Weird Shoes You Won't Believe People Wear

Most of us don’t realize how weird shoes can be. Here are some of the craziest shoes ever made!

June 21, 2023・

11 min read

While we all know there are some expensive shoes out there, most of us don’t realize how bizarre the world of shoes can be. But one quick look around the Virtual Shoe Museum changes all that. Let's take a look at 40 contenders for the craziest shoe ever made!

Nike Air Max 90 Burger

In 2008, Nike commissioned seven people to reinterpret an iconic piece of sportswear. This was Swedish designer Olle Hemmendorff’s take on the classic Air Max 90.

When asked why he chose to make his shoe look like a Big Mac, the artist said: “in the tradition of material innovation of AM 90, I constructed a running shoe using the most powerful, most durable, and most delicious material known to man: the hamburger.”

Cheer Bear Pumps

Some people make a living designing weird shoes. Kayla Stojek, the owner of Zombie Peepshow, is one of them. She’s also the mind behind these shoes.

These platform heels feature lace trim, a faux fur heel, and a custom-made scene in the acrylic heel. Though each of these scenes is custom-made, all of them contain a rainbow, some fluffy clouds, and a dash of glitter.

Goldfish Disco Heels

Common in the Disco era, these fish tank shoes are making a comeback. Once only purchasable in back alley boutiques, variations of these aquarium-ready shoes can now be purchased online. As animal cruelty laws have come a long way since the 1970s, real goldfish have been replaced with fake ones. But, they’re still pretty eye-catching.

Footception Sneakers

Created by a 22-year-old named Giorgio, these concept shoes look like they deserve a spot in Pennywise’s closet. If you want a pair of your own, however, you’re out of luck. This is just a one-off concept piece. Still, with shoes like the Vibram FiveFingers on the market, it won’t be long before Christian Louboutin rolls out his take on this design.

Tokyo LED Shoes

Developed as a concept piece for a photo album, these shoes are the definition of lit.

Even if those kicks can’t be bought on store shelves, you can pick up smart footwear like the Orphe. Showcasing eight different colors of programmable LEDs, these trainers are like your own personal rave machine.

Total Knock Out

While all evidence points to this boxing glove-inspired pair of shoes being a Photoshop job, it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a pair out there somewhere. It looks like Bobo the Clown has finally gone off the deep end.

Tarantula Pumps

Remember those goldfish pumps? Well, people used to stuff all sorts of things in those platform shoes. While most people fill them with things like rhinestones and plush toys, others prefer to shove tarantulas in there.

Goose Boots

Much like Kayla Stojek, Costa Magarakis makes his living selling and designing strange shoes. Many of his designs are inspired by a strange mixture of his home city, Alice in Wonderland, and fairytales. This particular piece is inspired by the Mother Goose story and perfectly showcases the designer’s dark-minded whimsy.

If this is how he expresses his inner self, I’ve got exactly zero desire to meet him in a dark alley. Or anywhere else for that matter, especially if he's wearing the scorpion boots below.

Abacus Heels

Most people don’t want toddlers playing with their shoes. These ones were designed to attract them. Designed by Marjolein Stormezand, these Abacus-studded shoes would be perfect for the Pied Piper; For anyone else, they’re a hospital visit waiting to happen.

Candelabra Heels

Titled Transylvania by their creator, this pair of shoes comes to us courtesy of our good friend Kayla Stojec. They feature a dark vinyl finish, highly-detailed skulls, and a pair of light-up candelabras. For all you vampire wannabes, these shoes are a must-have.

Literal Moleskin Slippers

The average mole-catcher captures approximately 500 moles a day. Instead of being used for something worthwhile, the rodent’s corpses are usually thrown away. Created as part of project UNDERDOGMA, this pair of moleskin slippers was designed to poke fun at this poor use of resources.

Baby’s First Fursona

Created by Carrie John, these heelless knee-high boots come covered in a layer of two-toned faux fur. While the pair above was designed to be a hyper-realistic representation of a grey wolf, she’s more than willing to design a pair that’s right for you.

Madonna Heels

While Kayla Stojec and Magarakis are living comfortably, there’s one odd-shoe designer who’s living like a king: Levi Kobi. Though his designs seek to combine everyday items with high fashion, they’re certainly out of the average person’s reach. This pair of Madonna-inspired heels, for example, will run you just over 3000 dollars.

The Cross-Dressing Carpenter’s Wet Dream

At $1400, this Korbi piece is one of his cheaper ones. Inspired by the artistic process, these sandals feature a wooden beam-inspired upper and saw blade heel.

Bicycle Heels

Another incredible shoe from Korbi is this British bike-inspired high-heel that is yours for $1,300. According to the website, it has a metallic feel to it due to its bicycle-chair heel, a Union Jack T-strap, and a chain-inspired ankle strap.

Wire Shoes

Created by wire sculptor Polly Verity, these shoes are a part of her quest to depict real-life objects in wireframes. Sorry Saw fans, it's not yet another demented task from the film series.

Welcome to Jurassic Pumps

Girls love dinosaurs too. At least, that seems to be what Kayla Stojec is betting on with this design. Every one of these dinosaur heels features a hand-painted T-rex statue, metallic highlights, and randomly arrayed spikes of stainless steel.

Leatherface’s Gift to His Wife

As she’s such a big fan of horror movies, I’d be surprised if Kayla’s catalog didn’t include a chainsaw heel. Using a mixture of sculpted latex, faux bone, and careful carving, the Queen of Weird Shoes created the following masterpiece.

Armadillo Boots

Alexander McQueen developed this 30 cm high ‘Armadillo’ boot in 2010. Inspired by the idea of Atlantis, he imagined fashion in a world where everyone was forced to live underwater. Never commercially produced, each one of these boots was carved from wood and featured four custom-length zippers.

