But where can you get shoes that are uniquely you? There are a few places on the web that have great little programs that allow you to design custom shoes, – make them as individual as you are – and buy them! Now, I know MakeUseOf is intended to feature free applications and websites and such. However, I could argue that the ability to design shoes online is free, it’s just the getting the shoe part that costs.

Zazzle

Zazzle makes me jealous. You can design your own custom Keds shoes there with practically any design you can think of. Upload a piece of artwork and apply it to the shoe.

How about a picture of your dog for your dog-walking shoes? Make shoes for each day of the week. Maybe make ‘left’ and ‘right’ shoes for your kids? The possibilities are definitely endless. Well, not completely endless. They don’t have a men’s shoe. I suppose a fellow could buy a women’s slip-on and wear that, since they are pretty unisex looking. However, it seems that women’s shoes are typically much more narrow and pointed than men’s shoes.

When you start designing your shoe, you are shown what areas you can customize.

Clicking on each colour box gives you a variety of preset colours and patterns to choose from.

I’ve always liked red polka dots, but they just weren’t conducive to this design. So I moved on the area where you can add images to the shoe.

As you can see, there are many options here to help you work with your image. Probably the most important thing to remember is to choose your shoe size first. The images will show differently on different shoe sizes. As you add images to the shoe, the demo of the shoe is instantly updated, so you’ll have a good idea what to expect as you go along.

Check out these sweet kicks I designed. No brown-nosing here….

These beauties could be yours for the low Internet price of $79.25 plus applicable taxes. We’re not seriously selling these though….are we?

Custom Keds from Zazzle could be used for fund-raising as you can sell your design through Zazzle (I’ve seen some breast-cancer themed ones). Or you could just buy a few pairs to wear for awareness campaigns like the yellow ribbon,  or even as incentives for employees. (Hint, hint, editors!)

NIKEiD

I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be pronounced Nike ID, because when I tried to say it as a word it sounded too much like nekkid. Brought to you by marketing legend Nike shoes, this is an extensive web application to design not only your own Nike shoes, but clothing and accessories as well. The pricing is very competitive with factory designed shoes as well.

I’m going to design some shoes for my son, who is seven. I’ve chosen the Nike Air Tiempo Rival Premium iD Shoe (Barcelona) Kids’. Okay, they could come up with shorter names. You have to be in shape just to say that in one breath!

What I’m going to do with it is apply colours that mimic the jerseys of the Edmonton Oilers – my favourite NHL team. Mind you, it’s not my son’s favourite team, but I’m not really buying him these shoes anyway.

At the point where you start working on the design, you are given a great number of options: colours, materials, logo’s, custom text and mascots. Check out some of the screen shots from the design environment below.

Here’s the finished project. Not bad if I say so myself! With a tag of $100, it’s not ridiculously expensive either. If he was done growing, I might think about buying them.

Know of any other places on the web to design custom shoes online? Have any experience ordering shoes like these? We would love to hear about them in the comments below.

Image Credit : Su-Chan

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 9 Sites With The Latest Fashion Trends For Fashion Maniacs (8)
• Where To Buy Cool T-Shirts Online (42)
• How To Score Money With T-Shirt Designs (9)
• Design An Open Source T-Shirt With Mozilla (1)
• 8 Swag Stores From The Biggest Web Brands (7)

Ever popular is a witty, well designed graphic shirt. Although there is no shortage of T-shirts in any mall or road-side shop, for some people, "Hollister" splashed across their chests just does not cut it.

Threadless

Threadless is the long time champion of graphic tees. All designed by Threadless’s users, the t-shirts come from such a large pool of talent that there is no end to the diversity of style in Threadless’s shop.

Shipping within the US is reasonably priced at $5.00 an order. International shipping, however, may be much pricier, since the company is located in the States.

The average shirt is around $15.00, which is about what one would expect to pay in a department store, but if you scope out Threadless’s many sales, you can often find $8.00, and $12.00 shirts.

