What can I say? These shoes are boss. Working in an office as I am, and also being short enough that most pants off the rack hit the floor in flats, I need to wear heels more often than not. Why not wear some with style? These definitely fit the bill; quirky, close-toed, strapped, and with BATS. They're also not the ridiculously-huge soles that have dominated the scene for years now and which are really, honestly, just not for me, so I'm also very glad to see a stylish gothic look without the comically silly padding.
The only real complaints I have are quibbles about the fact the soles (outside of the actual heel) are completely smooth, so until you either wear some roughage in them by walking on concrete, or manually do it yourself, they are suuuuuper slippery. I almost went down when trying them on and walking a few steps. Not sure why they couldn't have some sort of light tread there.
Also, the bats, while the best part, are awkwardly placed as part of the buckles...which are awkwardly placed as well. I feel like they should be further back on the actual shoe, because where they are now can easily rub against your foot. I also think they would work better as a proper buckle lying flat; since they stick up, they caught on more than a few threads in my pant leg.
I usually wear a 7 to a 7 1/2 (usually a 38 when Euro sized), so I went with the 8 to have some space, and I'm glad I'm did. They're a little big, but it means I had room to use a thin insert (which I…