Fish Flops

These fishy flip-flops can be bought for affordable prices in grey, green, or hot pink. Lightweight and super comfortable, these slip-ons are perfect for showering, swimming, and embarrassing your relatives next time you take a trip to the beach. In fact, I bought a pair and reviewed it for our article about strange wish products.

Beats by Nike

The following line of shoes by Dada comes with a wireless MP3 in the heel and a Bluetooth-enabled tongue. Able to store roughly 100 songs, these Back to the Future throwbacks pair easily with most wireless headsets. For all you old-school kids out there, there’s a CD-ROM player.

Release the Kraken

Filipino shoe designer Kermit Tesoro's eccentricity is apparent in this Kraken-based design. When asked to explain the rationale behind his work Tesoro said: “A fashion interpretation of the biological or psychological deviation of a person.” But, honestly, we’ve all seen enough hentai to know what’s really going on.

Fairyland Platform Shoes

Though this design has been discontinued, these crazy shoes once gave everyone the chance to have a Smurf Village close at hand (well, heel). Every one of these Zombie Peepshow exclusives featured a custom-made fairy-garden scene with moss, trees, and figures.

Cannibal Clogs

Don’t worry, these shoes aren’t a serial killer’s trophy. They’re just conceptual sculptures created by Fantich & Young. Based in east London, this studio was looking for a way to address the parallels between social evolution and natural selection. Honestly, I’m just glad to know what the Tooth Fairy does with all those dang teeth.

R2-Dayum-2

Looks like Kayla Stojec’s a sci-fi fan. Every one of these R2-D2 pumps is hand painted and equipped with its own set of LEDs. If you’re looking to own a pair, however, they’re no longer in production. Good luck finding them on eBay!

These Shoes Don’t Blow

Another eccentric Kobi Levi creation, this design - the Blow - is one of two designed to highlight the close association high heels have with eroticism. If you've got an eye for the details, you'll see the blow-up valve at the back of the heel nodding to the kinky theme.

Cardboard Sneakers

While not practical, cardboard shoes have been making the rounds for a while. Easy and cheap to make, a few DIYers have been using their paper-folding skills to create name-brand knockoffs like this one. So, go ahead and express your inner tree-hugger. Just don’t go singing in the rain about it.

Oriental High Heels

Created by Nguyen Ngoc Thanh in 2015, these dragon-inspired shoes would be perfect for a Bond Villain. While its combination of red, blue, and silver is classic oriental, its curvy silhouette is definitely unique. As it uses real gemstones, these high-end heels are probably out of your price range.

Foam Shoes

Christopher Kane, the guy behind the Crocs craze, is at it again. After he made a ton of money selling one-thousand-dollar shoes made from kitchen sponges, designers have been trying to imitate him. The pair of shoes below is just one of these copycats.

Bibbiti Bobbity Heels

While I couldn’t find much on the origins of these shoes, they definitely deserve a spot. Judging by their surroundings, it's likely they're on display at a museum. As to the designer, I’m guessing it was a fairy godmother that got tired of lugging around pumpkins.

Grass Flip Flops

Grass flip-flops like these let you experience the feeling of walking on real grass without all the bugs. Designed by Quinn Canera and his mom for a class project, this odd piece of footwear received enough fanfare to convince them to manufacture them en masse.

Cobra Boots

It didn’t take me long to figure out why I couldn’t find the designers of these shoes: they probably died making them. Featuring real cobra heads, these snakeskin boots are ideal for Indiana Jones villains and Cobra Commanders.

Hoof Heels

Creating one of these hoofed stilettos takes designer Iris Schieferstein months of work. Before anything can be done, the meat must be stripped away from the animal’s foot and the leftovers sent to the tanner.

When asked why she chose to use horse hooves, Iris explained, “I love horses and I love shoes, so I thought this would be perfect. Horses have a beautiful walk and I wanted to recreate that with my footwear.” Why the gun? Possibly because it looks cool.

Beer and Fish Tank Shoe

These disco-ready platform heels are in a similar vein to the ones showcased above. Unlike those ones, however, these are filled with beer. While the fish inside is 100 percent fake, these strange shoes are still great for jumpstarting a conversation.

High Tide Heels

Created by Paul Schietekat in 2006, these shoes are what happens when flippers and high heels love each other a little too much. Known as High-Tide Heels, these avant-garde pieces would be great for fashionistas who hate changing shoes every time they take a dip. Unfortunately, there aren't any plans for commercial production.

Shopping Cart Shoes

Maybe a commentary piece on shopping cart consumerism? While it’s hard to tell what the designer was going for, these shoes definitely belong on this list. And, if they are half as uncomfortable as I suspect, the people wearing them will belong in the emergency room.

Hitting the Nail on the Heel

I’m pretty sure magicians make a living avoiding situations like this. Looking like a carpentry project gone wrong, this pair of ‘shoes’ is nothing more than a chain and a filed-down nail. As there is little information available about the designer, I’m hoping it’s just a Photoshop job. Otherwise, that footwear model made that nail disappear right into her foot.

Banana Slippers

Most of us look at a banana and see a fruit. Levi Kobi sees a slipper. By emulating the gentle curve of a banana in this design, he hoped to create an elegant, effortless piece. And, at just $1400, this thing is a steal!

Lego Shoes

If there was a 10th circle in hell, its inhabitants would be sentenced to live in an endless sea of LEGOs. As anyone who’s stepped on one knows, those things hurt like the dickens. So, someone decided to channel that fear into shoe design. The result? These super stylish high heels. Good luck matching those with an outfit!

I hope you were amazed at these weird-looking shoes you won't believe people wear. And, as always, thanks for reading!