Simon previously covered Threadless here.

Woot Shirts

Although Woot Shirts only sells one shirt a day, the shirts that they do sell are truly gems. The great thing about Woot Shirts is that when you do find you like, it will only cost you $10.00. Standard shipping in the US is free, and international or overnight shipping are both only $5.00. Their designs also come from public submissions, and narrowed down through contests, so you can be sure that you’re getting the cream of the crop.

Ken previously covered Woot here.

Allmightys

If you don’t mind shelling out a bit more to reduce the chance that someone else owns/wears/looks better than you in your shirt, Allmighty’s also has a great stock of well designed graphic Tshirts. Shirts are 21 Euros each, and shipping is free with a purchase of at least 70 Euros.

Perhaps you are less interested in buying more clothing than figuring out how to rock what you DO have. Here, you have two choices. You can vamp up your boring Tshirts with some interesting DIY, or you can draw upon the fashion sense of others and find yourself some inspiration to pattern your own wardrobe after.

Craftster

Craftster is one of the best resources for anyone who is interested in DIY-ing anything. Clothing construction and reconstruction is only one of the countless topics they cover. There are a slew of tutorials and patterns of the latest fashion trends available, and hundreds of users online daily to answer any questions you may have.

Craftster is also great for discovering the latest fashion of subcultures like Steampunk and Punk. Although some of the creations featured on Craftster are above the skill level of what an average person can achieve, simply browsing the stunning pictures of others’ work is inspirational.

Fashion Toast

Fashion Toast is a great example of how one can use the latest fashion to inspire a legion of avid followers. Each blog post includes pictures of the gorgeous blogger/model "Rumi", who meticulously constructs and photographs each of her outfits. Although most people probably won’t be able to afford the same kind of clothing that Rumi swathes herself in, her fashion sense is impeccable, and a great source of inspiration for anyone who wants to take fashion advice from a model.

LookBook

LookBook is a great website where users can post their own looks, and outfits are ranked Digg-style. The most popular ones make the front page, while the less well received ones are pushed down. Because this website is based on the opinions of many users rather than one single blogger, you can be sure that when you pull your own version of an outfit inspired by LookBook, you will definitely be dressing to please.

Or, perhaps, influence from those around you is no longer enough to stimulate your imagination. In that case, there are many other cities in the world with well dressed people, and plenty of sites that chronicle the latest street fashion in different parts of the world.

The Sartorialist

The Sartoralist came in second in the 2008 Webblog Awards for the Best Fashion Blog, and placed well for a very good reason. Each post contains beautifully photographed pictures of people on the streets in every part of the most glamorous parts of the world – Milan, Paris, and Brooklyn, just to name a few. Since most fashion webblogs are aimed at a largely female readership, it is refreshing to see a blog that also covers the other half of the fashion spectrum, and in such elegance.

Street Peeper

The great thing about Street Peeper is that it isn’t focused just on the well known fashion centers of the world. It also covers less expected cities such as Buenos Aires, Jakarta, and Warsaw, which gives the site a truly cosmopolitain feel. Further, the site not only shows you a picture of an outfit, but also lists, to the best of the poster’s knowledge, the line and style of each element in the outfit.

Even though there are many great examples of what to wear floating around on the net, some people learn better by seeing fashion oops photos featuring what NOT to wear.

Go Fug Yourself

Remember when I said that The Sartorialist placed second in the 2008 Webblog Awards for Best Fashion Blog? Well, Go Fug Yourself placed first. Each picture of a celeb dressed in a hideous "fashion oops" outfit is accompanied by sarcastic and humorous comments, which makes Go Fug Yourself well worth the read, if not just for the commentary. It’s also a nice reminder that yes, celebs are just like the rest of us- they dress horribly sometimes too.

Prior to doing my research for this article, I had forgotten just how much I love fashion and its many quirks. However, writing this article reminded me of just how intriguing and multifaceted the world of fashion can be. Hopefully a few of the websites I mentioned above will spark your interest and capture your inspiration, like they have mine.

