Though I haven’t written about it in months, I am still avoiding buying goods from China. I’ve done a decent job (except for auto parts, where I failed entirely) by simply buying our clothes used or from a non-sweatshop vendor, buying food either fresh at the farmer’s market or clearly labeled, and choosing gifts that are homemade in the US. And now I’m looking for shoes.

Shoes are a bit of a problem in that most shoes under $50 are made in China, and even many more expensive “green” brands are also made in China (I’m looking at you, Keen Shoes, greatest disappointment). I don’t have any urge to buy shoes used (possibly because I worked in a shoe store), so I’ve been poking around. I found The Vegan Store shoes and Union House via Scott in his post Made in America. Scott also writes about New Balance, which has some shoes made in the USA (here are the women’s New Balance shoes made in the USA via Zappos). I also found B.A. Mason shoes, which also makes shoes in the U.S.,  TicTacToes, which makes dance and organist (!) shoes in the U.S., Shoes USA, which sells heels exclusively and really I can’t imagine wearing any of these for long, Sbicca and Jack Rogers, both of which makes sandals, and Munro, Ana-Tech, and Famolare, which come the closest to selling something I would wear. 

Also, as you shoe shop on-line, note that Zappos has a Made in the USA filter with women’s casual shoes (but I’m just not into these shoes, which are just all kinds of weird) and that Sierra Trading Post lists the origin of all products that they sell.

Any other ideas? I’m also open to shoes made in Western European countries with enforced labor laws, like say Dansko, which makes shoes in Portugual or Blackspot Sneakers from Adbusters (also made in Portugual). So any ideas on brands?