Astoria Women's Edwardian Leather Shoes (Black)

As a violinist, it’s hard to find elegant shoes that are comfortable enough to stand and balance in while performing.
These shoes have really come in handy! They are so well balanced that I don’t feel like I’m wearing any heal.
I recommend them for anyone who has to be on their feet for a while, and is not willing to compromise comfort or range of motion.

The shoes looked a bit more delicate in the pictures than they are in real life. The leather is thickly layered and stiff. The height of the toe box seems a little excessive. I had to wear substantial socks with these, which is not what I had envisioned.
But these are small issues when compared to the high quality of these shoes!

I wish I had bought these when they first showed up in white...like 6 pairs and dyed them every color I could want. I love my black ones. they are my go to shoe for 1900-1930...and frankly I wear them with my modern wear all the time. Adore these shoes

These are truly a beautifully designed shoe! The heel is super comfortable, and the toe is such a lovely shape. I have really high insteps so I was worried about the straps (I think moving the buttons would be a bit more challenging than the product description implies), but they actually fit just fine. The key (for me) is not to bother with undoing the straps first, but to just work my foot in with the straps buttoned; it's a bit of a struggle, but once on they fit perfectly. I bought these in ivory for my wedding, and I've taken off one star because of the color; I tend to think of "ivory" as a warm, almost yellowy white, which would have gone perfectly with my dress, but to me these look much more on the cool-toned/gray side. It's not a huge deal, but if I were more of a perfectionist with my wedding I might have been pretty disappointed.

Good arch support and they stay on my feet when I walk because of the straps. The color is a little darker in person than the photos show, however. This may be the result of using flash to take the photos.

I've been wanting a pair of navy shoes for awhile and these are just perfection. The lower heel means they are very comfortable. Even wearing them a whole day my feet felt just fine which is rarely the case for any obvious heel for me.

Of AD shoes they're on the narrower/tighter end, similar to the Mae style rather than the Pompadour. But wearing them for a day with a thick pair of socks they fit just fine now. Definitely not enough to size up unless you plan to wear these with thick socks/inserts. Oh and get the button hook tool if you don't have it already. It makes life so much easier, though once you do up the buttons a few times the button holes break in so they're easier to do.