent sides of the shoe and onto the wood floor below. This fairly traumatic life event forced me to recognize this seasonal issue, which I now spot wherever I go.

The popular definition of foot cleavage is when your toes are showing but in cases like mine – we add width, (especially when there are no sides to a shoe), the elements, and our gams well up to new proportions as if they’d undergone an augmentation.

How to avoid it? Meghan Cleary, (or Miss Meghan), shoe expert, author of The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You and creator of Miss Meghan® footwear, says an easy way to avoid foot cleavage is to look for wider straps.

“Foot cleavage is definitely a very subjective topic as well – some people love it and think its super sexy to show the tops of toes, some people think it’s gross. So you have to determine what’s good for you and then shop with an eye toward silhouettes that will give you more support around the foot – especially in the front.”

She also suggests looking for shoes that “hold” you in at the sides with straps or a higher toe box, especially for wider feet.

She points out her own vegan crossover wedge as an example.

Meghan Cleary Crossover Wedge

Here are some of my personal, anti-foot cleavage favorites that have nice toe beds and thicker straps:

Neuaura Kino

Cri Hannah

OlsenHaus Love

Naya Gladiator

Image: LaurenV.

The post The Beige Report Addresses Oozing Foot Cleavage appeared first on EcoSalon.