What are your favorite sites for keeping up with the latest trends? Do you happen to DIY yourself, or run your own fashion blog? Leave us a comment, and tell us all about it!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Where To Buy Cool T-Shirts Online (42)
• How To Score Money With T-Shirt Designs (9)
• Design Your Own Custom Shoes Online & Buy Them (7)
• Design An Open Source T-Shirt With Mozilla (1)
• 8 Swag Stores From The Biggest Web Brands (7)

How cute.

Anybody can be a Trekker, wannabe Jedi, or gamer. Why not prove yourself to be a fashionable geek with some genuine stuff from some of your favorite Internet companies? Let’s look at some examples.

The Digg Shop

The Digg Shop has shirts, hats and hoodies from your favorite social news site, and you need not be MrBabyMan to appreciate that. When sitting down to watch this week’s Diggnation, why not crack open and enjoy a cold beverage with this pint glass and bottle-opener combo?

The Reddit Store

If you’re not down with Digging and Reddit’s more your thing, I haven’t forgot about you. The Reddit Store has nice, stylish tee-shirts and offers free shipping. How could you resist this uber-cute onesie for your little Redditor? It has karma points written all over it.

The Google Store

Google remains the top brand on the Web according to Nielsen Online, and the Google Store boasts worldwide distribution of many fun and/or practical items, some of them earth-friendly, such as lip balm, recycled notebooks, Blogger beanies, YouTube hoodies, lava lamps, bike jerseys, and yo-yos. Unfortunately, Google Gulp is still in limited-release beta.

Yahoo! Company Store

Yahoo! isn’t far behind in Neilsen’s ranking. The Yahoo! Company Store sells lots of knick-knacks, lots of pet-toys, and lots of… purple.

The Microsoft Store

If you’re looking for Microsoft programs and operating systems to purchase, the Microsoft Store has what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for Microsoft-related merchandise, such as shirts, mugs etc., you’re better off checking eBay because I couldn’t find a Microsoft company store besides the one at the company’s Visitors’ Center in Redmond. Oddly, Microsoft doesn’t take orders on the Web.

Source: eBay

In fact, eBay may be one of the best places to find memorabilia from certain high-profile companies, including defunct companies, such as the above Webvan-branded pen or items featuring the former spokes-puppet for Pets.com. Just type your favorite company’s name in the search and you’ll likely find some rare stuff that the public usually can’t get.

The Mozilla Store

Free software fans, don’t feel left out. The Mozilla Store sells tee-shirts and accessories, as well as software CD bundles and extremely-cute Firefox plushies, the proceeds of which go to support the Mozilla Foundation. In keeping with the open-source spirit, Mozilla also has a community store with user-submitted designs.

The Winamp Store

The Winamp is one of the most popular media players around. The company has a swag store as well. You may buy T-Shirts, Mugs, Bumper Stickers, Mousepads, Posters and Stickers.

The Wikimedia Store

Finally, Wiki fans, you’re in luck. The Wikimedia Store on CafePress is open for business and naturally, user edits. Show your support for free and open culture by purchasing shirts, posters, mugs, mouse pads and messenger bags bearing the logos of your favorite Wikimedia projects.

I’ve only scratched the surface of the kinds of stuff that you can purchase from your favorite companies. Tell us your favorites that I may have left out. What’s the most unusual piece of “swag” you’ve ever received? Shout it out in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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So, Where To Buy T-shirts Online ?

Although MakeUseOf is usually centered around free things, you aren’t likely to get a free good looking T-shirt anytime soon. So, get ready to open up your wallet and spend a few bucks as we take a look at great places to buy T-shirts online.

1. ShirtsOnSale

Although this website doesn’t exactly sell T-shirts, it’s definitely the first place you want to go to when you begin buying T-shirts.

