Review: Introducing the most comfortable heeled sandals...

M.gemi has always been high on my list of to-buys, but the shipping cost to Singapore always held it back. Was it worth to ship shoes which are considered heavy items all the way here? In my mind, I made a promise that I will buy when I see THE SHOE that I really like.

Here comes The Attorno, seemingly the perfect shoe for me with it's medium height block heels and in neutral tone. M.gemi has it in 3 colours - black, spice and taupe.

I'm always looking for apparels that are versatile so that's how The Attorno caught my eye. Some of M.gemi's designs were too flashy for my liking while others too caught up in curent trend. The Attorno seemed effortlessly classic and nailing it in all technical aspect.

I chose spice, although taupe (as seen above) looks great too. If I were in the states, I'm pretty sure I will be buying both colours!

The sandals arrived in the best packaging I ever come across for online shopping. Each shoe was wrapped in foam and stuffed to protect and retained it's structure. It was then wrapped in a pretty paper before being enclosed in a neat box. When opened, the first thing you see will be a personalised note from M.gemi. How cool is that! It is no wonder the entire package weighed more than 2kg and costed me quite a bit for the shipping :( That's basically the only cons I have about this purchase.

The sandals were P.E.R.F.E.C.T. no joke. I was very surprised with The Attorno and how comfortable it felt despite it being a heeled sandals. The heels were of perfect height, just to give me the extra height without being taxing on my feet. The inner leather lining and padded soles made it so comfortable to wear. I had also no problems with the leather straps being too loose or too tight since it's adjustable.

I know some of you wanted to know how does M.gemi stack up against Everlane's loafers and flats. While the Everlane shoes that I bought were quite different in style to The Attorno, but I can safely say that M.gemi's Attorno is much more comfortable than the two Everlanes that I own. If I'm looking for my next pair of shoes, it will probably be M.gemi instead of Everlane. That said, Everlane's other products are still pretty top notch and the design of their shoes does me feel like owning one!

I wish M.gemi would offer free international shipping or sale/discounts for international customers. The shipping is crazily expensive and is holding me back from buying out all colours of The Attorno haha.

Review: Grana Denim

I have been eyeing Grana items for some time. The materials they used for their products are said to be some of the best quality. It fits the needs of minimalists yet the funky colours add some personality. If you are a fan of Everlane, Cuyana or Zady, you would love Grana.

Their jeans were the ones that caught my attention since I needed some new ones due to my growing waistline. It is made of Japanese denim, which I am clueless what's so great about it. Nevertheless, I had to get it to see it for myself. I carted it out the moment they had it back in stock. Together with the high-waist jeans, I also ordered their A-line denim skirt which was another item I happened to want.

I added a size up because I hated tight jeans. It was a wrong move because it ended up looking at bit loose at my thigh area. Nonetheless, it was still wearable and I am not sure if my usual would be comfortable enough for me.

The packaging was beautiful. Shipping was fast. Everything was neat.

Didn't quite like the huge product name and sizing but wasn't a major problem since it is on the inside. The denim felt smooth and substantial. The design of their A-line skirt was very classic and definitely worthy of anyone looking at a capsule wardrobe.

A closer look at the stitching details on the high waist jeans. 

As you can see, the high-waist jeans fitted a bit loose on me. The high-waist is true to it's name - HIGH waist. I felt that it was too much that it looked a bit forced... like someone who wanted to look taller or have the illusion of long legs and end up over-doing it. I would give it a 7/10. 2 points deducted for being too high waisted, perhaps shortening the rise by 1.5cm would be good. 1 point deducted just because I ordered it slightly large and didn't fit me exactly.

The jeans and skirt were definitely true-to-size and comfortable enough. They do have other denim products as well as silk, poplin, cotton etc. Sign up for an account using this link and get 10% off your first purchase at Grana!

Review: Everlane's The Modern Point

If you followed my blog you would have read my review on Everlane's Modern Loafer which I said I was pleased with the look of the loafer.

Now, the very first shoe at Everlane that caught my eye wasn't the modern loafer, but the modern point. I was hesitant to get it because of the price but ultimately, the need to have it overcame my hesitancy. I was looking for a comfortable and basic shoe for everyday work wear and Everlane's The Modern Point just looks to be the one.

