Give me Birkenstocks without the “stocky” part

Posted by shoesense in Comfort Shoes, Donald J. Pliner Shoes, Marc Jacobs Shoes, Mephisto Shoes, Pedro Garcia Shoes, Sandals

For those of us with high arches, or sensitive feet, wearing flimsy-soled shoes in the heat of summer can often prove to be a painful experience. You may end up to feel every grind and bump in the road, and your arches may ache by the end of your trip. Fashion designers don’t really seem to care about these issues, as they know their target-market pretty well. Thus, as long as their footwear looks dainty and pretty, they know that the alternative is often Birkenstock, and Birkenstock wearers tend to (somewhat wisely) put comfort ahead of fashion–thus, they’re not their target clientele. Problem solved!

As you all know, I love my comfort as much as I love my fashion, and so I couldn’t help but wonder: isn’t there some compromise in between? Can’t I have my molded, anatomical footbed, and my fashion, too?

Turns that why, yes, I can! There are a variety of anatomically friendly sandals out there, which in addition to offering arch support, metatarsal support, and plenty of cushioning, are also quite easy on the eyes. Just let’s get one thing clear: dainty delicate things, they’re not, and they’re not meant to be. That doesn’t mean they’re not beautiful, though, and that they won’tt keep you comfy during the hot summer days.

Without further ado, here are some of my top choices:

Also available in a natural cork color, these Pedro Garcia thongs with crystal-encrusted suede uppers and molded footbed lined in metallic leather are on the pricey side ($375 at Neiman’s), but they will make you feel like a barefoot princess.

Alternately, these Donald J. Pliner toe-loop sandals will unleash the wild woman in you:

They are lined in the softest suede and are supremely comfortable. Neiman Marcus has them for $165, but you wanna know a secret? Endless has them currently on sale for $55, plus they give you free overnight shipping and pay YOU $5 if you order from them–so really, they would only be $50. Not only that, but they’re also available in a variety of attractive patent uppers (red, blue, and black) in addition to the Congo print (pictured). God, I love a good sale when I see one! I almost need to smoke a cigarette now, this one was so good.

I was of split mind about these Mephisto ‘Violette’ sandals, but on closer inspection, I think they pass the comfort-cum-style inspection:

….They’re also available in red or black, although red is my favorite, and they’re 140 at Shoes.com.

I’ve heard a lot of praise for Naot, though I can’t say I’ve tried them myself. However, I would wear these in a heartbeat:

They’re $118 at Shoes.com.

Finally, anything by Think! will be both well made and reasonably stylish. The footbed is molded and supportive and the upper sturdy and funky:

This ‘Mizzi with face’ style is available in a variety of colors is $155 at Nordstrom’s (and 10% at Zappos in certain colors).

I’m also favorably inclined towards these Marc Jacobs cute-and-comfy patchwork slides ($204 at Zappos):

So, if you want to give your feet a break (and you should, they’ve served you well all these years), wear a comfortable sandal several times a week, or whenever you get a chance, really. You don’t really have to compromise on style–and the only downside is that you’re going to get so used to the comfort you’ll never want to go back to the flimsy, delicate, strappy things that fashion dictated you to wear.

KD Says: I've worn 'em good old Birks since High School.. time to update my wardrobe with these sparkly finds!

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A Tale of BirkenWoe

Poor Shoesense...Apparently, Birkenstocks isn't so comfy anymore..tsk tsk...

Posted by shoesense

Girlfriends, I am MAD. I am boiling with righteous indignation. And it’s all caused by a pair of shoes. A pair of comfort shoes, to be precise. A pair of the PARAGON comfort shoes, to push that precision to its ultimate conclusion.

You’re right, I’m talking about BRIKENSTOCKS.

Let me back up a bit. When I first started shoeblogging (some two and a half years ago) I was all preoccupied with comfort AND style. I was trying to find the happy medium between 4″ stilettos and fugly Birkenstocks–which means neither end of the spectrum was a-ok by me. I’ve been documenting my search all these years, with some spectacular successes and failures along the way. But never, ever, would I have considered buying the stocky, ungainly Birks, the staple of Women Who Just Don’t Care Anymore, in my book.

Except… well… there was something about their molded footbed that seemed very alluring, especially with my foot condition (plantar fasciitis), which requires generous arch support for my high arches and a comfy heel cup. I do crave comfort, after all, and the brand takes pride in being “anatomically correct.” Everybody is wearing them, and even The New York Times covered their (unholy) appeal. Even Heidi Klum went ahead and bejeweled them and sold them for triple the price. And then I saw one of the Olsen twins in the Gizeh, one of their more popular styles. That kind of did it for me. The evidence was overwhelming and I started to crack. “Surely,” I mused, “I could use a pair of these to walk the doggie in the summertime.” I was obsessing over it and spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to find a style that was appealing to me. In the end, I settled on the same Gizeh, in yellow:

I had been feeling the love for the color yellow, so I felt extra-justified in getting these (Color! Gap! In! My! Shoe! Closet!), plus Sierra Trading Post had some super-duper sale in which these ended up to be 60% off the original price.

And so! Yesterday I took them out for a spin, so to speak–a 2-hr errand in which I walked for probably 1-1.5 miles and drove around for the rest of the time.

And I came home with BLISTERS.

Let me repeat that: my SUPER-COMFY-ANATOMICALLY-CORRECT OPEN-TOED, OPEN-HEELED BIRKENSTOCKS GAVE ME BLISTERS.

Where, you may wonder. Where could you POSSIBLY get blisters from a breezy thong.

Well, it’s not where you think–right between the toes. Nah. It’s in my soles, right underneath the balls of the feet.

Needless to say, I was schlepping pretty badly by the end of my errand run and really regretting the day I bought into the Birki hype.

Let me assure you, they ARE the correct size. Any bigger and I would have been wearing boats. Any smaller and I couldn’t have fit in comfortably in that molded footbed. By any measure, that was the right size for me. I’m guessing they went a little overboard with the molding and the support in that particular area. Some people may need that kind of support, but guess what? That’s right, I don’t!

So now I have blisters. And now I’m mad because I feel duped. Either that, or I have really freaky feet (though, um… I managed to NOT GET BLISTERS ON MY SOLES pretty much all my life).

I’m going to wear something really well-padded today to help me through the day. Moon boots, perhaps?

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