Holiday Gift Guide #2 - Women's Footwear

For our second installment of our Holiday Gift Guide we are focusing on women's footwear. To start off here are a few tips to help make giving the gift of shoes easy.

1. Know the her size. The best way to make sure you know what size she wears is to check her favorite shoes. Since different brands size differently, check a couple shoes, this will help us get the best size for her for the style you pick.

2. Know her taste.  Check out what she already has in her closet. What colors and styles does she wear a lot. Take a few pictures, this way when we help you find her the perfect pair we have some references to go off of.

3. Be Bold. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones you know we want, but won't buy for ourselves because "it's just not practical." If you love it, but she doesn't, she can always exchange it.

Okay, now that you know her size and her style, here are a few fun footwear giving suggestions from Pie.


1. Sseko Sandals
A Portland based company, Sseko Designs is a not just for profit company. Sseko sandals are handmade in Uganda, but women earning money to further their education by going to university. In Uganda there are not many opportunities for women to earn the money needed to move on past prep school to a university. Sseko Designs provide women with a living wage, opening the doors to opportunities they would not have not had otherwise.  Sseko Sandals are DIY. You buy your base (whole sizes) and then you buy your straps and lace up or style the sandal anyway you like. With a YouTube site dedicated to videos of all the different ways you can lace up your Sseko's and the instructions for the classic tie method on the back of each strap package, lacing them up is super easy even if you aren't very crafty. For a limited time we also have a cute tote that comes with each purchase of a base & strap set.

Sizes: 6-11 (whole sizes)
Price: Leather Base $45, Straps $15

Sseko Sandals - Base, Straps, Tote & Tie Guide

2. Slippers from Keen & Patagonia

Women seem to be prone to have cold feet and hands. Though we many not be able to help with the hands part, we definitely got the feet part covered!  We've got some really cozy slipper/shoes from Patagonia & Keen. I like to call them slipper/shoes because they all have out soles that can be worn inside and out. You know for taking the garbage out, walking the dog before bed or running to the grocery store, all things we rarely want to put "real" shoes on to do. With a pair of these slippers, she will be able keep her toes warm around the house as well as on that late night ice cream run.

Keen Trillium Wool Slipper : $75 (colors: brown & black)

Keen Howser Slipper: $62 (vegan - colors: black & mauve)

Patagonia Advocate Lace: $75 (vegan - colors: red delicious & espresso)

Keen Trillium, Patagonia Advocate Lace & Keen Howser

3. Sneakers - Teva, Keen & Unstitched Utilites

Portland is a pretty casual place, which is one of the many reasons we love it here and one of the reasons that a good sneaker is a staple in any women's wardrobe. You can never go wrong with giving a fun pair of kick-around shoes, which is a staple for our Saturday brunch attire. Some of our favorite sneakers this fall have been the Teva Freewheel, Keen Arcata & Unstitched Utilities Hang Up Slip On.

Teva Freewheel - $75 (Suede, Colors: black, chocolate & port royal)

Keen Arcata - $75 (Leather, Colors: black/grey & madder brown)

Unstitched Utilities

Hang Up Slip On - $55 (Made of Tyvek - waterproof/vegan, Colors: Pale Blue, Black & Orange)

Teva Freewheel, Keen Arcata & Unstitched Utilities Hang Up Slip On

4. Minimal (Barefoot) Shoes

Is your lady into the barefoot minimalist footwear movement or do you want her to be? If you said yes to either of these Pie is the place to do your holiday footwear shopping. We have a great selection of minimal shoes (including boots) for women from brands such as Vivobarefoot, LEMS Footwear (aka Leming, aka Stem), Merrell Barefoot collection, Vibram Fivefingers and New Balance. We have a little of everything from casual/dress to traditional athletic styles. Pictured below are three of our favorites.

Vivobarefoot Lucy Lite - $105 (Colors: Aubergine, Grey/Turquoise & Black - this style is vegan)

New Balance Minimus - $120 (Color: Grey/Raspberry - this style is vegan & water resistant)

Vibram FiveFingers Speed - $100 (Colors: Blue/White & Grape/Grey - this style is vegan)

Vivobarefoot Lucy Lite, NB Minimus & Vibram FiveFingers Speed

5. TOMS Shoes

TOMS shoes is the gift that keeps on giving. For every pair of TOMS shoes purchased TOMS gives a pair of shoes to a child in need as part of their One-for-One program. To date TOMS has given over 1 million shoes away. That's a lot of kids with happy feet. TOMS is mostly know for the Classic, their original slip on style, but now they have expanded their line to include wedges, wedge booties, lace up sneakers & boots and ballet flats. 

TOMS Wedge: $92 (Color: Black Suede)

TOMS Cord Classic: $54 (Color: Plum)

TOMS Earthwise Metallic: $54 (Color: Gold Metallic - this style is vegan)

TOMS Wedge Bootie & Classics

Still feeling nervous about buying shoes for the women on your list? Let us help your special someone pick out the perfect pair of shoes with a gift certificate. You can pick up a gift certificate in store or give us a call (503.288.1999) and we will mail one out to you.

Happy Shopping!

Pie Footwear Gift Certificates rock!

Next week: Gift Guide #3 a guide to Men's shoes.