Birkenstocks advice

[Medievalist]

I discovered Birkenstocks last summer and have a pair of Arizonas in navy and a pair of Madrids in white patent. Love them both. Both regular fit. I tried Arizonas in narrow but they felt too narrow - my little toe was on the ridge. However, my regular fit Arizonas have developed a crease on the leather between the two straps on the inside of the sandal. There's a small split at the top of each crease too. Does anyone else have this? I'm wondering if it means they're too wide if this has happened. And maybe I should persevere with the narrow fit (though I would normally go for a wide fit in other shoes). Will the narrow fit give at all?

Any advice?

I would say no. Don't get those 'narrow' ones. I've just bought a pair too, same thing: narrow fit? what? and the 'regular' fit are now more generally expensive. Great if you have narrow feet, but... I bought them in the first place because I like my feet to feel free.

I don't think there's any 'spread' room in the sole, as far as I can see. For me, I find that I cannot have both straps tightened to the same notch on both sets of buckles, which mildly annoys me, as I like symmetry, (lol) but I like that comfy foot bed, and the protective ridge around my foot, and once they're on I forget I have shoes on, which is brilliant, as I don't really like shoes, full stop. The idea of my little toe being wedged up against a too-tight shoe all summer long: oh, please, no.

Op are they leather or the birko flor ones? I can’t wear narrow for the same reasons as you and I think you should stick with regular, I have regular arizonas in birko Flor and they’ve got a crease just as you say. I wish I’d got leather as I assumed it was the material

They are Birko flor. I do have them fastened loosely as I also like the nothing on my feet feeling. It's great that you can have them loose and they don't slip around/off. Having said that, I have the toe strap as tight as possible on the first notch. This means there's quite a lot of spare strap sticking out beyond the buckle. The top strap however is fastened on the second off last notch - ie giving almost as much room as possible.

I'd reconciled myself to the crease, but was annoyed today to see very tiny splits starting. I thought Birkenstocks were 'for ever' sandals and wasn't expecting to see wear and tear just yet.

I really want a pair of silver/light grey/possibly white Arizonas for the summer. Very few shops have my size (8) in stock so I can't really do much testing in shops and hate faffing around ordering and returning things.

I tried the soft suede once before but didn't like them because the straps aren't rigid so it's difficult to slide your feet in. Maybe I should try leather. But I'm trying to become vegan so not that keen 🤷‍♀️

I’m Convinced it’s that op. None of my friends who have leather ones have the creases, I think it’s the man made material that doesn’t bend and stretch as well as leather. Disappointing though especially if you ethically don’t want to wear leather

I have the Madrid ones. They generally last 2 summers with very heavy wear. Then the issue I get is uneven wear on a corner of the sole. Because I have a slightly turned in walk! I've never experienced this. If you haven't had them that long I'd contact the company. Or I'd you have make it clear you're asking for future purchases. As I think this is quite unusual. I've been wearing birkenstocks for 15 years and haven't seen this. Maybe a silly question.. Did you buy them from a reputable retailer just there's a lot of fakes on ebay!

Sorry yeah I do have leather uppers too.

I bought them from Birkenstock on line. Sounds like it must be the man made material to blame.

I think it is a problem with the ones that have a higher strap. I have never had it with Madrids either leather or birko flor as they don't bend as you walk. I also have Gizeh (I think, the toe post ones) and they developed a split like this despite less use than the madrid because they have to bend when I walk due to the higher strap.