Birkenstock agony

[Ohohohwhereyougoing]

I've lived in birkenstocks for the last 8 years. Immense comfort.

I'm a chubby girl, but put on even more weight last year. Maybe an extra stone.

I bought 2 pairs last summer and breaking them in was a level of hell I've never experienced before. Full blown blisters, the bed felt like concrete. Bare in mind I buy 1-2 pairs every year, it wasn't exactly my first rodeo.

I couldn't work out if my feet had got fat(er) and so that explained the rub, but maybe they'd changed the design or something for the extra hard footbed.

Anyways, persevered I did, and slightly traumatised over the experience I didn't buy new this year, hoping that having already been broken in, I'd spent the year in blissful comfort again.

I cannot wear them on a walk for more than 20m.

Today we went out for an hour and my feet are ripped to absolute shreds. I had to walk barefoot back to the car it was such torture!


Wtaf has happened? And what do I wear now?.I don't want to live in trainers.

I'm short and fat. Trainees look weird on me at best of times.

I'm so sad!

[fairydustandpixies]

Fitflops! Amazing! I had a pair of Sketchers which gave me the most horrendous blisters, my feet were bleeding when I took them off but Fitflops...just fabulous.

[Ohohohwhereyougoing]

I literally wear them from April-October... then my drmartins oct-april i live in them! The footbed is definitely broken in.. but these blisters. I just don't understand what the hecks going wrong!

Sounds like a softer footbed version will stop the pad rubbing/discomfort but I'm not sure it's going to resolve the blisters. They aren't too tight strap wise so wtf? I can't tell you how annoyed I am. I don't know how to wear anything else!

[MaccaPacca81]

I've had a pair for about 7 years.

Really looking forward to when they break in.

[Ohohohwhereyougoing]

Oh Macca

I promise, as a PP said, they really are like walking on air. I've got a really battered pair i keep by the back door for the garden and everytime I slide my feet into them it is utter bliss. Like noticeable "ahhh"

If they weren't half chewed and a million years old I'd be wearing them all day every day!

[Ginfordinner]

What on earth are you doing to them that you get through 2 pairs a year?

My footwear lasts for years. My summer sandals are 7 years old, and my fit flops are 10 years old.

[Veterinari]

Second Moshulu
They have an online store and are very comfy

[MissusMaker]

I don't know if this will help but I have a pair of Arizona's (2 strap) which I bought before last summer - never had birkies before. It took me a little while to wear them in but then had a comfortable summer. This year they seemed ok when I first put them on around the garden but I went for a short walk and came back with blisters on the footbed and arch where you were pointing. I let my feet recover and continued to wear them round the house/garden. It's been a couple of weeks and yesterday I went for a 2 mile walk in them with no discomfort at all. So maybe once your feet recover you will be ok? In my case my feet just needed to toughen up again I think.

[SummerSazz]

I second fit flops. I had some old Birkenstock's which were great and then newer ones which just weren't the same. I've worn fit flops for the last 5 years or so and can walk miles in them as I get the ones with back straps so no clenching feet trying to hold them on - I have plantar fasciitis so this really helps. I also wear sketchers trainers which are fab but haven't looked at any of their sandals.

I've just checked an email from fitflop and 'Happy25' is a discount for some lines apparently. And no, I don't work for them!

[guineapig1]

I’m a massive Birkie fan and agree that once they are broken in they are the most amazing sandals ever -most years I get a new pair and break them in alongside my existing collection and it never takes more than a couple of weeks. Have you tried loosening the straps a little on the Arizonas?

[Therollockingrogue]

I’ve boycotted Birkenstocks.
Fifteen years ago I used to wear them all the time.
I had so many, wore them daily in central London.
They never wore out, they were super comfy, everything perfect.
Then something changed. Last year I purchased two pairs from schuh . Both had crumbled cork soles within weeks. Both were awfully uncomfortable. I was refunded by schuh, but when I wrote to Birkenstock they told me they couldn’t guarantee that the ones in schuh were real genuine Birkenstock’s?
They only offer quality assurance for the ones purchased from their own store.
Anyway my third pair in a year have crumbled too, and the leather has split. Massive waste of money.
Btw I still have ones from 15 years ago that I wear as slippers. They’re simply a different shoe! As people say, like walking on clouds.

[Dilbertian]

Blisters in the arch of your foot - very unusual. You normally get blisters on places that protrude, not in hollows. Which makes me wonder whether your arches have fallen, and are now being rubbed by the protruding contour of the arch-support in the sole of the shoe.

