Petra Mary Jane Pump (Women)

I got both these and the børn mary janes because I wanted to try them out. The insoles on these are great— very soft, and I like that there’s cushion behind your heels. They also look really cute, likely courtesy of the slightly less chunky heel (compared to the børn pair I got) However, there are two main issues I have with these: one is the construction. They’re lightweight in comparison and rather flimsy feeling. This is concerning to me not just because of durability but also of how they wear (if a shoe is too lightweight but had a “chunky” construction, it loses some of the stability you’d have with a slightly heavier shoe. Of course, too heavy is bad as well, but fortunately neither the sofft nor børn shoes were like that). I’d describe the upper as almost feeling “cardboard-like,” despite being suede. The other issue I have is more of a personal anatomy problem. I once heard from a lady when shopping at a Nordstrom in NYC that her grandfather (who was a cobbler for an old design house, I’m not sure which) that you can tell if a heeled shoe is stable + comfortable long term based on the placement of the heel. If it’s in line with the “line” of your leg, that’s perfect. I was skeptical of this advice at first, but I suppose it’s physics— that advice is right every time I check it. You can see in the photo that this heel is “further out” from the line of my leg— if you draw a line down the center of my leg, it lands BETWEEN the heel and the front of the shoe. I thought my foot was sliding forward a bit too much despite it fitting perfectly— looked in the mirror and this was why. So this might be comfortable for some because they might have a different leg, but it wasn’t for me :’)

true to Sofft, these shoes are very comfortable and passed under the pressure points to make waslking in them more comfortable. The heel is supportive without beeing too clunky, and the straps are functional and not restrictive. The leather has a matte shine to it. My usual size is 9.5 regular width and I ordered a 9.5 regular width in these (I tried on other sizes as well; these run TTS)