Shoedazzle

So about 6 months ago, I was on facebook and clicked on the Shoedazzle website ad (yes I click on fb ads all the time! Weird I know...), and I thought it was an interesting concept.  Kim Kardashian is involved with the site supposedly.  So you basically sign up and give them your credit card info, then every 1st of the month, they will pick out 5 pairs of shoes for you based on this little test you take at the time you sign up.  They market it as a personalized shoe stylist.  You can choose one pair for $39 including shipping, or you can ask them to send you 5 more pairs to choose from, or you can click on "skip this month" and they won't charge your card.  If you don't pick a pair and don't click the skip this month button, then your card gets charged $39, so you will basically have a "credit" with shoedazzle that you can use later.

Ok so I thought I would try it out.  Why not right?  I don't HAVE TO buy a pair of new shoes a month, I can always skip.  And they say you can cancel your account at any time.  $39 seems like a pretty good price for shoes.  They even provide free shipping sticker if the shoes don't fit.  The sample shoes they showed on their site looked really cute too.  So I fill out my info, and took the test.  It was basically like a series of pictures with the models wearing different styled outfits, and you just pick which one you like best in each series.  It took only about 5 minutes.  Then I got my first 5 selections sent to my email account.  I checked them out, decided that I liked one of them, so I picked them to be sent to me!  The shoes looked like this:

I was so excited to get them!  I didn't have very high expectation for them to arrive in great qualify since $39 is so cheap - definitely would not get real leather.  But I thought that they would be fun shoes that I could wear once in a while. Shoedazzle ships from LA through FedEx, which means I would get them pretty fast. I think it took 2 or 3 days for them to get here.  Great!  When I first received the box, I was pretty happy with the presentation.  They came in a pink & purple flowered shoe box with Shoedazzle written on it, The shoes were wrapped with purple tissue paper, and a pink pouch came with it to store the shoes.  Cool!  I took some pictures.

Oh boy was I disappointed when I opened the pretty purple tissue paper!  First of all, they were WAY too big!  I chose size 6.5, since I wear 6 or 7 in most brands.  But these looked like they were a size 8 at least!  They ran WAY too big.  The brand was actually Michael Antonio.  I searched on google and found that they make tons of cheap shoes, I mean like hundreds or thousands of different styles.  Wow.  So on top of that, the shoes were SUPER cheap looking.  Very very badly made and just disgusting.  The color looked like a shit brown, not tan like the picture shows.  You could even see stitches where you shouldn't.  It was just plain disgusting.  So I returned them right away.  Apparently they charge $5 "restocking" fee.  Whatever.  There was no way I was going to keep them or exchange for a smaller size.

Ok so here's the kicker, apparently FedEx and FexEd Ground are different.  I never ship that much stuff so I did not know the difference.  If you drop off a prepaid package at FedEx when it's FedEx Ground, it can take up to a month for them to be transferred over.  WTF?  Of course that happened to me since I didn't know the Shoedazzle prepaid return sticker was good only at FedEx Ground.  So I waited I think definitely more than a month for them to finally get the package back.  They credited my credit card.  Ok I was ready to cancel my Shoedazzle account.  But you have to call their customer services to cancel, so I kept putting it off, and just clicked "Skip This Month" every month and never got charged.  It was really no biggie - much easier than calling and talking to someone alive!

Four months later, I must have gotten over my fear of this company.  So when I saw a pair of super cute shoes, I decided to give it another try!  I figured the first time could be a fluke.  Everybody deserves a second chance!  So I ordered these:

Super cute right??  This time I called customer service and waited for like 20 minutes to talk to someone.  I made sure that these really do fit true to size, and ordered my size 6.  The customer reps I've talked to from Shoedazzle are actually all very nice.  A few days later, the shoes showed up!  I was very happy to see that these were made with much better quality!  They are not Michael Antonio this time, but the actual Shoedazzle brand.  The material was some lacey fabric, and looked like the construction was done pretty well.  They definitely didn't look cheap.  I was very happy with them.  BUT, they were wayyyy high!  I mean I love my heels and wear them all the time, but these were extraordinarily high. And the way the shoes are designed, they were extremely uncomfortable.  I think I have other shoes that are about the same height, but they have some kind of hidden platform on the bottom so they are way more comfortable to wear.  While I loved the look of these shoes, I really doubted I would wear them very much, and I decided to exchange them for another pair that was also one of my 5 selections.  This time also remembered to drop off the package at FedEx Ground!

A few days later the new ones came:

They were Michael Antonio again.  And CHEAP looking again!  Though they did fit true to size this time - a slight improvement from the first experience I had.  I really do wish Shoedazzle would tell you exactly what brand the shoes you are being shown because I will never buy Michael Antonio shoes again.  So ugly in person.  Whoever they hired to take photos of the shoes is a genius because they can make a fugly pair of shoes look like a 10.  Wow.  I don't even know where to begin.  These look like they are made of plastic.  The paint or whatever on the shoes were so cheap looking that they were about to crack all over the place.  Ugh!!  I got tricked again.  I just saw the little platform on the bottom of the foot and thought they would be more comfortable and more cushioned.  The print looked pretty interesting and different too... I didn't think it would be that bad in person!  Ok needless to say, these were going back to them as well.  So that's 3 out of 3 that I had to return, which means I incurred $15 in restocking fee already.  I told myself, that's 3 chances you gave them, it's time to cancel the account!

Oh, but of course that day was the 1st of the month.  So when I checked my email, my new 5 selections were ready!  I had to go on the site and look.  I liked one of them, this time I could also see in one of the pictures the word "Shoedazzle" instead of Michael Antonio on the sole of the shoe.  They are not made of leather, but like a fabric or almost faux suede material, and just plain old black.  I figured I was safe there with it not looking too cheap.  They also have a platform on the bottom for comfort.  Here's a pic of them!  I especially liked how the heel is red on the inside - very Christian Louboutin!  So instead of returning the last ones, I exchanged for these instead:

I just received them in the mail.  Ok I think 4th time might be the charm.  They definitely don't look cheap.  Not that they look very expensive, but they just look like normal shoes and I'm ok with them being $39 (+15).  I wish the red part was a bright red - it's a little pale.  Oh well, not a big deal.  They fit perfectly, and are comfortable enough.  But they are extremely high too!  They add a towering 5 inches on me.  So I guess I'm 5'10 with them on.  Haha... maybe all Shoedazzle brands are that high!  Well I think I am keeping them.  But I will do some walking tests around the house tonight and further judge the likelihood of me ever using them.  But so far so good.  I can always use black pumps.  I'm quite tired of sending packages back to Shoedazzle to be honest.

So all in all, I would say that Shoedazzle is probably not worth it from my experiences.  The photos are just so deceiving!  Though the price is pretty cheap so if there is a pair of shoes that are a must have, then you are not chancing too much.  I hope people stay away from this Michael Antonio brand, unless they are going to a themed party.  Like white trash, or pimp & hoe, or hooker.  In NO OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES should one opt to wear that brand.  As for me and Shoedazzle, I'm likely to keep my account around longer, knowing myself.  If they had the option to cancel online, I think I would have done it a long time ago though!  Oh I can be sooo lazy.  =)