Finding the right footwear for costumes – especially superhero ones – can be challenging. Whether it’s struggling with thigh-high boots or figuring out strappy sandals, it’s easy to lose a lot of time and money on shoes. While I will sometimes opt for cosplaying characters with long dresses that cover up shoes, that’s lazy. Superhero Costuming forum user DJ Spider was working on a Valkyrie costume and had to figure out how to make the criss-cross strap ballet shoes the character once wore. She used a pair of black flats, elastic, and strips of black spandex:

The first thing you need to know is that the straps are not attached to the shoes, as I found the movement of the shoe always put stress on the straps, so I said screw it. Instead, there’s a loop of spandex under my foot. It still looks attached, but isn’t! This way the straps could exist as a separate contraption from the shoes (which I like on their own and wear regularly anyway).

Then I made two bands with elastic, and covered them with black spandex. The one at my ankle actually has a snap on the back, but the one at the top of my calf is just a band that slides up, tight enough to stay put without cutting off the circulation

After that, I used two strips of spandex to criss-cross around my legs, and I connected them to the bands. Depending on how you criss-cross them, you may be able to let them stay as is, but for my thick calves (I’m a lot of girl to hold up!), I ended up attaching the bands together where they crossed on the side, and making thepieces along the back a flatter line (seen on my back leg in the picture).

Unless you have a cast of your leg that you can use, you’ll have to do what I did and place the straps on while you’re wearing them. Use pins to keep everything in place and then sew it down when you slide it off. Walk around a little in them in bare feet, up and down stairs, just to make sure there aren’t any stress points you missed.

The finished cosplay:

Read more at The Superhero Costuming Forum.

Costume photo by Wage War