A Wonderfelle World

For those of you who don’t know, I walk to work every day. I love living in the heart of the city and not having to deal with traffic or public transportation. My current commute is about 7.5 minutes if I time the 2 stoplights right – however, my husband and I are moving next month and my commute is basically going to double! I know a 15 minute walk is still not bad at all – and moving into our brand new apartment with his and her closets is definitely worth it – but knowing that I’ll be walking 2 miles a day makes me more conscious of the comfort of my commuting shoes.

 Let me be clear – when I say comfort, I mean relatively speaking. I don’t really care if Uggs are comfortable – they are ugly and regardless of how cold it is I would never wear them to walk to work. I’d also never wear anything resembling an athletic shoe, Toms, Crocs or flip flops to work. So when I refer to commuting shoes, I really mean a chic ballet flat (I change into heels at the office) unless its raining in which case I wear these rain boots.

My husband gifted me with these python Lanvin flats (super on sale now + 2.5% cash back via ebates) which I am obsessed with – but I get anxious about ruining my really expensive shoes and try to avoid wearing them outside too much. Sounds a little silly right? I struggle sometimes with finding the right balance between wanting the high quality and craftsmanship of designer shoes and the practicality of more affordable shoes that I don’t mind wearing out.

I’ve tried a ton of different flats in search of the holy grail of commuting flats and thought I’d share my reviews with you – starting with a winter commuting staple – plain, black patent flats. I’ll compare 3 popular options which at first glance look almost identical when worn: Lanvin signature flats, Vera Wang Lillian flats and Tory Burch Eddie flats. For reference I’m usually a size 7, normal width but do find I need to size up sometimes in designer shoes that are particularly narrow.

Lanvin signature ballet flat: (retails for $495, runs small, try 1/2 size up) There is a reason these babies are said to be the most comfortable flats out there by fashion folks, celebrities and regular people like me. The craftsmanship is undeniable and features incredibly soft leather interior lining, a padded arch for support and a small, concealed wedge heel (supposedly 25mm but it doesn’t seem that tall to me) – I think the fact that they aren’t completely flat makes them more comfortable. The leather also molds to your feet very easily and in my experience these require very little breaking in (wearing these blister cushions the first couple times helps if you have issues). At $495 they are certainly pricey for a plain black flat and this classic style rarely goes on sale like some of the more seasonal Lanvin flats. Despite the comfort and quality, this is more than what I think is reasonable to spend on a plain black pair of flats. I do love Lanvin flats though and would love a closet full of them if it were fiscally responsible, but for now I’d rather spend my Lanvin $$$ on the harder to find colors/styles and exotic leathers (preferably on sale)!

Vera Wang Lavender Lillian flat: (retails for $195, runs a little small, try 1/2 size up unless your feet are fairly narrow) Awhile ago I was perusing flats on ShopStyle and was surprised at just how much these flats looked like the coveted Lanvin flats. I originally purchased them sight unseen after reading numerous positive reviews and have been very pleased. At first they seemed a bit stiffer than Lanvin flats so I wore them around my apartment for about 30 minutes with thin socks on to break them in. They also feature a soft leather lining (although not as buttery), and the padded insole actually feels more substantial. There is also the same elastic banding and small, concealed wedge heel.  I find these to be similar in comfort to Lanvin flats with a minimal difference in craftsmanship. Given the fact that they retail for less than half the price, I think they are a great investment and may potentially be my HG commuting flats. They are currently available here on sale for $97.50 in limited sizes and also on sale at Neiman Marcus Last Call, Piperlime and a few other online retailers. Since these are shoes I know I could wear forever, I’m tempted to buy another pair (or 5)!

Tory Burch Eddie flat: (retails for $178, runs TTS) I know Tory Burch flats have a somewhat of a cult following, but honestly I don’t completely get it. I am not really a fan of the large logo on the front of the Revas and I’ve had issues with the quality of the Prescots (as in holes in the bottom, weaving coming undone after a couple of wears). Nonetheless I thought I’d give Eddies a chance - mostly because i wanted to love the crystal bow flats. The Eddies fit the most comfortably straight out of the box for me and also feature leather interior lining. There is a very lightly padded insole but it doesn’t compare to the padding of the Lanvin or Vera Wang flats. They also have rubber soles instead of leather – which I often prefer, but in this case they don’t seem to makeup for the the lower quality of the shoe. They feel more like slippers than a substantial flat – like the kind of roll-up flats you throw in your purse to change into at the end of a long night in heels. Overall I wouldn’t recommend them as commuting flats – despite the lower price point the level of craftsmanship is not there.  They are comfortable however but may be more appropriate if you aren’t planning to walk miles in them on city streets.

Any other recommendations for commuting flats?