So many of you asked, so I bought a pair to review. Let me just say for the record I have zero issue spending money on quality. I do, however, have an issue spending money on things that are trendy- just for the sake of peer pressure. I’ve had a lot of friends tell me that they loved these shoes and swear by them. I don’t like elastic flats unless they stretch out quickly. (Those Tory Burch flats that had elasticized heels were the WORST.)

Fyi: these are handmade leather shoes costing anywhere from $175-$295 for one pair.

I thought I would do a daily diary of my week with my Tieks. Just so that you could see my mindset the entire week through.

Day One. They arrive.
Ok, let’s be honest. That gigantic gerber daisy reminds me of when gerber daisies were popular … a decade ago. It looks like a baby headband. I like the idea… but if you’re spending $175 on flats, I would assume some more thought would go into packaging. Eh, apparently not. Hopefully the shoes are better. I tried them on and wore them an hour. Key takeaways: zero arch support and the elastic band edge is digging into my feet after 30 minutes. BOO. They feel like really expensive bedroom slippers.

I had them on 30 min…

Day Two: Mom’ing about town.
Alright. I gave myself a pedicure to make sure my nails were as short as possible to help with the tightness over my toes. No dice. The small toe box is pushing my toes down onto the sole. Constantly. It feels weird to have as much pressure on my toes with my feet propped up. Ouch. Tonight I’m going to stuff socks in the toe box to stretch it out and fold these suckers backward to hopefully stretch out the elastic. I don’t have abnormal feet or anything- I promise, so this is an odd problem to have.

Day Three: Investigation
I have figured this out- they are the old lady flats my grandma wore (Isotoners) with rubber shock-absorbent soles glued to the bottom. They are SUPER thick but don’t have any special bounce to them. The inner soles are pretty thick, but debating the purpose of the obnoxiously colored outer-soles.

Day Four:
I MacGuyver a way to make them more comfortable. So they sit like this all night long.
Day Five:
I RE-engineer a way to make them stay stretched out at night- because I need both shoes to stretch out, and I don’t have limitless lotion bottle/toothbrush/headband options.

Day Six:
They’re more comfortable, but they still dig into the top of my feet and the sides- so when I take them off, I have a ring around my feet from the elastic. NOT pretty.

Day Seven:
I sort of see the allure of the Tieks. They’re slowly getting more comfortable. That being said, so far the are NOT more comfortable than my ballet flats from J. Crew factory and they’re 3x the price.

The Verdict:

No. They are not worth the money.

I get it. They come in every color imaginable. They’re trendy. Oprah likes them.

Here’s the deal.

  1. When Oprah made them a “Favorite Thing” she was impressed with their packability. She loved that there was a pair of quality made, foldable flats. BUT she didn’t wear them except after a night of heels. There are NOT her go-to daily flats. (In that list she actually stated her go-to favorite flats. Not these.) You need the entire story to understand why these were a favorite of hers. That being said, they’re still great for that specific use.
  2. The colors are amazing. I, however, was bummed my “feather grey” was more of a “light nude.” In no way are these any sort of gray. Annoyance, but that could be my fault for not picking the right color.
  3. The sole color is ATROCIOUS. They NEED to offer some in a black sole, because it’s just stupid.
  4. They look like a leather version of the Isotoner slippers my sweet grandma used to wear. Hello, that is NOT stylish.
  5. Zero arch support.
  6. They get more comfortable as you wear them, but they’re NOT COMFORTABLE AT FIRST. AT. ALL. That brings me to my next point…
  7. The outer soles are not engineered with superior quality so that they provide any sort of added foot comfort- it’s just solid rubber. You’d be better off buying an insert for the flats you already have.
  8. The thick outer sole makes the shoe look like an oreo from the side. Bad design and just weird.
  9. You can see your toe through the leather on the top- which means that leather will wear off first. (Showing wear over a toe looks creepy.)
  10. The website is misleading. They have “reviews” but ALL ARE POSITIVE. They filter out the negative reviews and thus you don’t get any HONEST opinions before you go and spend $175 on shoes. This is why I love Nordstrom and Amazon. LET ME HAVE REAL REVIEWS, Tieks. Controlling the opinions that go out into the world is misleading and annoying.

I hate to be such a Debbie downer because I know people that have them and love them. BUT, you know me, and I’m not pulling any punches here. I spent my own money on these and I want my money back. These would be worth $75 at MOST to me. They’re not “walk all day long as Disney World” worthy. They’re not magical. They’re very much something that “the cool kids” wear because, well, the cool kids wear them. If you have $175 to plunk down on shoes because you want a fun color, do it. But if you want to replace your daily ballet flat, I would advise against it.

Look, I don’t hate them outright. We all know I spend a lot on shoes, but that’s the thing. I KNOW good quality and when something is worth the money. It’s not. It’s annoying because I WANTED to like them. The hype is SO BIG and people constantly talk about how much they love them. This mom did not. I’ve had so many people that are asking if they should save up for these, and honestly, no. Unless this is in your normal price point for flats, they’re not something I would recommend a client invest in. These flats are known for being the most comfortable. Buy these instead.

I won’t change my mind because even if they suddenly get more comfortable the sole is still obnoxiously colored, ugly and non-functional. I will keep wearing them just to see if they get any better and because I spent so stinking much on them, but in the end…

Not. Worth. The. Money.

**Update: I spoke with Tieks customer service and they said “It depends on each women. They are a perfect fit for some out of the box, but some women need a bit longer to stretch them.” And then said if I wore them outside, I couldn’t return them after a week. Also, she suggested I purchase wooden shoe stretchers to stretch them out a bit.

So… I’m supposed to buy wooden shoe stretchers (more money) and hope they eventually stretch out? Smh. Literally. I wore then (with discomfort) with the goal of stretching them out, but because I did that in the real world (ie not on carpet – which I only have in my basement), they won’t return or exchange them.

Let me also note that after extensive chatting, the rep said I have the correct size (makes sense. I’m ALWAYS a size 6 in EVERY shoe), they just need to stretch out. Y’all, this is a LOT of work for some flats.

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Adriele