A Plaid Skirt and Modcloth Shoe Review

So let me tell you the story of these shoes. I may have already blogged a little about it a while ago, but you’ll forgive me for slightly repeating myself, right?

I have been searching for a good pair of shoes for winter and fall here, which means close-toed because it’s wet all the time, flat or slightly wedged because high heels with a baby are not entirely practical, and in a retro style and definitely a color because I’m tired of neutral shoes and all of my cute retro shoes basically fell apart on the same day.

After a long, long search, I found these on Modcloth a month ago, and I was so ecstatic! Cute color, great style, a bit of a wedge, close toed… basically perfect. And reviews were pretty good, although some said they were too big, some said they were slightly small, and some said they were the perfect size. After a little bit of deliberation, I ordered a size 8, because I can be anywhere from 7.5 to 8.5 depending on the width of the shoe.

When they arrived, I hurriedly tried them on… and they were a smidge too tight. And they’re not leather, so I wasn’t sure if they would stretch or not. I debated keeping them, because my husband said they might stretch and they weren’t so tight they were super uncomfortable, but I spent enough money on them that I didn’t want to chance it. So after thinking it over and checking to see whether my size was still in stock, I decided to get the half-size up, because I knew I’d be wearing them with tights a lot, and didn’t want to suffer too-tight shoes if it happened that they didn’t stretch at all.

Modcloth now processes exchange/returns online, so you can tell them what size you want right then and there, and since all of the sizes were available when I made my return, I assumed it would be an easy exchange, no trouble! I popped my shoes back in the box, unworn, and put them back in the mail the day after I got them.

And then two weeks later, after checking online a ton to see where the returned box was, I got an email on the day I had not slept much, my child was a mess, I was a mess… saying that they were very sorry, but AFTER receiving the pair of shoes and noting the size I needed online and processing the return, the size I wanted was no longer in stock, so I could sign up on the off chance that it got restocked, and that’s that.

No shoes, after a very long search, after already processing the return, after having checked multiple times online to be sure my size was still in stock. And it was the worst day to find that out, which is not Modcloth’s fault. I had a slight (huge) emotional breakdown over it. Highly influenced by lack of sleep and a teething, refusing-to-nap, crying child.

I felt kind of childish about that, but my hopes were SO dashed. If I had known that it would happen that way, I would have kept the pair of shoes I returned, and just made do. They were sort of tight in the toes, and just relatively snug all over, but they might have stretched, and I would have been semi okay with too-tight shoes anyway.

And I know that there are probably way too many difficulties to figure out, lots of technical things, stocking problems, etc, but I had a whole rant about how if Modcloth is now processing returns and noting the size you want online, shouldn’t they reserve that pair until they receive the returned shoes, so that you can actually get the size you need regardless? Honestly, I think Modcloth just has too many customers to realistically do that – they can’t reserve every size up or size down for every exchange because they’d probably lose a lot of money and run into a lot of problems. But, you know, it would be nice if they could.

So, despondent and mentally ranting about how I really needed a pair of shoes for fall (because actually I did, I have no practical shoes that aren’t full of holes or have soles falling off), I put in my email, said I needed a half size up, and despaired that I’d probably never get these shoes and they’d never re-stock them and woe is me. (I’m totally making fun of myself for this, because I have NEVER been this upset over clothing or shoes, and I was definitely over-tired and way too emotional about it.)

And then, surprise, after a month of waiting… they restocked! I literally bought the half size up 5 minutes after I got the email. No joke. I impatiently waited the week or so that it took for them to get to me, and of course had to try them on as soon as they got here (which was last night.) Now, they’re not a perfect fit, but I’m pretty happy with them.

I think the biggest thing with these shoes is that the toe box is pretty wide and roomy, so they feel a little oversized if you get a half size up even though they fit everywhere else. They aren’t super long on me; my toes come to about an inch away from the point, which I think is normal for pointed-toe shoes, and the heel and width at the widest part all fit my foot just fine. So I think if someone has narrow feet, they’d probably have to size down; wide feet, size up, and otherwise the true size would be perfect.

Shirt, c/o Oasap | skirt, vintage | belt, thrifted | tights, Nordstrom rack | shoes, Modcloth

If they do stretch, though, they will be too big. So I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that they don’t stretch (I’ve never had man-made uppers stretch), because if they do, I’ll be sad that I didn’t keep the size 8’s to break in.

Otherwise, though, I’m really happy with them! The color is exactly how it looks online (or maybe just a tad lighter) and the quality is relatively good. It’s not excellent quality, from the feel of them, but I think they’ll last me a while. They do mark up easily, but marks rub right off as well, so that’s not an issue. And comfort wise, I think they’ll be all-day wear shoes. I’ll let you know once I’ve worn them for a good amount of walking!

I read one review that said they fell apart a month after use, when worn 2 times a week, and I’m hoping that’s not the case with mine. Then again, I stay at home most of the time and probably won’t have the chance to wear these more than once a week for a few hours each wear.

Anyway! I didn’t mean to make this post entirely about shoes, but y’know. Now you are wholly and fully informed if you plan to purchase this pair of shoes from Modcloth!

Happy Friday!

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