Dec
30
Clear Evaluation Of Women’s Shoes Manufactured By Dansko
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The hunt for the perfect women’s shoes fortunately can be accomlished online. This is good news for specialty shoppers who need specific types of shoes, boots, or sandals. That is even more the case when the requirement is for great comfort on the feet.
Women’s Dansko shoes are a trademark brand, known for their Danish clog style that’s somehow simultaneously clunky and cute. The brand is extremely popular with women who spend a lot of time on their feet (nurses, doctors, teachers, etc.) and is well-known for its comfortable style.
But, are these shoes really all they’re hyped up to be? Is their clog style chic or too immature? For a helpful review of Dansko brand shoes, read on.
Dansko Brand Price Points
For a pair of Dansko shoes, you can expect to pay anywhere from $85 to $190, depending on where you buy them and the style of shoe. Admittedly, they’re a little more expensive than your average shoe, but the price is reasonable when compared to other, similar brands.
Comfort of Dansko Shoes
The people who love Dansko shoes, really love this brand. They swear by the support, the way the shoe holds the foot and the incredible shock absorption. The shoe is particularly popular with nurses, primary teachers and other professions that involve spending a lot of time on your feet.
However, like Birkenstocks, it takes Dansko shoes a few wears to actually mold to your feet. When you first slip your foot in, the shoe feels almost unnatural, as if it’s not supporting or cushioning the foot. After a few wears, the insoles of these shoes will shift and adjust to form to the foot.
Dansko Brand Quality and Durability
Overall, Dansko’s are well made shoes that hold up over time. The company does not offer a lifetime guarantee, but they will repair or replace any shoes within a reasonable amount of time and wear since the date of purchase.
Probably the biggest strike against Dansko shoes is that they can’t be resoled. The soles are what make the shoes – it’s a multi-layer system of cushioning and support. Because of that patented sole system, having the shoes resoled would defeat the purpose.
Dansko Fashion and Style
The Dansko brand has worked hard over the last few years to come out with a variety of styles, colors and designs. Unfortunately, they can’t seem to get away from that clunky and heavy look. Those thick, chunky soles just weigh the whole shoe down, making it a major focal point of any outfit (whether you want it to or not).
Many Dansko fans love the trademark style of the shoes, but most shoe buyers find them too heavy and almost too juvenile to wear. The footwear may be comfortable, but if they look like orthotics, they won’t be your first choice for a night out on the town.
Conclusion
Women’s Dansko shoes may be the most comfortable pair of shoes you’ll ever wear, but they certainly won’t be the most stylish. This is a shoe for working professionals, not fashionistas – so buy with caution.
Dec
29
Whether you are searching for shoes, boots, sandals, or any other type of casual footwear, there is no shortage of shoe manufacturers from which to choose.
Sketchers shoes are popular with the kids – their light, bouncy and funky styles take sneakers from basic to hip. But, will they last through the school year?
Will your kids like them? Are they worth the money? To learn more about Sketchers, along with a helpful review, keep reading.
Sketchers’ Price Point
For Sketchers shoes, you can expect to pay anywhere from $25 to $95, depending on the style of the footwear. However, the average price for a pair of Sketchers usually hovers around $50. They’re not the most expensive kid’s shoe sold, but they’re definitely a little more costly than other department store brands.
Comfort Level of Sketchers
Sketchers makes casual running shoes for tweens and teenagers. These shoes are made to be comfortable, but they’re definitely not orthotics. Overall, they offer good support, and most kids like the thicker sole. The fit is somewhat narrow and generally not suited for wider feet.
So, if you’re looking for a wider shoe, you may need to look at another brand with a broader range of fits and sizes.
Brand Durability and Quality
Sketchers are made for kids, and they’re also made to be worn into the ground. These shoes hold up well and will usually last until your child outgrows them or at least through to the end of the school year.
To keep them in tip-top shape, hand wash them gently every few weeks, replace the shoelaces regularly and if they’re made of leather, treat them with some form of shoe protector. The company has a strong quality warranty policy, but consumers are recommended to buy their shoes from a trusted retailer with an equally strong return policy.
Style and Design of Sketchers
Sketchers are all about the youth market. Their primary consumer is the younger buyer – the girl who wants pink camouflage sneakers or the boy who goes after a striped skateboarding style. And though the company may put out more mature styles, they’re not age-appropriate for adults.
The company has tried to design a line of dressier shoes or footwear that is more appropriate for the work place, but they’ve still hung onto their sporty or younger style – whether it’s too clunky heels, too many stripes or design touches, or just too much – they’ve failed. Again, these are great shoes for young women and young adults, but they have no place in the professional work environment.
