Saturday, May 30, 2015

Haul + Review: Orla Kiely for Clarks Bobbie Shoes


My Mom got me these Orla Kiely Bobbie shoes in this beautiful Pale Blue leather as a gift recently (thanks, Mom!) and I love them so much. They are some of my favorites from this season's collection.

I know my Mom purchased these during Clarks' 20% off promotion a few weeks ago, but now they are only $99.99 (originally $220). She called customer service for a price adjustment, but was informed that their systems are not set up to do price adjustments. She was instead advised to simply repurchase the shoes and return the others ones (I haven't worn them out yet). Just wanted to share that with you in case you're in the same boat. They are still available here, but in limited sizes and colors now.

Whenever my shoes come with a dust bag, I always store them in there to keep them protected.



I read a few negative reviews about the cutouts on the front. Yes, they could have done a better job with the edging (you can see here that it bleeds a little bit onto the shoe). But I don't think it's too noticeable, and overall the rest of the shoe has wonderful quality.

There is a buckle on the side with gold accents. You do have to undo the buckle every time you want to put them on/take them off, so just note that these are not the type of shoes you can quickly slip your feet into.

A nice low heel perfect for work (I am a teacher, so I'm standing and walking around a lot throughout the day).

Oh, how I love the soles of these shoes! In my last post, I mentioned that I considered taking these to a cobbler to place a protective cover on the bottom. I am anxious to wear these out, so I don't think I'd have the patience to leave them at a shoe shop!



Now onto the bigger questions - comfort and fit! I really had a hard time deciding between a 6.5 (pictured on the right above) and a 7, which is my true size. I do vary between a 6.5 and a 7, but it depends on the shoe. The 7s fit width-wise, but I felt they were too long. I could literally pinch an inch of space in the toe portion.

What I also didn't like is how much my toes showed through the flower cutout in the size 7s, which you can see in the left picture above. In the right picture, I'm wearing the size 6.5s, which concealed my toes because they were a better length. However, they were too tight across the front. I tried wearing them with thick socks around the house for a few days to break them in like I did with my Bella loafers, but they just wouldn't give. In the end, I decided to keep the 7s because overall they fit a lot more comfortably than the 6.5s. I actually consider my feet to be relatively narrow, so I'm surprised to say that I wish these shoes were available in a wide width instead of medium. I've never had this issue with any other shoes, so I'd say this line runs pretty long and narrow. Overall, I'd say stick with your true size, BUT if you have super narrow feet, you could probably get away with going down a half size smaller so you won't have to deal with the extra length.

4 comments:

sewmyown said...

Thanks for your post. I'm just looking to buy some of these, but I cannot 'try before I buy'. This was just the information I needed about fit :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for your site. It is the only place that I can find current imbed of OK goods. I just ordered these shoes in orange from eBay and have been dying to get the blue ones in size 9. How are your holding up?

iloveorlakiely said...

No problem! Glad I was able to help :)

iloveorlakiely said...

To be honest with you, I've only worn mine a handful of times so I can't really say too much on how they wear. I will say, though, that the few times I have worn them, they are quite comfy and easy to walk in.