Top left photo thanks to Viva Luxury.

DIY Gucci Victoire Buckle Sandals

1. Gather your materials…
– Steve Madden heels $80 – just found these for $35
– Two identical belts that match your shoes in fabric and color. Mine are from Forever 21- Buy here. $5.80 each – make sure to buy TWO!
– An anvil & setting tool plus dome rivets in multiple lengths and sizes- I recommend this beginners set which includes everything you need.
– A Leather punch $8
– A Rubber Mallot $4
– Scissors (not pictured)

WATCH THIS VIDEO BEFORE YOU START…..

2. Slide the ankle straps out from the shoes and cut the threads of the loop on the back of the shoes removing the loop completely. You actually don’t have to be super careful because the new bigger loop will cover the area. Remove the Threads until it’s smooth.

3. & 4.  Cut off the entire elastic part of the belt. Trim around removing any excess elastic

5. Use a long handled lighter (so you don’t burn yourself) to carefully melt off any excess elastic from the belt.

6. Repeat on both belts and buckle the belts like the picture above on the loosest or second to loosest hole (if you are using the same belt as me from Forever 21.)

SIDE A: The side of the belt with holes.
SIDE B: The side of the belt with the buckle.

7 a.Measure what will be the buckle around your ankle by wrapping SIDE A over the top of SIDE B, you want it to be comfortably tight on the loosest / last or second to last hole- which ever lets the right amount stick out the back of the buckle loop when it’s done- you don’t want it to stick out too far. (If you measure it while it’s buckled on the tightest hole, a lot of the belt will stick out and look super weird and you’ll have to cut it off and have an unfinished edge or redo it and have a hole where you messed up.)

7b. Mark it, mine was easy because it was right at the edge of the flap that was folded over.

7c. After you’ve market the ankle strap, punch a hole that is just big enough for your rivet to go through- if the rivet is loose in the hole, it wont hold well- I used an adjustable hole punch and it was the second to smallest hole size on the punch. Just hold up the rivet to the leather punch and they should look about the same size.

8a. Lay the wide part of side of SIDE  A over where we just hole punched on SIDE B-  The tip of SIDE A should line right up to the stitching- just at the edge of the loop on SIDE B.  Punching through the hole we punched in SIDE B, finish the punch all the way through SIDE A.

8b. Feed the back side of the rivet through both SIDE A and SIDE B, it should only stick out a tiny bit. More on this in the video above…

9 -12. Secure the rivet (I highly suggest watching the video above for the know-how on riveting.)

13 – 15. Cut off the metal buckles from the original shoe ankle straps. Wrap the original ankle strap around the thickest part of the new strap you’ve created- you want to be able to slide the new ankle strap all the way in and out of the loop freely. The side where you cut the elastic part is more finished so make sure to use that side as the outside of the shoe. Measure, with your foot in the shoe, how much strap you need to hang over- place it on the back of the shoe and make sure it hits your ankle in the right spot and is comfortable – also make sure there is enough strap on the bottom of the loop to attach to the shoe with two small rivets about an inch, to three quarters of an inch. Mark the strap with a silver sharpie or by making a soft impression with the leather punch for the top rivet- keep in mind the size of the rivet head will be much larger than the hole punched. Punch the hole through both layers of the strap where you marked the top rivet. Cut off the remainder of the ankle strap, then cut slightly less of the bottom layer  so the unfinished edge doesn’t show.

16. Lay the other original strap on top of the strap we just hole punched shiny side to shiny side so the patent leather parts are both on the inside against each other. Punch through the hole we’ve already established and the new unpunched strap so the holes are mirroring each other and identical.

17 & 18. You may need a hand for the rest of the DIY (DIWAF… Do It With A Friend) lol… Take one of the new loops and again, measure with your foot in the shoe where to attach it- hold it still and remove your foot. Punch a hole through the holes in the strap all the way through the back of the shoe. Feed the rivet through- you may need a longer rivet- but make sure it only sticks through barely, (again, watch the video above!)

19. Attach another rivet below the first… Repeat on the other shoe try to align the holes and rivet placement so they are even.

**These loops curve will slightly, you can slide it down while you’re making the loops to where it gets straiter but then you’ll have an unfinished edge. I curved my straps in but you can choose for them to curve out if you prefer. (It’s not very noticeable either way.)

*** I realized  while wearing these that the excess from the SIDE B  straps were starting to creep down my ankle and look weird so I cut it off so it could still swivel slightly and move with my ankle- but it wouldn’t come out from behind the main ankle strap or show at all.

**** I also have worn these in Vegas by now and they held up perfectly- if they were going to break, they would have there!

I hope you enjoyed this DIY, please let me know if you try it- tweet or instagram tag me and please don’t forget to pin it!! :)

With love from Hollywood,
Kier

* I added the second rivet on the back of the shoes after these photos were taken *

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