Firstly, I would like to state that these are definitely the 'real' thing with the hand-sewed insoles, unlike the knock-off's that glue them in!Ok, so it had been AGES since I'd had any version of these shoes -- more years than I care to think about. Easily over 20 years! And back then, I had worn the 'men's' version for martial arts. They were SO comfortable and easy to slip on and off, and I wore them as street shoes, too! Comfy whether I wore them with socks or barefoot. I wore them until they started to fall apart, which was probably about 10 years after I got them! Those 'men's' version I had bought at a local shoe outlet store in a bargain bin, for about 50 cents. Yes, you read that correctly! lolI don't even remember the last time I had a pair of the women's version: the mary jane's! I'm sure I was just a little girl in the 1970's at that time! So when I saw these, I fell in love with them all over again! :) They are a simple style, simple materials, and practical...none of which should ever be thought of as a 'bad' thing. It's so hard to find shoes these days that are made with COTTON, instead of all this synthetic fabric that make your feet hot and sweaty. Cotton BREATHES! These shoes are cotton just like the old days, and the insoles are hand-sewn just like the old days! Some may think that these shoes would feel hard as a rock, but they don't -- not at all. The layers of cotton that are hand-sewn together gives a comfortable, natural cushion to your feet. Don't expect the fake cushioning (like memory foam) to be in these shoes. You're not going to sink into a cloud of fluffiness that you find in so many shoes these days. And the lack of fake cushioning is NOT a bad thing, either. I find that all of the memory foam put into shoes these days start to destroy your feet. If your feet are already poorly aligned and misshapen from wearing shoes that don't fit you properly, then foam will only form to that misalignment/misshapen form and keep you locked into that. Your feet will never be corrected. We were never really intended to wear 'shoes' anyway, especially not poorly designed shoes that are too narrow or have strong arches in them. I know that slippers that have memory foam always ended up messing up my feet by creating 'arches' due to too much padding. That is why I was so thrilled to find these shoes again: there are NO 'arches' in these. It's the next best thing to being barefoot! The soles are very flexible, and surprisingly not slippery at all. I had forgotten that they *weren't* slippery! lol So you do have some traction with these. :)Now, that I've raved about how much I love these and how awesome they are, I will say that I did have to return the size 6.5 because they were too small. I had read the reviews and the consensus had seemed that the black was accurate sizing. Perhaps theirs were, but mine was not. Mine fit more like a 6, I think. I am normally a 6.5 in shoes and a 7 in boots. So I do think you probably need to size up -- unless you have a very narrow foot, perhaps. I have an average width foot and these were a tad too narrow at the edges of my big toes. Also my toes were right at the end of the shoe. Yes, the cotton can stretch with wear, but the sole isn't going to get any longer, lol. So I have returned them and ordered a size 7, and also a 7.5. I think the 7 will be ok, and I wanted to try a 7.5 for when I want to wear socks with them. Because let's face it: these are too cute and comfy to be for one season only! ;) (I also plan to wear them as house slippers!)I'm so happy to have found these shoes again, and once I know my correct size I will be buying more colours! :)
