Time for a Walk With Stylish Cats in the Vans x ASPCA Authentic Kitty Cat Skate Shoes

Allow me to get a little cat lady philosophical on ya…

I think that if you’re going to wear something with a cat print on it, be it a dress or a pair of shoes like these Vans ASPCA tennies, for it to really work, the print, from far away, shouldn’t necessarily scream, “KITTIES!”

And then all of the cat ladies out there freak out, LOL!

Wait — hear me out. Before you start throwing Temptations Cat Treats at me, I think that when it comes to cat prints, there’s a fine line between adorably quirky and full-on crazy cat lady, and it’s a line that’s very easy to cross.

Granted, if you do want to go full-on crazy cat lady and rock kittehs

But for me, personally, if I'm going to wear a busy cat print, I don't necessarily want it to be incredibly obvious from far away. I want people to have to get up closer to me before they actually see the print and realize that I'm a CCL.

I don't want to give it all away at once, ya know? I like the mystery.

That's just one of the reasons I love these Vans x ASPCA Authentic Kitty Cat Skate Shoes ($55). From a few feet away (or the length of the average house cat from tail tip to nose), the shoes look like basic Vans, perhaps with a floral pattern...

But get up really close, and you see all the cats! Awww!

Yeah, these shoes are super cool. ‘Course, you may appreciate them more if you’re a cat lover, but even if you’re just tolerant of cats, they’re really quite practical for spring and summer.

Starting with the colors, since the cats on the print are in neutral shades, you can wear these shoes with a slew of different outfits. So far, I’ve worn them with dark skinny jeans and a white T-shirt, bright yellow shorts and a loose-fitting heather gray tank top, and even a fitted basic black James Perse jersey dress.

They pretty much go with any of the basics in my closet.

And the shoes themselves are also fairly comfortable. Typical Vans. I did have to break them in a little. The canvas was a little stiff at first but loosened up a bit after a couple of walks.

If you plan to wear them without socks, it might help to have a couple Band-Aids around the first few times you wear them. I do that sometimes when I’m breaking in new shoes. I put Band-Aids on the back of my ankles where the stiff canvas touches my skin. That helps a lot.

I ordered a women’s size 7, which runs a little large. I usually wear a 7, and with these, I have about a half an inch of extra wiggle room in the toe area.

I don’t mind because I don’t like my toes to feel cramped, and with them fitting slightly large, I can also wear them with really thick running socks for extra comfort (have you ever tried Thorlo’s? One word: awesome!).

Being flats, I can wear these comfortably all day, but I’m actually thinking about adding extra arch inserts, since the arches in these shoes are nonexistent.

If you aren’t a cat lady — gasp! — there are also ASPCA themed Vans for dog lovers, too, including slip-ons and high-tops ($55 and $65 respectively) with a dog print collage in similarly neutral colors.

I wondered if any proceeds from the sale of the shoes gets passed on to the ASPCA, so I sent Vans a tweet earlier today to ask.

It would be nice to know if buying the shoes helped a kitty or two.

They actually replied! Vans said that they gave a lump sum donation to the ASPCA.

Cool. And on top of everything else, the shoes raise awareness for the ASPCA and the many great things they do.

Bottom line, I love the shoes! And Tabs likes ‘em too.

You can find the Vans ASPCA shoes at Journey stores, and also online at vans.com, journeys.com and zappos.com.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen