Purchased on December 2022; reviewed on February 2023.
Background: All right, the background to this purchase was I had bought flats from three “emerging brands” – ALLY Shoes, Aeyde, and Margaux. The latter two are buzzy Instagram brands (I was constantly bombarded with ads) and I was very excited to be supporting small, indie designers, two of which had female founders. After spending $200+ on each flat and being incredibly disappointed in the quality (not kidding, I threw out two out of the three pairs of flats within six months), I finally bit the bullet and just bought a pair of flats from Cole Haan. Initially, I felt like I was selling out but I’ve come to realize that shoes are just insanely technical items to design and produce and it takes years, if not decades, to craft them properly.

FIT: I got my usual size, 7.5. Not only was the fit perfect, they have some kind of cushioning so my feet feel incredibly comfortable. After my disastrous experiment with emerging brands where the shoes literally felt like there was a piece of cardboard in the sole, I’m thrilled with this purchase.

QUALITY: I’m astonished at how these shoes have held up. I’ve abused my flats on a daily basis (I walk about a mile in total to and from work every day) in rain or shine; despite the extensive use, my flats still look almost new. I bought a pair of nude flats from Margaux and a little bit of rain visibly ruined the leather which I thought was absolutely ridiculous. Not these flats – I’ve worn them through a light dusting of snow as well as some pretty severe rain. Not to mention all the gunk in the NYC streets! But they’ve held up. A solid A+ on quality.

STYLE: A big fan. This was my first Cole Haan purchase and it certainly won’t be my last. It was further solidified by several women in my office all sporting either flats or heels from Cole Haan, a real testament to the quality and style of the brand. Must-have shoes for working women.,,,

• Cole Haan
• 5'5-5'6
• Flats
• Shoes
• Size 7.5