A Shoe Review

I mostly like that title because it rhymes and sounds a bit like “view halloo”.

Not that I approve of fox-hunting, it just makes me think of Mary Poppins. Anyway, enough nonsensical wittering. Today I am going to review a pair of shoes.

About a week ago I got an email from the Most Wanted people at Vouchercodes about a “seasonal staples” campaign. The idea is that they will get several bloggers to review a key item each season based on the criteria of comfort, style and price then collate those into a comparison on the Most Wanted site.

This appealed to me because I love a good product comparison, but also because the people offering me free shoes to review weren’t the people who sell the shoes, so no lingering resentment should they happen to be rubbish. I’m happy to say I’m always honest in my reviews, no matter who sends me them!

I have been sent these patent loafers from Very.co.uk at the very reasonable price of £28.

Before I start I DO have to mention that if you order these loafers from Very they will very likely be delivered to you by a company called Yodel. They used to be Home Delivery Network, and the change of name hasn’t improved the service. These shoes were delivered sometime last week, I don’t know when as all that was written on the card that came through my door was a house number in the “left with neighbour” box. Unfortunately that number was MY house number, leading me to believe that my delivery driver must have been mentally deficient in some way. It took me 4 days to finally get someone on the phone (they promised to call me back and didn’t) before I finally tracked down the shoes.

That’s not a reflection on the shoes, so does not form part of my review, but it is an issue to take into account before ordering anything.

On the website it says the shoes are South but the box and inside of the Shoe is Love Label. I’m sure there’s some reason for that, but I don’t know what it is!

First impressions are fairly good.  The styling of them is nice. They have a lovely elegant classic look, and are fairly sturdy. There’s no unnecessary studs or buckles in an attempt to make them look trendy. Just a nice, classic, penny loafer.

If you get up close then they look slightly cheap as it’s obvious they’re not leather, but in general wear they’re very stylish.

When I put them on I could tell at once they weren’t going to be comfortable. I wore them to the shops with a pair of those little anklet stocking things. They were stiff to walk in, didn’t bend easily at the ball of the foot and dug in slightly at the heel. I also felt the right foot was much tighter than the left. I know feet can vary in size, but it’s not a problem I normally have.

I did experiment with wearing them without stockings, I figured a car journey where the only walking I was expected to was from the car to a motorway service station was a good opportunity and offered little opportunity for crippling me. I was wrong, and by the time I reached my destination I was actually limping as the stiff backs rubbed badly on my heels. Basically, these are DEFINITELY shoes you need socks or stockings with!

I get the feeling these shoes will soften up with time, but brand new they are tough to walk in. They look good, but the problem is, when I buy flat shoes I buy them because I want to be able to walk in them. Flat shoes to me are something I throw on for an all day shopping trip, and I think these will need significant wearing in before I could trust them on a whole day out. I was also slightly concerned about the amount of wear already showing on the soles after the very small amount of outdoor walking I did in them.

Overall, if you are looking for a pair of loafers to create a “look” these are a good buy at £28. If you’re prepared to get them re-soled and heeled they’ll probably last you a good amount of time and soften up a little. But for £28 you don’t get leather, you get plastic that rubs and sticks and squeaks, so just don’t expect to be able to wear them barefoot with rolled up jeans for a casual 50s sex kitten look.

For Autumn I’ll wear them with stockings and my beige raincoat, and I’ll hope I look as elegant as Suzy Parker.

These shoes were sent to me for free to review, but all opinions are definitely my own.
In the interests of total transparency as part of the seasonal staples campaign
bloggers are also given £35 in ASOS vouchers.
I have no idea yet what to spend mine on. Suggestions welcome.