Simple Tweaks: How To Repaint Shoe Hardware

Every now and then I fall in love with a certain shoe only to find out something needs to change on it to appeal to my taste and style.  Usually the reason is because the hardware on the shoe is an ugly gold or cheap looking brass.  Obviously I'm not going to attempt to change out the hardware, but after much trial and error in painting materials over the last few years I have found a very cheap and sure-fire method to change those metals into my preferred silver.  How, you ask?  Simple.  Nail polish.

Take this bootie, "Sari" from Paper Fox.  I loved these shoes until they arrived.  The photo makes the gold look considerably better than it does in person.  It's a really brassy bright gold which I despise.  I found a bottle of Sinful's "Heavy Metal" which is a somewhat matte silver with some super-fine glitter in it.  Granted, I am an artist, so the painting part of this is a bit easier for me.  However, I spent time here and there over a couple of days building up coats on the buckle and the grommets to cover up the gold.

Here's what they look like now:

Another pair that I painted was "Elisabeth" from ShoeDazzle.  It was the heel this time that made me crazy - this too was a TACKY bright gold.  I used the same nail polish mentioned above to paint the heel because the shoes have a glitter effect to them.

The after photo, and I think the repainted heel matches the shoe better too:

The things I would recommend for a successful shoe hardware repaint would be the following:

1. Look for polishes that have more of a matte finish.  They're more forgiving if you don't feel you have a steady hand. 2. Take your time in painting, even possibly investing in tiny brushes from a craft store.  Nail polish doesn't easily come off of areas you don't want it to be on, so be careful. 3. I've used paper (standard printer paper) as painters tape, wrapping it around the shoes and securing the paper with tape only on the bottom sole when this method is needed.  This way no sticky residue stays on your shoes. 4. I usually do about 3 coats for full coverage. 5. Make sure to leave a couple of hours in between coats and/or areas that touch (such as buckles) to make sure they dry completely. 6. This also works for things such as a chip on a colored stud, or an area of hardware that unfortunately wasn't fully painted.  I've used this method for both - the key is to make sure the polish matches as closely as possible, and to only build up paint on the area which isn't painted.

Good luck with your shoes, and happy painting!