I have been on an anti-consumerism kick lately, trying to shed much of my material goods in an effort to get rid of all of the clutter in my life. This is especially true with how fed up I have become with the culture of shoes for every occasion, especially in the realm of female fashion. Having a close eye on teen and twenty-something culture, the level of excess and disposability of clothes and shoes I witness is heart wrenching.

And so, I have been on a do-it-yourself kick, looking into making my shoes so I can not only relish in the amount of money I will be saving, but also gloat in having others ask about my footwear and be able to say, “why these? I made them”. Nothing impresses people like having made something by hand. It is because everything is so automatic these days, of course.

While huaraches do sound similar to cucaracha, they are not a funny dance, but instead a minimalistic running sandal worn by the Tarahumara Indians in South America. The Tarahumara are discussed in Born to Run because of these sandals that allow them to run in the barefoot style.

I first found a website via a Facebook ad where you can custom order bright colorful sandals in the Huarache style for only $30 called Brancas at http://www.runbranca.com/. They seem very similar to those made by Steven Sashen of www.invisibleshoes.com who has a series of YouTube videos showing you how to make Huaraches yourself, either with your own materials or the kit he sells on invisibleshoes.com.  The Invisible Shoes kit includes a sheet of Cherry Vibram sole for you to cut out to your foot size and thread with the laces he recommends  (Note: One of our writers recently received a pair of Huaraches from Steven for review, so watch for that review soon).

And while the videos got me excited about making my own shoes and sandals, this time around I really want to “make” the shoes myself.  That includes reviewing and purchasing the materials, cutting everything out, etc.  I still want a Vibram sole, and I found this link for them so I think I am going to order my own directly if I do decide to use the Cherry sole (product #7175).

I also found an excellent video of a runner testing his homemade Huaraches in rocky Los Angeles and it looks like they hold up quite well:

But these last two videos sparked my interest the most as they were made with completely recycled materials (tires!) and have quite a distinct look, something that would stand out and make people notice, and something I could make a bit prettier if I felt like enlisting my artistic side:

Watching these last two videos shows that you can make these barefoot running sandals out of nearly anything, that is the point after all! Low cost and less consumerism. Well that was my point anyways. Returning to the days of investing love and time into something so you care for it and cherish it. And who knows, maybe friends will want a pair!

I will update with an entry if I make these or order the kit and write a review. Has anyone else used these sandals or tried any DIY shoe making? Leave some tips if you have!