Conclusion
Sketchers shoes are reasonably priced footwear available in a wide range of younger styles. They’re not appropriate for the working professional or older person, but are a great back-to-school choice for the younger shoe buyer.
Dec
28
With a good of shoes on her feet, a woman can adjust to anything. And she can do it pain free. No other wearable object wields such power. Women all over the world covet the almighty shoe. We hunt for them, collect them, store them for next season, keep them long past their due date, and expect them to gloriously update the dreariest of fashion ensembles.
Whether they cost 10 bucks or 500, a woman’s shoes say much about her mood, her lifestyle, and her personal style. Take Dansko shoes, for example. Now this is a shoe for the active woman who wants support and comfort without having to wear tennis shoes in public. Available in an endless variety of styles, this is the comfortable shoe for the woman who swore she’d never wear comfortable shoes. I know, because I am that person. My feet are wide, yet the styles I tend to like simply do not come in wide widths. All my adult life I’ve suffered in the name of fashion. I’ve worn strappy leather sandals, satin mules, kitten heels, high-heeled loafers, you name it. But comfortable shoes? Ha! Forget it. I’d rather go barefoot through snow drifts.
Being a big city girl from Canada, I was absolutely floored when I first moved to Indiana. It didn’t take long for me to notice that almost no-one wears stylish, high heeled shoes around here. And those who do are apparently not appreciated for their sense of style. Rather, they’re seen as flashy. And not in a good way. I was in the country now, and I was surrounded by sensible conservatives. I never got compliments on my flashy shoes anymore. I got sideways-glancing looks of disapproval.
To say I stuck out like a sore thumb in the red suede stilettos with the brass grommets that I like to wear with my distressed jeans is a gross understatement. Suddenly, dismayed to find there was nowhere to wear all my fabulous shoes, I packed them up (along with my single girl outfits) and my sassy, single girl attitude. I wasn’t a single girl who could spend half her paycheck if she wanted to on handbags and shoes anymore. I was married. Thoroughly married. To a wonderful man who appreciates the wisdom of the “comfortable shoe-wearing woman”.
So, on the day my wonderful new husband took me out to Main Street in search of sensible walking shoes, that I found my first pair of Dansko shoes. Before we walked into the store, I told him that I was was determined to be sensible. Inside, I felt sad. I felt certain that pleasing my husband meant I would have to go home with a truly hideous pair of walking shoes. Shoes made for seniors in nursing homes. Shoes made for those with multiple orthopedic complaints. What I found that day was like an epiphany. There they were – cherry red Mary Janes, with just a bit of a heel, and a buckle strap across the bridge of the foot that once in place, would stay that way. Just looking down on these beauties makes me smile! These are seriously sweet shoes! They rock as you walk! The sole is designed to roll forward as you step onto the ball of your foot, then rock gently back as your weight shifts to the other foot. What ingenious engineering.
I have clocked countless hours in my Dansko shoes. I wore them through two pregnancies – back-to-back and with only three months between. I never, not once, complained of lower back pain, and I was on my feet a lot. My knees hurt a bit, but I’d never blame the Danskos for that. I blamed the babies. My feet never felt better. Sure, the toes are round. “All the better for wiggle room, my dear”, says the sensible woman my husband would like me to be. And in my red Dansko Mary Janes, I know he smiles with pride, walking with his cool-yet-sensible wife, hand in hand down the nature paths and along Main Street in quaint little Indiana.
Dec
22
As I write this, we are coming up on the Christmas season, but this gift buying guide can be used or referred to year round because it isn’t just Christmas time when we need to buy gifts for people. Since skateboarding and all extreme sports are becoming so popular, there is a good chance that you will need to buy a gift for somebody who skateboards, snowboards, rollerblades or does one of the many emerging extreme sports made so popular by ESPN and the X-Games.
I am going to start with a list of ideas (in no particular order) then expand a little on some of them. Remember, many things like skateboard shoes are popular with all extreme sport athletes and are used every day even when not skating.
- Baseball Cap with Favorite Company
- Complete Skateboard
- Backpacks or Bags
- Helmet
- Beanies with Favorite Company
- Knee Pads
- Magazine Subscription
- Gift Card to Sporting Goods Store
- Elbow Pads
- Sweatshirts or T-Shirts
A Skateboard can be a great gift for any skateboarder as long as you know what kind and what brand of skateboard you need. Before you go out and buy a skateboard, though, you need to know what you are buying. You can get the information you need just by asking. Their friends can probably tell you what they like if it isn’t obvious by the clothes they already wear or posters hanging in their room. You need to know what brand they want. Even though their isn’t a lot of physical difference from one skateboard company to another, it makes a world of difference to the person that will be skating on it. You also need to know what size they want. There are different widths of skateboards. Wider boards are typically for skating ramps and narrower boards are for doing street skating and tricks on the ground. Again, the best thing to do is ask. Get some general information and you can apply it to whatever choice you make.
