It started many years ago—I was at a wedding where the bride was wearing the most beautiful shoes beneath her flowing princess-style wedding gown. They weren’t 4-inch heeled pumps or sandals. They were sneakers covered with lace and rhinestones that perfectly accented her elegant gown. Now that, I thought, is not only adorable but so practical! This bride could go on dancing for hours in comfort and in style. Genius!
Some years later, a friend who has the most fun, spunky and whimsical personality, was getting married. To match her vibrant character, I decided to make her a pair of sneakers coated in a sequinned material that blazed with her favorite colors of deep purple and hot pink, accented of course with gold bling and matching shoelaces. To most, that would have been a sacrilege, to wear anything but pure white to adorn her perfect white gown. But let me tell you, her unique personality rocked those hot pink sneakers under the glamour of that perfect white dress with beams of color and sparkles radiating from the dance floor. After hours of leibedik dancing, she thanked me for everything, though I am positive that her feet were the most grateful of all.
More recently a dear friend, who is more like a sister, asked me to make a pair of shoes for her daughter for her bat mitzvah. With excitement, she told me of how much she wanted to dance and adamantly did NOT want the pain of wearing heels to come between her and enjoying her special day. I jumped on the project like those shoes were going straight to the runway. With a picture of the seafoam-green dress with gold leaf pattern in hand, I got busy designing, crafting and frankly, having way too much fun. A few jewels, some glitter and a lot of love later … Julianne’s shoes came to life. And so did the idea for creating Fit to be Tied Simcha Sneakers.
Over these past number of years, I have marveled at the popular trend of pairing sneakers, a once casual genre of footwear, together with the bling and glamour of a party dress. Those who know me, know full well that I have always had a thing for shoes. Standing at only 5 feet tall, I usually favor those with high heels and a platform; the higher the better. Never did I imagine that after all those pumps and stilettos, I would be obsessed with sneakers. But times and trends have changed … and they are way more fun than ever.
Since then, I have been designing and creating unique shoes for clients, be it for a bat mitzvahs, weddings, or just because I love envisioning what they have in their head and making that vision a reality for them. But what stands out to me most is watching their faces light up (possibly from the amount of sparkle on the shoes) as they open the box and imagine wearing their special footwear on their special day. Each design is one of a kind—handcrafted and custom designed for your outfit with colors, fabrics and embellishments that set off your own unique style and have you ready for the dance floor … or lawn as today’s simchas may have it.
Let Fit to be Tied set off a look that is definitively and absolutely—you. Your shoes can still dazzle without your feet paying the price. Call for design and pricing.
Tamara Levin: @tammylev_designs / [email protected], 917-533-9358.
By Tamara Levin