When I first opened the box and took out the pair of modern point, the first thought was 'wow, it's huge'. For a moment I thought I could have gotten a size larger. However, when I put it in, it fitted like a glove.

Like what the other reviews said, the leather used in the modern point is definitely softer than the loafer. Design-wise, it probably won't be much of a head-turner as compared to the loafer but at least it's sleek and clean-cut. For the record, I ordered half a size up from my usual size and it was the right decision. The modern point is more suitable for semi-formal and casual wear with the pointy toes giving it a more upgraded feel.

The soles are still an issue. You can see it has a plasticky shimmery look, so I added some anti-slip stickers to the front part. I would highly recommend buyers to do that as it can get slippery at times. I do appreciate the white strip design at the heel as it adds a touch of elegance to a otherwise standard looking pair of flats.

So far so good, I like how it looks on me though I have yet to walk long distance on my modern point, Hopefully it performs better than the loafer!

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Update: I figured I needed to size up by another 0.5! I'm a standard 6.5 but have gone with a 7 for the modern point based on Everlane's recommendation. Still, I feel it's a bit pinching on my heels and toes for one of my feet.

Review: An honest review of Everlane's Modern Loafer

Was excited for my first purchase at Everlane after being lured by it's 'transparency' motto. Everlane does not provide international shipping currently, so I had to use a forwarding agent to get it in Singapore.

For my first purchase, I wanted to play it safe even though I heard many great reviews about Everlane. I decided to get something which was on 'offer' and another white v-neck tee which was their cheapest item. They did a 'Choose What You Pay' for their black-brown Modern Loafer in patent leather so that's what I got.

The Look
True to the description, the pointed toe and sleek silhouette gave it a very elegant look. It has a slimming effect on one's feet. Given a choice, I would not have gone for the patent leather simply because many times it will end up looking cheap, but this is definitely not the case for Everlane. Thumbs up to Everlane on the design which was what I was looking for in a pair of loafer. I ordered half a size up accordingly to the recommendations by Everlane and it fitted me well.

Comfort
When I first put it on, it wasn't as bad as I thought. It is definitely far from being super comfy, but I thought it was bearable given some break-in period. I wouldn't try wearing it out for a long period in the early stages. Till now, I have only worn it around at home to break in and for a short walk outdoors (say 15mins).

Besides the usual friction against the heel part, I also experience the sides of the shoe pressing and rubbing against my ankle bone. I wished the shoe wasn't so 'deep and the sides of the shoe were not so high. It resulted in this blister from that 15mins of walk.

Quality
I felt that the quality of Everlane's shoes needed a bit more attention. For the price, it was reasonable, but he soles wouldn't last as long as everyone thinks. From that 15min walk, there were already holes on the rubber soles from tiny stones pressing against it.

Also, there were some sloppy work with the stitching, or maybe I just got a slightly defective one. I noticed the sloppy stitching on my left shoe when I first tried on it because it jutted out and causes some friction against my feet. It is acceptable to me if this sloppy stitching appears at just one part, but that's not the case. I have since then feedback to Everlane's customer service.

Wear-abilty

Lastly, I would want to talk about it's wearability. This shoe is very versatile and works well with both pants and skirts. It gives your whole look a bit more edge even if you are say, wearing a sweatshirt out to the market. I can foresee myself wearing it with casual wear or in an office look. I would think it suits people with narrower feet, although with it's supposedly slimming effect, it will improve the look for those with wider feet. For my height of 1.69m, my shoe size is usually a US6.5, which is kind of small. I also have thin ankles and many shoes make my feet look bigger that it actually seems. This shoe will lengthen my feet without making it look wider.

Having said that, given that it's almost entirely made of leather, wearing this outdoors in a tropical climate like Singapore without socks will tend to make your feet sweaty and slightly uncomfortable. The half-size up from my usual size will only allow room for me to wear a thin sock.

Overall Verdict

I really like Everlane's Modern Loafer for it's design and wearability. I just hope the loafers will break in soon and I can wear it often enough.

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Update: I have taken my loafer out for a good number of times now. The last time I tried it, it still caused some blisters on my feet. I also added anti-slip stickers to the soles as the front part is really slippery.