At 62, the Comfy Slip-Ons I Never Bend to Put On
At 62, the comfy slip-ons I never have to bend down to put on
Six things the Daisy gets right that comfortable shoes get wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a pair of shoes in my life. What I have done is spend the last few years choosing my shoes by two questions, whether my feet will ache in them and whether I can get them on without a fight. Not much room for anything nice in that. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found a pair that answers both, saying why.
The ones I am writing about are called the Daisy, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I first saw them on a woman my own age at the garden centre, and when the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
A comfy slip-on shoe. I can hear you, because I said the same to my friend Sue. Those will be clumpy orthopaedic things, I thought. Then I watched her step straight into them without so much as a bend, and walk off easy as you like. Read on.
Here is what a few years of sore feet and a grumbling back taught me. Comfortable shoes come in two piles. The frumpy pile, the clumpy orthopaedic things that are kind to your feet but look like something the doctor sent round. And the fiddly pile, the nice shoes with the laces and the buckles that you have to sit down and bend over and fight your way into. I have owned plenty from both piles and never once had one that was easy on both counts.
Clumpy and frumpy, or nice but a battle to get on. Those were my two piles, and my back had opinions about both.
The Daisy is the first pair I have owned that is neither, and having barely had them off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
THEY LOOK LIKE A TRAINER, NOT A HOSPITAL SHOE
The comfort-shoe look I will deal with first, because it was my objection. Here is the thing, though. These do not look like a comfort shoe at all. They look like a neat, sporty trainer, in a soft navy mesh, and nobody has ever looked at my feet and thought orthopaedic. I have had compliments, in fact, which is not a word I ever expected to write about a shoe I bought for my poor feet.
The navy pair. They look like a proper trainer, and no one guesses the rest.
They look like smart little trainers, not the clumpy things I dreaded. Nobody would ever guess they were a comfort shoe.
Christine B., West BridgfordTHERE IS REAL ORTHOPAEDIC SUPPORT
Underneath the sporty look there is proper support, holding the foot and the arch the way they are meant to sit. The ache I used to get by the middle of the afternoon, the one that had me longing to sit down and slip my shoes off, has simply gone. My feet feel held and looked after, all day, which at our age is worth a very great deal.
My feet do not ache by teatime any more. There is real support in them, you can feel it the moment you put them on.
Margaret E., SouthwellTHE SOLE IS CUSHIONED, WITH A LITTLE BOUNCE
The sole is soft and cushioned, with a little air pocket in the heel, so it soaks up the hard pavement instead of sending every step up through your knees. There is the gentlest bounce to it that makes walking feel easier, and a little bit of a wedge, so you get a touch of height without any sort of heel to wobble on.
The cushioned wedge with its air pocket. It soaks up the pavement and gives the gentlest bounce.
The cushioning is like walking on a soft carpet. My knees and my hips both thank me for it.
Dorothy S., BeestonTHE MESH IS BREATHABLE, AND NOTHING RUBS
The upper is a soft, breathable mesh with a wide, gentle strap across the top, so my feet stay cool and there is no hard edge to rub or pinch anywhere. If your feet swell a little in the warm, as mine do, they simply give and breathe with you. No hot, sweaty feet, and not a single blister or sore spot since the day they arrived.
So light and airy, my feet stay cool and nothing rubs at all. Wonderful for my feet that swell in the heat.
Pauline H., ArnoldYOU SLIP STRAIGHT IN, WITH NO BENDING
This is the one that won me over. They are a slip-on, open at the back like a mule, so there are no laces to tie, no buckles to fiddle with, and best of all no bending down. I keep them by the back door and step straight into them on my way out to the garden. For anyone whose back or hips make bending a chore, I cannot tell you what a small daily blessing that is.
No bending, no laces, I just step in and go. With my back the way it is, that alone was worth every penny.
Eileen T., NewarkTHEY GRIP, AND THEY COME IN EIGHT COLOURS
The sole has a proper anti-slip grip, so I feel steady and sure-footed on a wet patio or a slippery kitchen floor, which matters more to me every year. And they are not just sensible, they are cheerful, in eight colours from this navy to a red, a pink, a khaki and more, in honest sizes. I have the navy. I have half a mind to add the red for the garden.
By the door, ready to slip straight into on the way out.
Steady as anything on my wet patio, and such a cheerful colour. I have ordered a second pair already.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Daisy, against the comfy shoes you have been buying
You can find a comfortable shoe for twenty-odd pounds almost anywhere. I know, because I have a cupboard full of them, most of them sensible and none of them easy. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Clumpy, and obviously an orthopaedic shoe
Laces or buckles you must bend to do up
Flat hard sole that jars your knees
Warm and close, feet get hot and rub
Smooth sole that slips on a wet floor
Looks like a smart, sporty trainer
Slip straight in, no bending, no laces
Cushioned air sole with a gentle bounce
Breathable mesh, cool and never rubs
Anti-slip grip, steady on a wet floor
Mine, on my feet and barely off them since.
About the price
The Daisy is £26.95 at the moment. It was £53.95.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the popular colours and the middle sizes are the first to go, and once a size has gone it can be a wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and I have found nothing wrong with these.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
If you have a bad back, sore feet, or you are simply tired of the daily battle to get your shoes on, and you would like a pair that is easy on every count, this is the pair I would put on your feet myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
DAISY | BREATHABLE ORTHOPEDIC SLIP-ON MULES
- Slip-on backless mule, no bending or laces
- Orthopedic support that eases sore feet
- Cushioned air sole with a gentle bounce
- Breathable mesh upper, cool and no rubbing
- Anti-slip grip, steady on wet floors
- A little wedge for height, no heel to wobble on
- Eight colours, UK sizes 2 to 8.5
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Popular colours and middle sizes go first.