Style, Comfort, Practicality, Or Price?

It was over a month ago I bought a formal dress for a wedding. The dress hung in my closet while I pondered what type of shoes I wanted to go with it. They had to be flat or extremely low heel, have padded insoles, and (ideally) have adjustable straps to accommodate my strange feet that straddle the line between normal and narrow width. 

And to top it off I preferred to not have to pay a bunch of money for them.

My first stop was a comfort shoe store. I explained what I was looking for to the associate and showed her a photo of the dress. She measured my feet and then sprung into action, bringing out a stack of five potentials. I fell in love with the first pair. They had just enough glitter to be fancy, fit like a glove, and I could easily walk in them. However, when I took a look at the price I found out they were almost $200! If they were a more practical color I could have gotten a lot of use out of them, but since I don't get invited to many formal events I was loathe to spend that much.

However, despite the price I went ahead and bought them. With my luck if I couldn't find anything else the store would be out of my size, and the store policy allowed for returns within 30 days.

I kept looking. One of the big box shoe stores had a 40 percent off sale. Most of their dress shoes weren't for me, but there was one style I liked. It was even blue like my dress! My size wasn't available in the store, so I pulled out my phone right there and ordered them from the website. With the discount these shoes were significantly cheaper, such that if I only wore them a couple of times I wouldn't feel like I was wasting my money.

The store website said it would take somewhere between four and seven days for the shoes to arrive. A week later I received an email the shoes were ready to be picked up. When I tried the sandals on I found out they were comfortable, but the straps over the top of my foot were a little loose.

The next day I stopped into a shoe repair store and explained the situation. The associate gave me two suggestions. The first was a set of adhesive half-sole inserts that would fit under the ball of my foot and hold it in place. The second was to have him tighten the straps. I went with the easy, quicker, and cheaper first option, and the next day I returned the first pair.

Five years ago: Time For Reading