I cannot walk by a pair of interesting shoes! Especially if they are an interesting colour. Even before my current vintage style, I had a thing for over the top matchy matchy. I adore matching my shoes to my outfit in an OTT way. In my 20’s I had a whole wardrobe of heels in every colour of the rainbow. And I mean every colour! I had an amazing pair of lime green patent pumps that were everything and some hot pink mules that had a border of little beads in the shape of candies that stopped traffic. Both are long retired now *sigh*. Speaking of retired, I recently cleared out my shoes because I rarely ware a heel over 2” these days. Sadly, most of the fun shoes in my wardrobe were heels. The purple t bars, the blue velvet and the green leather ones. Luckily, B.A.I.T (But another innocent tale) Footwear was the answer to my colourful, matchy matchy, vintage loving prayers…
I will admit to coveting various B.A.I.T shoes for some time. I showed my mum around the B.A.I.T online store and we gasped at every pair. If you haven’t heard of B.A.I.T before, they do a whole bunch of vintage inspired styles that are just wonderful but the best part is that most styles come in a whole rainbow of colours! There are heels and flats and wedges and boots and tiny heels for girls like me! And I’m pretty sure that most, if not all, are vegan leather which I prefer. B.A.I.T are based in the US and prices are quoted in US dollars. The prices aren’t bad, starting around $60 US and up, depending on style. I would expect to pay that for a quality shoe. Local shipping is quite cheap and free over a certain point but international shipping starts at $35 US (for one pair) and is worked out checkout for multiple pairs. It all seemed very reasonable to me until I factored in the exchange rate and my heart fell. I was too broke to pull the trigger and I was worried that the sizing (which is also US) might be complicated and I couldn’t risk it. So I did what any shoe loving gal would do, I stalked the internet for pictures and reviews until I could afford my very own pair!
Then a miracle happened! B.A.I.T had their annual three day sale (yes! Just once a year!) and the budget was looking a bit more healthy. It was a Sunday and I was with my mum and my sister and I thought we could pore over the B.A.I.T website and choose THE pair. Then Mr Ask popped in to do some stuff for mum. I sighed and said, “I was going to sneaky order some shoes because I love them and they are having a once a year only sale and now you’re here and I can’t”. Luckily, this honesty worked my favour because he asked me how much, I replied and he said, ‘Buy two! I’ll transfer the money now’. I couldn’t contain my excitement!
Choosing was hard! After much looking and talking, I settled on the Ione style. They have a lovely sleek shape, brogue detail and low heel (1 ¾” or 4.5cm). The little heel has a glorious streamlined shape. I love the placement of the t bar, lower down on the foot looks so elegant. Once the style was chosen, the agonising task of choosing a colour was on me. Really, I want them all! I died for all the colours that Miss Hero Holliday owns. I was sorely tempted to choose celery or seafoam. But practicality won out and I got black and red. Of course, over time, I intend to own them all! International sizing can be scary but of course I had researched while waiting to buy. I found the review from Miss Victory Violet most helpful! Based on her review, I ordered an 8.5 US. I am an Australian 8 or Euro 39 in most things but err towards the larger end of that size range, especially in very structured or narrow shoes.
The Ione style is usually $67 US each but with the sale they came down to $46.90 US each. International shipping for both came in at $50 US. So two pairs shipped for $191.41 AUD total. Which I think is completely reasonable for shoes of such perfection! Or just for a nicely made pair of shoes really. The decisions had been made, the buttons pressed and there was nothing to do but wait for my package to arrive….
I thought it would be a long wait as my beautiful shoes travelled across oceans to join me but just 8 days after ordering they arrived!!! Funny story, the Aus Post package lady rang my bell and I was hoping for shoes (was packages for Mr Ask) and I was disappointed. As I was waving her down the stair, a DHL guy asked her for directions to mine and he had my shoes!! We all had a good laugh about my shoe love! The shoes came beautifully boxed with stuffed toes and shoe sticks to keep the shape. They even included a dustcover. The shoes were so lovingly constructed! They are very sturdy, with a cute polka dot lining. I couldn’t wait to get them on my feet!
Of course I took them straight out of the box, held my breath and crossed my fingers, and slid them on to my feet. I was relived and oh so joyful to find that they fitted my feet perfectly! If you lust for 18 mths and then finally buy, you have to hope that the anticipation was worth it! And it was, I felt like a glorious Cinderella! Finally, in the shoe that she deserves! It was hard to decide which pair to wear first but the shiny red was calling my name. I wasn’t going anywhere fancy but I was definitely wearing my shoes. As it happened, we went to Bunnings (for any non Aussies, it’s a huge hardware warehouse) for plants and I really got to test the walkability of my shoes straight up. Walked so long and all I was feeling was the satisfaction of my shoes hitting echo-y cement. Super comfy, nice heel grip. I found them comfortable but perhaps a little stiff. Not in a bad way but in a solid, well made shoe way.
I have heard that others have broken theirs in by wearing them with thick socks but I had no need. The heel on the left shoe of the black pair rubbed a tiny bit, I wear mine with sockettes to protect the shoes from my feet and find they lessen the issue. I wore both pairs a few time (with a rest day or two between wearing’s) to be sure of comfort before a long wear. I wore the black pair on a night out with my Sister and we walked and stood quite a bit. We started out at the opening of Cheryl Bridgarts ‘Masquerade’ exhibition for SA Living Artists (SALA Week). I love Cheryl’s stitched art so much! If you can you should check it out. And then we hit up some gin joints and hot spots in the city. There was quite a bit of walking between bars and at the end of the night my poor Sister had blisters! Even after 8 hours of standing and walking, I was in pure comfort and I could have walked for miles! All that walking really loosened up my black pair, in a good way.
I have had loads of compliments on these shoes already – talk about bang for buck! When I was at a little nautical themed bar called Hains & Co, a gorgeous waitress dressed to 50’s perfection stopped to compliment me. Straightaway, she asked if my shoes were from B.A.I.T and asked about sizing and comfort. I told her they were great and that this review would be up soon on my blog. If you are reading, go on and buy a pair! You won’t regret it!
As you can see, I love the shoes! I am determined to own every colour and check out some other styles too.I will requesting some B.A.I.T shoes as a gift for every occasion. Now I know how well made they are and how nice the fit is, I can certainly justify buying more. Thank you B.A.I.T for making dream shoes! It has been a super glowing review, so I could understand if thought it might be sponsored but sadly, no. Although, I would love to be sent free B.A.I.T shoes! And I would LOVE to do a giveaway! Wouldn’t that be so cool? Go have a look at the B.A.I.T website and comment which style and colour you would get if you could have a pair!
Edit: I have now bought the Kira & Kali styles, you can find a review here
Edit: More shopping! I now have a review of Emmie & Sabean styles here
More Me Made Items Seen In This Post
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Ok I definitely need to buy some now! When was their 3-day sale? I will have to keep an eye out for it next year!!