Fashion Friday: TOMS Shoes. One for One.

Don’t say that you want to give,

but go ahead and give!

You’ll never catch up with a mere hope.

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A lot of companies donate money to various causes. And that’s cool and all. I appreciate the gesture and given the choice, all other things being equal, of course I’ll go with the company that will contribute to a cause I support.

TOMS is so beyond that. With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. I love, love, love this. Love that the giving is tangible. Love that if you go to the website you can see video footage of HQ. This is everything I want in a company: a spirit of giving, transparency, employees who believe in their work. It’s just lovely, all of it.

AND, the shoes are beyond cute. I’ve already mentioned that I love the Cranberry Canvas Women’s Wedges. (I love to look at it in cranberry, anyway. Knowing how I am I’d have to buy it in black or “ash”-gray.)

I am all over these Slate Wool Women’s Cordones .

I have one baby niece, and I’m about to become an aunt to a second niece, and you KNOW they need Pink Glitter Tiny TOMS. Oh my god. Party at the disco.

Bonus! Shop Tiny TOMS & save $5 Using Promotional Code: “KIDS5”

Double bonus! TOMS is closing in on giving away its ONE MILLIONTH PAIR of shoes. They’ve been running a sweeps where you can enter for your chance to attend the Millionth Shoe Drop in Argentina. Can you imagine how inspiring, humbling that would be?

Bummer, I only just discovered this; the sweeps ends Sunday, August 29. You enter by using Gowalla (you can also win TOMS shoes or an AT&T netbook or smartphone), or by designing your own virtual pair of TOMS (this is fun). Quick quick! Go ahead and enter now!

Full disclosure: I haven’t purchased a pair of TOMS yet, as the sneaks I do have are still functional. But I am very likely to crack on those wedges, I do need dress shoes that are wearable. Has anyone else tried them? Can you speak to comfort and whether they run true to size? I know they have a 100% Happiness Guarantee but I would still like to order the correct size the first time.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you click through and buy a pair of shoes, not only will one pair go to a child in need, but I will be a few dollars closer to a macro lens. Win-win-win!