I know a guy who made his own thongs out of the treads of old tires and some simple straps. He said they were comfortable as hell and had lasted him like thirty years. I wonder if we can extend that to more complicated designs with creative, alternative, recycled materials (and corresponding methods of construction) to do something between that and the masterfully crafted boots in the OP.

Leather is obviously a very physically suitable material and has been used for millennia. But I’d like to come up with stuff that’s inexpensive, easy, and doable by folks without a lot of wealth, intensive years of practice, apprenticeship, etc. Who cares if they can’t be used to climb the highest mountains, withstand a monsoon, and last for a decade? If we can build it out of stuff you can find in your garage, a thrift or fabric store, and a recycle bin, and put a good few hours of work into making something that’ll protect you without being monstrously uncomfortable or otherwise destroying your feet, I’d be good with something that’d last a year or so (maybe even a few months) and be usable for walking down the street to the store. Then a pair of normal, commercial shoes could be worn for fancy and important stuff and would undergo less wear.