I love these shoes! This is my second pair and I liked them so much I also got my Mom a pair.

About my Mom: She has breast cancer and is just finishing up a year of chemo. Both of us are shoe collectors but unfortunately, chemotherapy has a lot of different effects on the body and shoes that my mom used to wear and found comfortable now bother her feet due to some neuropathy (I think that's what it's called) caused by the long term chemo.

When she told me that, I immediately thought of these shoes with their stretchy upper and soft, cushy feeling inside sole. I already had a pair that I loved so I got her a pair and now they are her favorite shoes. She's worn them pretty much every day since I gave them to her about a week ago or so.

Another nice thing about these shoes in regards to giving them as a gift is they come in a sturdy, cute box and even the tissue paper the shoes are wrapped in is printed in a cheery sort of spring/summer design. Great for gift giving and especially if you are like myself and my mom - we like getting a sturdy box because that's how we store our shoes. The box is free and it's super easy to tell which pair of shoes is which because the info is generally printed on the end of the box.

I uploaded some photos of the box and shoes to the product page.

I've had my original pair of shoes for almost 4 years now, have worn them at least 2 times a week all through late spring to late summer and they are showing a bit of wear but there's still lots of life left in them. When they get a bit grungy it's easy to throw them in the washer to clean them. Still good enough to kick around in on the weekends. Regarding drying the shoes: I always just set them on the back deck and let them dry in the sun because I can't stand shoes clunking around in the dryer so I don't know if that would make the upper shrink or not. One last thing regarding wear and tear - I live in a rural area and there aren't any sidewalks by my house so if I'm out walking in the shoes, it's on gravel and dirt or grass. If you live in a more urban/city area your shoes probably would stay nicer looking longer. I uploaded some photos of my old shoes before washing and after.

I can't really give a good opinion about arch support for these shoes since I have rather flat feet so most shoes are fine for arch support for me but I can tell you that since the upper is stretchy, I tried putting a Dr Scholl's insert in the shoe that I use with some dress shoes I own and it fit no problem so if there's not enough arch support, inserts fit and still leave plenty of room for your foot without feeling like your foot is being squashed.

The outside sole of the size 8 shoes from the tip of the toe to the heel measures just slightly over 10 1/4 inches. The outside sole of the size 7.5 measures slightly more than 9 3/4 inches - about halfway between the 9 3/4" and 10 inch marks on the measuring tape. I have a pair of Keds and to me, this shoe runs slightly smaller than my 7.5 size Keds.

I think the price of these shoes is really good too. I think I paid almost as much 4 years ago as I did for the new pair of shoes and I probably wear these in the spring and summer more than any other pair of shoes/sandals that I own. Plus they are a classic that never really goes out of style in my opinion. I wear them with capris, my high water skinny jeans, denim dresses, shorts, etc.

I'm happy they are still making them and that I got another pair. Money well spent in my opinion.