meagandowney's Full Review: Cole Haan Carma Air Slingback
Good Lord. I actually own a pair of black patent leather Cole Haan slingbacks. Luckily, the eviction notice hasn't yet been slipped under the front door, but the lump that formed in my throat once my credit card was swiped to the tune of $278 is still palpable. It petrified into a thing of shiny, black horror.
I purchased these three figure heels from Nordstrom out of sheer desperation in preparation for a fundraising gala I was running with a six figure fundraising goal. The night of the gala would require me running around during eight hours of registration, cocktails, program, dinner and dancing as if I were a champion athelete. Every time I run events like these, I end up hobbling around during the last hours, begging staff and volunteers to please get me that thing over there because I'm busy with something or other. In reality, I'm busy throbbing from the pain of cheap shoes.
These Cole Haans offered the promise of Nike Air under my feet. A brief parade around the shoe department in a similar pair at T.J. Maxx a few months prior had me believing that all Cole Haans feel like tennis shoes for ever and ever and then for at least an extra hour. That experience, coupled with the enthusiasm of the sales team at Nordstrom who oohed and aahed over them while my toddler quietly dismantled the entire shoe department, levitated my credit card from my purse and the shoes were mine. On the way home from the store, I called a friend with a bad case of buyer's remorse. She was a fundraiser though, so I thought she might understand. Her response: Yeah, $278 for a pair of shoes is a little crazy.
But when I got them home and showed them to the man of the house, he emphatically agreed that they were the most beautiful shoes I owned. The architecture of the shoe is everything a woman needs to hold her up - solid, but sleek and feminine. I typically opt for chunkier heels so that my ankles don't give out, but the platform base supports my weight so that the heel of these can still be high and thin and sexy. The peep toes probably aren't appropriate for the dead of winter, but they work well in spring, summer or fall.
One of the things I love about the peep toe design is that just enough of your toe polish shows to be interesting, but it needn't be perfect. I'm also a hose junkie and love the fact that these work with or without them. During the spring, my legs are whiter than a ream of copy paper and I rarely have time to do fake tans. I like being able to wear hose or go without, depending on the time of year.
The slingback design is also lovely for people like me who want to be themselves while attending black tie optional events. As the hostess, I wore a little black dress so these shoes and some great jewelry were all I needed to feel spectacular but ready and able to work at the same time.
After debating the price tag for days, my man convinced me to keep them and I dreamed about wearing them at the event. When the night finally came, I slipped them on and felt like a million bucks for about four hours - not nearly long enough to carry me through the evening. The fifth hour had me asking for a chair during the program and the sixth hour had me drinking wine during auction checkout feeling completely immobilized by the immense torture of the shoes. As I sipped my wine near checkout and mustered up what little authority over vendors I could get while seated, the event chair approached and watched me slip off my shoes. "These are just killing me," I said. She eyed the label on the shoes and said, "Those are the Cole Haans I bought for my son's Bar Mitzvah. They have Nike Air, right? I was dying by the end of the day."
For the next full two days, my toes felt like they were molded into peep toe form. I suffered terribly, but for the first several hours of wear, I felt invincible.
I am giving these shoes four stars for each hour of comfortable wear, incredible sex appeal, adequate versatility and excellent construction. Still, don't expect to wear these for hours and hours on end without paying the price.
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