For the past two years, I have been on a quest to find the perfect Mary Jane shoes for everyday wear.
Finding good shoes is a very difficult task if you are on a limited budget. I have been very disappointed by the quality of shoes lately. Brands I used to buy from years ago are now switching to lower quality finishes and material and comfort is mostly lacking.

While I am one to wear heels for hours, I still expect a certain of comfort when I invest in any item. In 2023, I was inspired to buy my first pair of flat Mary Janes from Canadian brand Fluevog. I shall write about them eventually, but and these shoes made me realize that sometimes, a flat pair of shoes is really the most efficient way to go about my day. Don’t ask me why I didn’t subscribe to this idea earlier. I am a libra, and that is all I will say about it.

On my quest to find other lower heel shoes that could fit my aesthetic of playful femininity, I came across Filipina designer Nicole Saldaña. Her brand has been gaining popularity on social media, but to be honest, I discovered it by typing “Mary Janes” on the search bar of SSENSE website. I am not really aware of shoe trends because, I am a little monomaniac. Trends are irrelevant unless they fit into my own agenda.

Nicole Saldaña patent Isabel shoes – 525$ CAD (on sale for 362$ at the time of my review)

Packaging

The shoes came in a beautiful branded blue box, and the matching fabric shoe bag was appreciated. At this price point, I certainly expect it, but I came to realize that it is not a given. Some brands don’t make this effort. I am happy to report that Nicole Saldaña invests into such details.

Aesthetic

The shoes themselves look adorable. This shade of red is simply perfect and never fails to catch the eye. I have been obsessed with red patent shoes for a while now and these ones are honestly so so pretty.
Their shape is elongated, rounded yet slightly square. The two bows at the front are made of red patent leather as well and are (technically) adjustable.
If I tell you that I love looking at this shoes… They are a perfect compromise, between ballerina shoes (which I dislike) and Mary Jane shoes (which I adore). Aesthetic-wise, I felt that I could wear them all the time.

Fit, comfort and sizing

The brand doesn’t seem to do half sizes which is unfortunate. After doing some research, I realized that many people were wearing these shoes too big or too small. It is crazy what one can do to be able to wear pretty shoes… I took a chance and ordered a size 39, my usual FR/EU size. I honestly don’t believe in Italian sizing at this point. As a French person, I think Italian shoes mostly fit like French shoes and like the rest of Europe. I never had a pair of shoes in Italian sizing that didn’t match French regular sizing. Besides, all brands have slight differences. All I know is that I am a US 8.5-9, FR 39, UK 6. I got these shoes in 39 and they fit right.

At first try, they actually seemed perfect. The length and width fit me well, they hugged my feet without hurting. However, after a little while, and not too long, I felt that there was a bit of discomfort around the widest part of my feet. I have narrow feet for reference. This is something I wouldn’t mind usually, but lately, I started to think, if I am willing to pay for expensive shoes they should really be comfortable and not just cute.

Another issue is that patent leather doesn’t stretch very much. My experience with Jonak , taught me also that patent leather can crack… With all of this in mind, I decided to try a size 40, but it turned out this size was really big. Apparently, the 39 was just right, but simply not immediately comfy.
The SSENSE lady told me that they would stretch, and I believe she was right because when I tried them again that day, they already felt looser… But now another issue arose.

The bows look ok in pictures but they would come undone within 5 to 10 minutes, really…

I have to say, while the patent leather spagetthi-strap bows are in theory a lovely idea… It just doesn’t translate well in real life. I should have known from simply looking at the website pictures but I was hopeful.

Let me tell you that if you buy these shoes and they don’t immediately come with the bow secured, it is almost impossible to fix it afterward. The patent leather is too slippery and thick to hold.
My fashion OCD could never. I could already see myself check my shoes constantly in case they came undone. I am sure, this is a vibe for some fashionable free spirit, but I just like my bows tidy. And this is basically what prompted me to return these shoes. I could have done with the discomfort until they softened, but the bow situation would stress me out.

To be fair some of the shoes came with perfect bows at the SSENSE store and I believe these would stay into place because the leather already kept the shape, but mine came with loose bows and I am pretty sure either someone had tried them before, or something happened to undo the original bows and now they were literally untameable. I also saw that the non patent leather bows were much more malleable. It made me sad to let them go because they honestly looked so beautiful, but at my big age, I just know better. I would be upset for keeping them eventually.

Nicole Saldaña Patent Red leather Isabel shoes are hand crafted in Portugal and from what I could see during the few days I had them with me, the patent leather looked beautiful. A bit thicker than my Jonak shoes, more rigid. The brand offers them in quite a few colorways and maybe eventually, I will get one. I am really into their silver, blue or green metallic options… From the ones I have tried, the non-patent shoes also felt immediately more comfortable.

Eh voilà. I hope this review will help someone. I would love to eventually try the brand for a longer period of time and see if their shoes stand the test of time. But they are certainly beautiful and so far, their business doesn’t look like fast fashion at all.

Let me know your thoughts and don’t hesitate if you have recommendations!
Yours truly,
Wen

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