Rhinestone Flames

I posted these shoes on FB around the beginning of October. At first, I was quite smitten by them; thinking how great it would be if I was a devil for Halloween. For something that is such a novelty, I couldn't find them cheaply... they are made by Bordello Shoes (what a name, right?), and I ordered them from FunkyPair.com for $109. BUT, I thought... if they as great as they look in the photos, they would be a great conversation piece and it was worth it.

That being said... this is one of those posts where honestly is the best policy. I received the shoes and man... that was $100 poorly spent. These shoes are very cheaply made. The rhinestones are very VERY poor quality... not a sparkle to them at all! Even the glitter was questionable. Not to mention that the pair I received had excess hot glue all over it. The materials used were very poor; stiff and uncomfortable. The edges cut into the sides of my foot when walking and it just wasn't a well conceived shoe. If they were $35-55 shoes, I would probably have kept them. But for over $100, I want a better quality then what I received. With a big sigh of disappointment, I put the shoes back in the box and shipped them back to FunkyPair.

In regards to the company itself... I didn't have a great experience with them either. It was very difficult to get them to respond to emails, and so I ended up having to call to get anyone to answer my concerns. I did get refunded in the end, however. It just took a bit of nagging.

This taught me a valuable lesson on ordering anything with glitter or rhinestones. If you are unfamiliar with the manufacturer or designer, see if you can find photos from actual customers online. Ebay is particularly helpful for this; that way you can see what a shoe "actually" looks like, with an un-doctored consumer photo, before you buy. You also could email them and ask them what they think of this or that on the shoe before you commit. Or, search for photos on Google under images to see if you can find anything other than the company's stock pictures.

Of course, as I mentioned before, there is always trial and error. If a company offers free shipping both ways, then there is very little to gamble. Rhinestones are hard... and a good pair of rhinestone heels will be expensive. I will show you what I did purchase in the next post.