ShirtsOnSale is a blog that gathers information about daily T-shirt deals and provides you with a list of great coupons for T-shirt selling websites. Subscribe to its RSS feed and get updates about T-shirts being sold on Woot, Uneetee, Teefury, and Shirtaday. A great blog for those T-shirt lovers out there.

2. Woot Shirts

Shirt.woot is possibly one of the most popular places to get cheap limited time T-shirts. Each day, a shirt of the day is sold for $10 with no shipping fees. If you happen to miss a shirt when it was on sale, fear not; you can still get the shirt for $15 assuming the shirt is still in stock.

Many popular shirts are sold on Woot, and they have limited supplies. So, if you don’t hurry, your new favorite shirt is going to be sold to some creep down the street.

Shirt.woot also has a unique “contest” called the derby. Each Thursday a new theme is released, and Woot members can submit their own designs to the site. Other members vote on the designs, and the top three designs get turned into shirts and sold.

Woot Shirts also has a thing called the Day of Reckoning. Each Monday, the crew takes a look at the shirts being sold and they stop producing the shirts that haven’t been selling. Check out Woot everyday and get the coolest shirt around.

3. TeeFury

This website is very much like Shirt.woot, expect for one thing. Their slogan sums things up “TEE TODAY. GONE TOMORROW.” Be sure to check this website daily if you really want a unique one of a kind T-shirt. It’s a very simple site to look through. Basically, just check the website each day. If you like the shirt, you buy it. If you don’t, you buy it anyway so you don’t regret not buying it.

4. OneHorseShy

Over at OneHorseShy, you don’t have to worry about one T-shirt a day. They have a pretty large stock, and a huge variety of T-shirts to sell. Just browse around for a few hours and find something you like. You can browse the T-shirts by different themes, such as political, geeky, stupid, cool, social, Western, and Asian. The only bad thing about this website is that the T-shirts are a tad bit more expensive (~$20) than the ones from Shirt.Woot or TeeFury.

5. Busted Tees

I personally love the T-shirts over at Busted Tees, mainly because they’re pretty funny and also really simple. This website is very much like OneHorseShy, and so are the prices (though specially discounted T-shirts are cheaper). You can sort the T-shirts by categories, including TV, Internet, politics, wordplay, pop culture, and many more.

You can also buy a variety of hoodies if you’re not that into T-shirts. Busted Tees is just another place to get cool and funny T-shirts.

6. ThinkGeek

ThinkGeek. Every geek has heard of it. I’ll be very surprised if everyone hasn’t shopped there before. ThinkGeek is Geek culture at its best. It’s full of extremely geeky T-shirt designs that you’re all going to love. Categories range from generic geek, gaming, and pop culture to Japanese, IT, and Math. This is the best place to get T-shirts that non geeks will never understand. Get a shirt and show off your geeky side.

7. MySoti

MySoti is the place to buy, sell, and create your own T-shirt. If you’re a designer, you’re going to fall in love with how easily you can make money. Steps for creating your T-shirt are very simple.

A. Choose a product (canvas or T-shirt)
B. Upload your design (SVG or PNG)
C. Create and submit design

You can choose the price at which you sell your design, starting from the MySoti base price. Whenever a T-shirt sells, you will receive whatever markup you put on. For example, if the MySoti base price was $20, and you sell the T-shirt you created for $30, you will receive a profit of $10. Simple, isn’t it? If you want tips on creating a successful design, check out Simon’s post on T-shirt Designs.

Even if you’re not a designer, you can still benefit a lot from MySoti’s unique T-shirt designs. Go out and have fun making and buying shirts from MySoti.

There you have it. Those are my favorite places to get T-shirts for myself and friends. Do you get your shirts from somewhere else? Which T-shirt designs do you like most? Tell me about it in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 9 Sites With The Latest Fashion Trends For Fashion Maniacs (8)
• 8 Swag Stores From The Biggest Web Brands (7)
• How To Score Money With T-Shirt Designs (9)
• Design Your Own Custom Shoes Online & Buy Them (7)
• Design An Open Source T-Shirt With Mozilla (1)