It's not always obvious to the person that their arches have fallen. Ultimately Birkenstocks are likely to support fallen arches very well, but you would need to acclimatise yourself to them very gradually over 2-3weeks.

I always have to break in new Birkenstocks by wearing them with socks because the footbed, though it seems smooth to the touch, chafes the soles of my feet really badly. Like sandpaper! Similarly the underside of synthetic uppers. Leather uppers less so.

[midnightstar66]

I'd email them and explain the situation along with the split leather. If customer service is good they may come up with a solution.

[snappycamper]

I've had a similar experience. Wore my first pair for over a decade. Replaced them 2 summers ago and I cannot break in the new ones, they're just AWFUL.

[guineapig1]

Yes, emailing them is a good idea. @Therollockingrogue I’m shocked at their response about Schuh though! Incidentally, I mostly buy either directly from their website or occasionally from Amazon and never had a problem.

[TheoriginalLEM]

That footbed doesn't look right, are you sure they legit? I'm a big girl and I have the two strap Arizona's and they are without doubt the best pair of shoes I've ever owned. I previously had the gizelle toe thongs that lasted five years of constant wear.

The footbed looks much thinner than mine.

[tiredanddangerous]

The quality of birkies has really declined in the last couple of years. I used to be able to get a good 3 seasons wear out of them, but the last couple of pairs have been unwearable after one summer (sole breaking/coming apart.) I stuck with them because I have very wide feet and I know they fit, it’s time for a change though.

[supercalifragilistic123]

I'm a birkie in the summer DMs in the winter kinda girl too

I bought a new pair last year and they're you mention it they are nowhere near as comfortable as my previous pair I had for 5 years. I thought it was just because my old ones were well worn. But they still chew my feet a little even though they're well work in. I bought mine in office, gizeh style.

[Toddlerteaplease]

I've had a similar issue. Had Birkenstock's for years and wore them out. A pair I've had die a couple of years are really rubbing. Unless my feet have changed, I can't explain it either.

[HermioneWeasley]

They used to be my shoe of choice but I find they don’t offer enough cushioning for me

Fit flops with a toe post or any kind of sketchers - they’re all like walking on clouds

[Ohohohwhereyougoing]

Sorry will try to catch up:

One pair (i cannot remember which but I think its this pair i pictured) came from a highly regarded independent shoe store, and the 2nd from JL so I'd like to think both legit!

I go through them so quickly because they are my main shoe for majority of the year and i literally wear them for everything, everywhere. So they get scruffy quick imo.

The straps aren't tight. I'd actually loosened them in the very beginning. I usually wear gizeh so wasn't used to the Arizona.

Yes they are a very odd place to blister. To pp sadly i also thought maybe i needed to toughen my feet up. Clearly i don't learn because this is the 3rd time I've allowed this to happen in hopes i could get through it and make them work for me!!

Fallen arches... im v wide footed and have a high instep. What would cause fallen arches and as above, if i need to adjst surely i would have done now, I've been trying to wear these since last summer!

[Ohohohwhereyougoing]

Just noticed I fb messaged BIRKENSTOCK last summer to complain and they said I had to go back to place i purchased.



Sat in my office looking out and can see the shoe store went bust .. last week apparently.

[cultkid]

Oh I'm sorry they have hurt you so much
I don't know if the problem is also possibly your Achilles' tendons...
Are you used to wearing a flat shoe?

How wide are your feet are they actually stretching the shoes? Everything is made of shite these days

[Ohohohwhereyougoing]

Cult your last sentence made me LOL

But OMG! i just googled achilles tendon and i have been have the most awful pain in my heel/back of my foot when walking sometimes for about a year! Its sporadic, can be a short flat walk to school or a climb in the woods with the dog.

But, does this link to the foot arch blister somehow?

[ThanksForAllTheFish]

I had one pair of birks in the past that were unusually difficult to break in. I had to resort to wearing socks with them, just around the house and the garden and they eventually did mold to my feet and get comfortable enough to wear normally. It did take quite a while though.
My best and most favourite Birkenstocks are 13 years old and still going strong. But showing some signs wear and tear on them now obviously. They are still too good to chuck out.

[cultkid]

I think your Gait has changed.
I think you've got flat feet and that's why the top is rubbing. I think your clenching your toes to keep them on, your heel is in trouble and needs to be seen to (small heels help and I love crocs to help with the pain too)
And then because your clinging on your foot is sliding around and it's rubbing your foot

I still maintain that everything is made of shit x