ssjakira1's Full Review: Nina Vasek Evening Sandal for Women
My sister got married a few weeks ago, so a few weeks before that I had to find myself a dress and shoes. Nevermind that I had no income. (whee!)
While at Sears trying to help my mother find a dress, I spotted a pair of sparkly golden heels sitting in a display. I immediately made a mental note of what they looked like and the name behind them. Nina Vasek. Right.
So when we moseyed over to the shoe department, I started looking and low and behold, there they were. Sparkly and *joy!* on sale for 50% off. Jackpot. Because of that, these cost me only around $48. Lucky me, they suited both my rehearsal dress as well as my bridesmaid dress, so I got a lot of foot time in. I also wore them on Halloween that same month because they also suited my Renaissance-style dress. When I buy something, I make sure I get more than one use out of it!
My Nina Vaseks are almost all golden/sparkly fawn colored with diamond-like studs in the center spots of the strap that goes over the foot near the toes. The other strap wraps around the ankle in typical strappy-heel style. The heel is actually more stiletto-like than I'm used to. Usually I have at least an inch or more of heel to fall back on. Not this time. The fabric of the shoes is smooth and satiny with tough geunine leather soles.
While the tiny heel surface is textured to help provide at least some grip, the area supporting the ball of the foot and the toes is completely smooth, so watch yourself on other smooth surfaces. A few times while walking through my sister's house on the hardwood floors, a few areas were smoother than others (like they were missing varnish or something) and at one point I almost took a dive into the dining room table.
Because I spent so much on shoes, dresses, and everything else, I planned on wearing them nonstop on the day of the wedding. I know, not the smartest thing, but I was going to be kneeling about 30 minutes worth during the actual ceremony, in a limo during transportation, and get to sit whenever I wanted during the reception dinner. That and I completely neglected to bring comfy shoes anyway. But I wore these babies on all kinds of surfaces, so I gave them a thorough road test.
Hard surfaces like concrete, hardwood, and laminate flooring aren't much of a worry. As I mentioned before, it's only when you find an extra smooth spot that they can slip. Otherwise they're able to handle all sorts of surfaces without any worries of falling. No concerns about slipping and crashing into pews when walking around in the church. I'm not used to heels like this, but even I had a safe time while in them. No ankle twisting, no heels breaking. I even jogged a few times in them and as long as you're careful (many of us ladies know how to move quickly in heels), it's okay. The leather bottoms are able to tackle the grit and rock bits of streets and parking lots without sustaining much damage (and trust me, I had to cross one parking lot about 4 or 5 times).
We took pictures in a park, and soft ground is a different matter. If the ground were dry, I'm sure they would have fared better. However, it rained the night before, so the ground was soggy and the grass wet. Here's where the heels became a bit problematic-they enjoyed sinking into the ground. But if I stood more on my tiptoes, the damage was less.
But thanks to the mud, I can tell you that cleaning these shoes is relatively easy as long as you get to the dirt in time. When we got back to the hotel, I immediately snatched up a bar of soap, took these off, and washed them in the sink, scrubbing at the fabric with the soap on the heels and around the toe area. With a bit of warm and cold water, I got almost all of the dirt off and they were back being almost as good as new. Yay!
Dancing in these is pretty easy provided you're careful on the (obviously) slick dancing surface. Your feet can slip a little bit on the satiny fabric if you're doing some twists or spins, but the ankle strap keeps your foot firmly in place. After I got the hang of walking around in the small heels, I never once worried about my ankles.
One thing I'm sure all you ladies want to know - did they hurt my feet? Well, yeah, after wearing them from 11am to 11pm. Of course they did. Feet aren't meant to be on near-tippy-toe all day. The balls of my feet were actually the most OUCH out of anything, and all that was due to the constant pressure of walking with my feet in that position. I was actually kind of surprised at the fact that the strap over my foot near the toes hadn't done the sort of damage I'd expected. There was one small spot where a friction-related ouchie had developed near one of my pinky toes, but nothing big. I honestly do not remember any blisters at all. Considering what some other shoes can do to a girl's feet after 12 hours (and other evening shoes I've worn for less than that), I think these performed fantastically. Granted, it took a few days for my feet to be not as OUCH, but that's because I'd basically put way too much constant pressure on the nerves...I don't even really think there were any bruises to be had.
Two hours of wearing these during Halloween? My feet were just fine and dandy.
If you find some Nina Vasek Evening Sandals on sale somewhere, go for it. I am extremely pleased I bought these. I love them to pieces because they fit so well and I think they're so pretty. I call them my Cinderella shoes.
As if I care that they aren't glass (actually, I think that's probably a good thing!).
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