Item: River Island High-Top Hidden Heel Sneakers in Red, American Apparel Striped Calf-High Socks
Appearance: Asylum of the Daleks
Combined with: Custom-Made Red Dress, Fox Run Stainless Steel Magic Whisk, Storm Junior 1991 Watch, Hi-Tek Designs London Alexander Modified Belt
I’m going to review both items in one go because I don’t really want to make an extra entry just for a pair of socks. But let’s start with the River Island sneakers:
Oswin Oswald’s Red River Island High-Top Hidden Heel Sneakers
The shoes are actually what made me get started on the Oswin cosplay in the first place. I have this silly idea of maybe one day being able to cosplay all of Clara’s outfits, including her echoes, but Oswin was never really a priority for me. Until I saw her shoes on Vinted.
I only later learned that I was very lucky to spot them because other cosplayers needed up to a year to find them and I must say that I haven’t really come across another pair ever since I bought them even though I’ve been keeping an eye out for other cosplayers. So these shoes are probably a little higher up on the rarity scale, but I have seen them around, so they’re not an entirely lost cause.
My regular shoe size is a UK 4.5 (I wear a 5 in most Clara shoes) and my initial thought was to trade my UK8 shoes for a smaller size. However, when they arrived I realized that even though they were roomy, they fit me quite nicely. The high top is very snug (but sooooooooooft) and can be laced to your needs, so it doesn’t really bother me that my toes have room. I’m certainly not going to lose them. In fact, I was surprised that they didn’t quite have as much room as I had expected, so I’m assuming the shoes run small. If you can only find them in a size bigger than what you usually wear, I’d suggest buying them anyway because the fit of the shoe, in general, is quite tight (but soooooooft).
Another thing that surprised me was how comfortable they are. I’m actually tempted to cosplay Oswin at the next convention just because the idea of having these as con shoes is a really nice one. When I was taking cosplay photos with them, I didn’t really want to take them off at all.
So if you can find these, consider yourself lucky because if it’s your intention to wear them at a convention, you just won the comfort lottery. As for the price, I would say anything between £10 and £25 is alright, depending on the state of the shoes in question. Good alternatives are also available for these shoes, for example, a pair of red Chucks or any red sneakers.
Oswin Oswald’s American Apparel Striped Calf-High Socks
I was also quite lucky to find the SA socks to go with the cosplay. I was mainly just browsing Vinted on a whim, thinking “Let’s see if someone’s selling socks” and I ended up finding them. I don’t think the SA socks are actually necessary to complete the outfit, any striped socks will do and I don’t know if another Clara was mad enough to buy them. My seller couldn’t remember what size they were, so I can’t tell you if they run big or small. Basically, all you need to know about them is that they’re stripey and go on your feet. Don’t go hunting for the SA socks, guys, any with stripes will do
