Bertie Ladies' Regency Pumps (Black)

lovely shoes

Love this company

I am, unfortunately, in between sizes with this style. The 7 fits like a glove, but once I start walking in them they get too tight. The 7.5, on the other hand is quite a bit too big in both length and width. I will have to wear thick socks just to keep my feet from slipping around inside them. The real problem though is that the heels slip completely off and just flap around when I walk, even when I tried wearing thicker socks and putting in insoles to help fill in the space. I will try heel grips next but I am not sure it will be enough. It is a shame because they are very cute shoes and would be great for historical AND everyday wear if they fit better.

(I usually wear 9W/9.5/9.5W.) Initially, they were snug enough I couldn't wear socks, so I stretched them using a shoe-stretcher and stretching spray, now they are a much better fit. They are comfy and great overall flat.

The only downside is that the heel blisters are probably the worst I've ever gotten. I went for a walk with a friend thinking, "I've been wearing them at work for a few months, and their so comfy, so it's probably fine." I now have open-wound joker smiles across the backs of my ankles (and the inner leather is soaked). The heel leather just isn't softening much, even after like a 100+ hours of wear at work, shopping, around the house, etc.

To be fair, I've purchased 3 pairs of American Duchess Shoes, and the leather is super hard on all of them. I've had no problems with the Claire shoes, since they lace-up and hug the foot. The Hazel shoes have the same problem as the Bertie shoes. (But I apparently forgot how to walk in heels during the pandemic, so I rarely wear them.)

I'm waiting on purchased products to cushion the heels, so IDK if that will be helpful or not.

So, here's the thing about wide feet, I've never had much luck with these types of shoes. They usually hurt my heels or my toes. With the Berties, I realized what it truly means to have wide feet. It means you wear bigger shoes to accommodate your wider girth, but you sacrifice a snug fit in the heel. My heel slipped off completely, so I went down a half size (8.5 to 8). They fit snug enough, but now I sacrifice wiggle room in the toes because the shoes are officially too small. On top of that, my heels still hurt anyways because I'm sure my heels were meant for an even smaller size. There is no happy medium for low vamp shoes and wide feet; you either get good fit in the toes, but walk duck footed to keep them on, or keep them on but have your toes squished. Without heel cushions, these caused blisters after just walking a block. With them, they are not painful, but not fully comfortable either. I own 8, and soon to be 9, pairs of AD shoes. Despite the Berties being the lowest heeled shoes in my collection, I can wear these for the shortest period of time. I call these my "Problem Child" shoes. If ever wide sizes become an option, I highly recommend starting with the Berties, other low vamp shoes, and point-toed shoes. As these would be the styles needed the most. Aside from the obvious fit issues, these are gorgeous shoes, have accurate colors and reenforced seams. Ultimately, the production quality is high and more refined from previous shoes that I have in my collection.