I am a sucker for a new pair of shoes and I’m always on the hunt for the perfect lazy and comfortable, but stylish pair. Before I started my job a year ago, I came across this KickerStarter for a new brand called Penner. The style was right up my alley, slip on, and it claimed “no blisters, no smells, no achy feet, ever.” Sold.
If you’re curious about the brand, check out their site and their kickstarter page below.
The KickStarter deal was either a pair for $99 or 2 for $169. I was really tempted by the 2 pair deal in case I loved them (way to fall for the scarcity fallacy…), but my boyfriend convinced me that, one, I didn’t need more shoes and two, that I could always buy another pair if I liked them so much. Well, as you can guess from the title of this post, I kind of regret not getting 2!
I spent ages looking at all the different colour combinations. Black goes with everything, but I have so many black shoes and wanted to expand out. In the end I really liked the white sole with the midnight navy leather and that’s what I went with. If I were to get a second pair (which I might…after I clear out some shoes) I would probably go for the creamy caramel on tan to add some brown to collection.
These finally arrived to me in London almost a year after I backed the KickStarter project and I had forgotten I even ordered them. To be fair, they were shipped a few months earlier to the US and it was only recently they made their way to me. The shoe box is a bit bulky for the size of the shoes, but the design on it is beautiful and even has a custom insert so the shoes are displayed.
The shoes came with arch support self adhesive gel inserts, which is a really nice touch. I always dislike how little support non-sneaker shoes have, and with these you can place them exactly where you want and move them around with worrying about a sticky mess or destroying the insoles of the shoes by ripping them out.
The first day I wore these I had some time to kill before an event and ended up walking all around Marylebone for a few hours. I was amazed at how comfortable my feet were in new shoes.
Usually my two biggest problem spots with shoes are the front of my feet, which are on the wide side, and right under ankle where the bone sticks out (malleolus). The leather was a tiny bit tight when I first slipped the shoes on, but it stretched out already after the first wear. The v-cut and the low profile of the shoe means there was no rubbing on any part of my heel. So tick and tick on the no blisters and no achy feet!
So what about the smell feet part? I notice that I can wear my Penners without any socks and there is no wave of gross smells when I take off my shoes at the end of the day. Even better, I did the ultimate test of sticking my nose into the shoes to check and nope, nothing but leather smell! Tick on the no smells.
I am really in love with these shoes and may have to shell out the $150 for another pair soon. Plus I got so many compliments on my shoes when I wear it now!
And voila, happy feet!
Victoria Cheng 