BEANS – WOMENS LIGHTWEIGHT SLIP ON COMFORT – Bagivy

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Way, way back on November 28, I foolishly ordered some shoes that I’d seen advertised everywhere online – these slip-on, washable, well-nigh indestructible shoes that were shown in a video being filled with soapy water, run over by a car, and bent into different shapes. They looked cute, and fun, and they were affordable, so I recklessly bought a set of 3 in different colors. My thought was that I’d wear them around the house (I work from home) but they could go outside for short trips, etc.

They didn’t arrive until December 30, via China Post and then USPS. Good thing I wasn’t planning on giving them as a gift! I had been really worried, as after the first week, I noticed that the tracking site Arriva that I had to use wasn’t showing any progress after the initial flurry of activity. It took them a week to move within China from their origin to some sort of postal depot. Then for weeks, nothing. I started to worry that I’d fallen for one of many “fake product” sites hosted by Shopify, and that when they arrived, if at all, I’d realize I’d been “tooken.”

When they finally, finally arrived, they came in a postal bag that was only half-sealed – there was a gap wide enough for a shoe or two to fall out. Fortunately, all three pair were inside.

I had ordered purple, black, and grey. Tried them on with a fairly thick pair of wool socks.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the bags was an extremely strong chemical smell. The soles felt a little slick and plastic-y, not rubbery or grippy as you might expect for a shoe that at least SORT OF appears to be based on a sports shoe last.

The uppers feel nice and solid, and mold to my feet well. The inside lining is sort of harsh, and I swear, I can feel the little “beans” on the bottom (the traction things) through the inner sole and my socks. And the air-cushion in the heel is just odd, like balancing on a wobbly kitten heel. There are inner columns (visible through the side “window”) that I swear I can feel in my heels.

Maybe if I wear a thinner sock? Trying that with a pair, and also barefoot, since they’re washable, seems reasonable. If I had planned on wearing orthotics or some sort of insert, I’d have had to go a size up.

With thinner athletic-style socks, they are looser, but I can still feel the “beans” on the sole, and the height of the heel throws my weight forward onto the ball of my foot, which makes this sensation even more noticeable.

There are removable inserts, and I have several pair of light orthotic-type shoe liners, which may improve the way the shoes feel when worn. But on each pair, it feels like there is a defect inside the right sole, just behind the toes, like a slight bump.

I’m not going to bother trying to return them. They are good enough for schlepping around at home and out to the mailbox, and I wore them to go to lunch just now (it’s not a wet or particularly cold day). They are very squishy, and frankly aren’t a super stable platform for anyone with balance issues, and they have too much flex and not enough arch support for anyone that’s on their feet all day. But for office work, seated, they’re fine.

I just can’t understand, though, why these shoes have such high 4 and 5 star ratings at various sites. I found numerous different sellers on Amazon offering the identical shoes, and most of them had 5 star reviews. Some of them were a bit suspect – rave reviews in not-quite-perfect English (you might even say they read like “Botlish”), interspersed with occasional 1 star reviews complaining about the chemical smell, the fit, and some inconsistencies.

Still, your mileage may literally vary. You may not get a pair with the “right toe bump” in the sole. If you don’t have high arches, they’re not bad and they look cute. Just don’t expect to receive them for at least 4-6 weeks.