Until I can afford to throw $900 on a pair of shoes, I suppose I'll make do with what I have, with a little creativity.
I got these silver sandals for a wedding for which I'm a bridesmaid. Not wanting to break the bank, I got some nondescript RSVP sandals from 6pm.com for very little. I was actually impressed with the quality - the soles are made out of leather, not rubber. They were, though, a bit ho-hum.
Enter: Garry's signature studded belt, which he's worn to death over the last 1.5 years. It finally fell apart and before he could throw it away, I confiscated it. I found the studs easy to remove with a screwdriver, and even simpler to apply to the straps of these sandals...they fit perfectly, like they were made for each other.
I definitely was not going for any specific pattern and eschewed symmetry in favor of a more "abstract expressionist" approach, just adding studs where they felt right. I'm pretty happy with the result, and they'll be a nice surprise peeking out from under my formal dress.