Biala 'Keely' Cap Toe Oxford
4.3
5
19
19
Narrow!
This shoe is not for anyone with wide feet. I ordered my size and found them to be so narrow as to be very uncomfortable for my wide feet. It is too bad as they are very cute and priced well. Heel is not too high. Would have definitely kept them if they had not been so narrow. It was enough to where I didn't even want to try and break them in.
4/26/13
Wonderfully comfortable
I must say I am not a fan of the oxford trend at all - heeled or not - but oxfords are very comfy and practical to wear because of the high vamp. Because of my hatred of oxfords I am still undecided on whether or not to keep these (the comfort is weighing heavily in their favor) but now on to the shoes.
I got these in both teal and graphite, to see how the colors looked. Teal arrived first: wonderfully soft and comfy out of the box, but alas too long (40 - I wear 8W in US sizing, but usually 40 or even 41 in Euro sizes. Should have followed the conversion chart!). I tried putting in a heel insert, but they were still far too big and almost slipping off my feet. The width was good though. Next I got graphite in 39, which is what 8 converts to on the size chart. These are just right in length, but a bit narrow at the broadest part of the foot, which I am a bit worried about - but since they are soft leather I hope they will get wider after a few wearings.
Colors: Teal is lighter than pictured (and surprisingly neutral), and graphite darker than pictured (and more grey than taupe). I prefer the teal over graphite, because it's more unique. The graphite is just a really plain-looking warm grey, nothing special. However, the teal also seems to make my feet look bigger. In the end I decided that grey is a more flexible color (I wear a lot of bright-colored tights, and colors like hot pink just don't match with green). The teal looks great with jeans of any shade though.
The heel is a very good height for walking. I intend to wear these to class and around school every other day if I keep them. I searched far and wide for a low-heeled walking shoe to wear with a variety of outfits - shorts, skirts, jeans, tights. I'm glad to have found them, especially for the price which seems reasonable given the quality (upon quick inspection).
4/22/13
Nice for price but...
I usually wear an 8 1/2 with a medium width and prefer a comfortable toe box to prevent bunions and other possible toe deformities in the future. These fit pretty well out of the box, but got better after some wearing, to stretch toe box area a little. The shoe is made with nice, soft leather on outside and has soft, well-stitched leather lining and footbed. Very good quality and workmanship for the price, but...the one negative thing is the material used on the heel. The lower portion of the heel looks like stacked leather, but it seems it is really a "plastic" material with a leather-look veneer. I found this out when I scuffed the heel and noticed a whitish plastic like material peeking out from the scuff area. This would not have looked this way with stacked leather. On the other hand, the shoes are very light-weight, comfortable, nice leather (color is medium grey with taupe undertone...color in photo is too light and whitish grey). Most oxfords I tried made my foot look much bigger, these actually were dainty by comparison to most other oxfords. I don't know if these will last for many years but it was a good way to try out the Oxford look with some style and comfort and without a major investment. The shoe works well with white jeans as well as dark slacks. The leather has a distressed look that keeps it better suited for casual looks.
4/10/13
love the color
I bought this in the blue/green, one of my favorite colors. I started to return them, thinking that I didn't NEED them. Then I decided I loved them too much to return. They have turned out to be quite comfortable. I highly recommend.
3/25/13