Haul + Review: Orla Kiely for Clarks Bella Shoes

I purchased these Orla Bella loafers in Blue Floral during Clarks' recent 20% off promotion. I was bummed that my usual size 7 was sold out in the color I wanted, so I took a risk and order the 6.5s instead, hoping that they would fit. I went ahead and also purchased the Pink Florals as well in a size 7, just so I could compare the fit.

Here's the box they came in. It's so adorable, and usually I throw away shoe boxes, but this one I'll definitely keep.

These shoes are now only $99.99 (originally $170), along with the rest of the Orla Kiely styles on Clarks' US site.

The shoes also came with their own little dust bag.

Even the tissue paper is adorned with Orla Kiely's signature Stem print.

Here's a closeup of the pattern, which is the Big Spot Flower Shadow print. The background is an off-white cream color with navy blue flowers. They are made of patent leather, but do not appear super shiny. The navy, red, and pink accents (seen below) appear shinier than the rest of the shoe, which actually almost has a matte appearance in certain angles and lighting.

I read a few negative online reviews claiming that the pattern begins to peel off after some time. I'm going to be very conscious of this and try to make every effort I can to keep these shoes in great condition. I'll report back if I find that they peel over time. The pattern seems to be adhered to the shoes very well, but I guess only time will tell.

The shoes have a very low heel, which I love since I stand and walk around a lot at work. I love this unexpected bright red heel, along with the pink stripe accent on the side.

Ugh, these shoes are almost too gorgeous to walk on. I actually considered taking them to a cobbler to put a protective sole on the bottom so I could always keep the pattern in perfect condition. But I didn't want to spend the extra money and in the end I decided that shoes are meant to be scuffed on the bottom anyway. Plus, I'll always have these pictures to remember what the bottoms looked like.

So now on to the important parts - comfort and sizing! When I initially put them on, they were quite stiff (it probably didn't help that they were half a size smaller than my normal shoe size). I was pretty bummed about that, but then I tried on the size 7s I ordered in the Pink Floral to compare.

It turns out the 7s were a bit too big, length-wise. They felt better than the 6.5s width-wise, but I loved the Blue Florals so much that I decided to wear them around my house with thick socks for a few days to break them in.

As you can see in this photo, the Pink Florals are just a tad bit longer, and even though you can't really tell from my pictures, they are just a tad bit wider as well. 

Here are some detailed shots of the Pink Florals.

So after wearing the 6.5s for a few days, they are now broken in to quite the comfortable fit. I'm so happy that I ended up with the smaller size because I feel like they look better on my feet without the extra length in the toe portion. I also noticed that these are listed as a UK4, which is my usual UK size. I have several size US7 shoes that are listed as a UK4 equivalent, so I'm not sure why these translate to a US6.5 instead in this brand. So if you order these from Orla Kiely's US site (or other American sites such as Nordstrom) and wonder why there are only half sizes available, just remember that a US6.5 is really a UK4/EU37.

Aside from having to break these in (and honestly, what shoes do you not have to break in?), I am completely in love with these shoes. They fit quite comfortably now, and I'm so excited to pair these with many different outfits in both the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons.