Tag Archives: Shoes

Will the Real Steve Madden Intcye Boots Please Stand Up? ………Oh Wait.

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Some of you know that I bought Steve Madden Intyce Boots, thanks to seeing these deliciously cute boots on Aubrey when we met up for sushi a while ago. They’re pretty expensive, but I figured for real leather, Steve Madden and the gorgeous colour cognac, they’d be worth it, armed with a small coupon.

I purchased first the 6s from shoes.com, then got worried after reading numerous reviews about how narrow they were and went ahead and bought the 6.5s. Sadly, this was after their 20%off coupon had expired which worked with Mr. Rebates, so I got the 6s first with the 20%off coupon + Mr.Rebates 12% off cashback, and the 6.5s with only a 20%off coupon using VISA. I was getting ready to return just the 6s when I came across the boots on endless.com for 20%off+10%off, at a starting price lower than shoes.com, which prompted me to decide to return both shoes.com orders.

Well, here comes the comical part. I received the endless.com boots yesterday, opened them up, and to my dismay, they looked awfully different to the ones I received from shoes.com:

Can you tell the difference?

shoes-endess_intyce
Steve Madden Intyce Boots in Cognac
Made In
brazil_intyce_tag mexico_intyce_tag
Color
mexico_intyce_surface
Lining
brazil_intyce_lining2 mexico_intyce_lining
Fit
endless_intyce2 shoes-com_intyce_both
Heel
brazil_intyce_heel mexico_intyce_heel

I typically love boots made in Brazil, and I can tell by the workmanship of the stitches that it is better than the boots made in Mexico. But the fit and the color leaves something to be desired. Due to how supple and soft the leather and the lining were (almost suede like), it caused the ankle area to bunch a whole lot more, and my calves to look a lot more funny with the boots on (they look like they just flare out, and I have fairly normal calves).

Makes me wonder about all these reviews now over the web. I see some complaints about the boots being an avocado peel, not enough of the rich cognac color, or it being too slouchy, and it starts to make me wonder about “which” boot they received! I will say one thing though – had I received the boots first from Endless.com, not seeing them on Aubrey D, I wouldn’t even have thought about sizing them up to 6.5 because they weren’t really all that attractive! The 6.5s that were made in Brazil fit more snugly, like a size 6, but not as bad as the 6s that I ordered from shoes.com that were made in Mexico (where the toes hit the top of my boot). The 6.5s made in Mexico are definitely more roomy, but the perfect fit were the 6.5 pair made in Brazil. (Are you following along? I’m starting to get confused myself!)

The sole of these boots seem slightly thin, which makes me wonder if there might be enough padding on the sole. I think I might add a foot petal to the bottom to add some cushion to help the ball of my foot. Long story short, I’m going with the pair made in Mexico because the cognac color is what I expected them to be and they seem to hold their structure. They’re a bit more roomy than I’d like, but I much prefer them to the pair made in Brazil. So, while I like the softness of the suede lining, and I also prefer items made in Brazil, I will stick with the boots made in Mexco, despite the price and the fact that endless.com packaged the shoe box much better than shoes.com did. I keep my boots in their shoe boxes, so I prefer to store them in a box that’s not beat up.

All in all what do I take away from this funny situation? Unfortunately, some reviews online (without accompanying photos) may not always be reliable because items could be made in two different factories, producing what seems like two different products that are under the same name and model. This contributed to the somewhat disparaging reviews between shoes.com and endless.com.

What do you think of the boots? Has anything funny like this happened to you before?

Read Aubrey’s recent review of the boots here.

Sorry for my blabbing. I’m constantly trying to improve my writing and grammar 🙂 Back to the work grind tomorrow!

~Grace

Target Shoes Review, Part One

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My two Target orders were split into many shipments – a few won’t even be available until March. Today, I received two shipments, one item from each order. I’m having a bit of trouble deciding whether or not to keep them.

Target is still having its 20% off $75 sale (immediately applied in cart). Excuse the horrible quality of my pictures and the backgrounds. I’ve been in deep purging/cleaning mode, pills that you shall see in a future post.


In my first order, I got these Merona Ettie Leather Wedge Sandals, sz 6 in black. They are now listed at $22. When I first spotted it, I wanted it in champagne but they didn’t have my size available online. I was curious about the comfort though, and went and ordered it in black anyway.

What I like about it:
– It is so incredibly soft and comfortable. The insole is padded the way I like it, in such a way that my feet don’t start sliding when it gets sweaty.
– Genuine leather upper.

What I don’t like about it:
– The flowers are rather huge. I don’t know if it’s because I wore jeggings with them that it makes me look like I’ve got huge humongous feet. Maybe they’d look better with my boot cut jeans.
– It’s black. I own far too many black shoes. I may have to hunt down the champagne color in store. I think the black probably contributes to the clown feet effect.

Unsure:
– I’m weary about thongs and can only wear flip flops that have a thicker cloth or made of really soft material, but it varies from shoe to shoe. My skin gets easily chaffed and is pretty sensitive to the thong while it rubs in between my big toe and second toe. Even though the thong feels comfortable now, it may not handle up to longer periods of walking. I had a similar experience with a shoe I bought at DSW; it was super comfortable in store, but I quickly discovered discomfort when walking for longer periods of time after I had bought it.

I’m really unsure of whether or not to keep these sandals. They are so incredibly comfortable and cute, though not really sleek or classy. Not that I’m sleek or classy most of the time, especially given the summer where I’m always in flip flops anyway. They’d be good for a summer day. Decisions, decisions!


The second item I received were the Xhilaration Wedges, sz 6 in Tawny (a replica of the Dolce Vitas), priced at $24.99. (Also in black). It seems as though many people bought these shoes.

What I like about them:
– They are surprisingly light and comfy!
– The 3.75″ is a good height.
– They look really great on the feet, especially from the front.

What I don’t like about them:
– The zipper of the right sandal took a while to zip up. I found that it was easier to zip up part way before I put my foot in, as the zipper just wouldn’t want to go.
– They look good directly on the feet, but the whole brown tall wedge made me feel as though I was a midget on stilts (exaggerated, of course). I would definitely say skinny jeans are NOT to be worn with these – otherwise they just look too clunky – I should have taken pictures wearing something that fit both of these pairs of shoes better.
– The material isn’t of the best quality, but that’s what I expect out of a $24.99 shoe.

I don’t own many dresses or skirts, so the one thing I could wear with these wedges would be bootcut jeans. (I’m still slightly lost about what to wear!)

So, what do you think I should do? Keep or return?

~Grace