Buying skateboard shoes is another good gift for that special skateboarder. They can wear them every day even when they are not skating. The one bit of advice I have here is to make sure you know exactly what they want or need. Since it is hard to know exactly what shoes to get, you can cut out a picture of a skateboard shoe and put it in a box with a note saying you will go out with them and pay for the pair of shoes they pick out. You can put a limit on the price if you need, but for the most part, skateboard shoes are pretty reasonable compared to many other specialty sport shoes.
Skate clothing is probably the most popular gift. It is easier to buy and you can get lots of different things for under $30 which you can’t really do with a skateboard or shoes. All you need to know is what brands the person likes and what size to get. In both cases, even if you don’t know the exact size or favorite brand the item can still be worn.
Any responsible person should help protect an aspiring athlete and you can help to protect the skateboarder you are buying for by getting them some safety skateboard equipment. I know it might not be cool, but buying a helmet, elbow pads, or knee pads will be appreciated every time they wreck. If they are skateboarding and doing tricks, it will happen. Now the only trick is to get them to wear it.
Another good choice that I highly recommend is a skateboarding magazine. As I have said a couple times, ask what they have or want. All you have to do is make sure they don’t already have a subscription to the magazine you want to get them. This is another gift in that under $30 category.
The last recommendation I am going to make is a good choice for any gift giving dilemma. I am talking about a gift card. You can get one for a shoe store so they can pick out shoes, a sporting goods store where they can get clothing or skateboarding equipment, or you can even get them for skateboard shops. Many people don’t think this is very personal, but if you really don’t know what they want or like, a gift card lets them pick out the skateboard equipment that they really need or want. I know I never worried about a gift card being too impersonal.
Dec
21
Everyone has their own prefered shoe style, whether they are in the form of sandals, traditional close-toed shoes, or even boots. But some footwear brands have a long history and many loyal customers. That is the case with Florsheim.
Men’s Florsheim shoes first went into production in 1892. The company started in Chicago, Illinois and has since built up a strong reputation for making high-quality men’s shoes that are both comfortable and affordable.
But, how do these shoes measure up? Are they comfortable? Are they durable? What about the overall style of the footwear? For a helpful review of Florsheims, keep reading.
Price of Florsheims
Men’s Florsheim shoes typically range in price from between $100 and $250. The majority of their dress shoe models hover just above the $100 mark, while their casual shoes range in price from $80 to $130. The company also makes steel-toed safety shoes, which fall into these same price points.
For men’s dress shoes, the prices are fairly reasonable. They’re not the cheapest shoe manufacturer on the block, but they’re also not exorbitantly priced.
Florsheims Comfort and Fit
Florsheims are comfortable, if you have a standard or narrow foot. The one major drawback of these shoes is that they’re simply not wide enough to accommodate the foot of a larger man or a man with wide feet.
Fortunately, Florsheim sells most of their shoes in both Wide (E) and Extra Wide (EE). For many consumers, these 16 models available in wide fit will likely be more comfortable. You can order them directly from the manufacturer or through your local shoe retailer.
Quality of Florsheims
Overall, Florsheims are well made shoes. Most of them are made from leather with leather linings and shock-absorbent rubber soles. However, there have been numerous consumer complaints that these shoes simply don’t stand up to the test of time.
The most common complaint about Florsheim shoes is that sole comes apart from the shoe. Basically, the stitching and adhesive used to hold the sole in place comes loose, causing the sole to flap open at either the heel or the toe.
While Florsheim will often repair or replace any shoes deemed to be defective, many consumers don’t want to deal with the hassle of sending in their shoes for repair.
Brand Fashion and Style
Florsheims aren’t avant-garde or ultra-modern footwear. They’re basic, standard men’s shoes – both for dress and professional casual. And while they may not be hip to the hottest new trends, they do make a great standard shoe. So, if you’re looking for something traditional, Florsheims have those basics down pat.
The Final Word on Florsheim
In general, men’s Florsheim shoes are reasonably priced, comfortable and available in a decent range of traditional styles. Unfortunately, these shoes are prone to sole problems, and buyers should ready themselves for a trip to the cobbler before the year is out.
