Reviews

Birkenstocks Review

By: Hadriana Lowenkron

755/800 Words

Photo credit to Footprints

Kick off the boots and buckle up the sandals! It’s May, and for many, that means sandal weather. Flip-flops are arguably the most popular type of sandal of because of their convenience. They slide on and off in seconds, they’re easily transportable, and they’re rubber; ergo they’re waterproof. However, they can be dangerous: “with only a small strip of fabric holding the foot in place, your toes need to grip the shoe to keep it on. Over time, that repetitive gripping can lead to overuse of the muscles, which could trigger tendinitis,” according to Jackie Sutera, a podiatrist from New York.
However, there are sandals that are not only safer, as they provide better protection due to thicker straps and a thicker sole, but also are trendier (according to 10 Reasons You Should Never, Ever Wear Flip-Flops): Birkenstocks.
Birkenstocks are a German brand of sandals that began in 1774 by Johann Adam Birkenstock of Langenberg, Germany. They offer comfort, quality, and style for men, women, and children. They come in a variety of colors, including anthracite, black, bordeaux, brown, cherry red, cocoa, dark brown, gray, habana, licorice, mocha, navy, olive, red, silver, stone, taupe, toffee, violet, and white. There are two widths: narrow and regular, and a large range in sizes. According to Jesse Johnson, a local reviewer, the shoes are especially good for those who have flat feet or plantar fascitis, and they “fit exactly as expected and are exceedingly comfortable.”
One outstanding problem with Birkenstocks is their extremely high price. A pair of Birkenstocks, while admittedly dependent on the type of shoe, typically costs around $135. For a pair of shoes, especially for sandals, which usually won’t be worn year round, that may seem like a lot of money. Especially when there are some shoes that appear to have similar benefits for almost half the price, such as Dansko sandals. However, compared to Dansko, Birkenstocks are worth the extra money because “the leather is nearly indestructible, and the footbed works as an orthotic; it will mold to your feet.” Furthermore, “Birkenstocks are good for people with large arches; they have great arch support,” according to A Comparison of Danskos and Birkenstocks.
Maddie Johnson agreed: “I generally wear flats or short heels on a daily basis, and I always find that at the end of the day, my legs feel tense and stiff or my knees feel weak. However, after walking around in these shoes [(Birkenstocks)] for days on end, I can safely say that after the first few trial days of breaking them in, they fit perfectly and support my feet quite well. They're quite pricey, but for the price, one really does receive a top notch product. Not to mention they look quite stylish! I think this is a worthwhile purchase, and one I can see myself using for a long time."
The reason Birkenstock receives such high praise from people with poor arches is because they are the first shoe company to utilize a “contoured footbed,” which features more toe room, a raised toe bar, a deep heel cup, a shock absorbing sole, jute fibers, a cork footbed, and a footbed liner. The contoured footbed provides four arches, which ensure “even weight distribution and proper posture,” according to Birkenstock’s website.
Furthermore, Birkenstock prides itself in being good for the environment. The manufacturers use top quality leathers and synthetic materials such as natural leather, patent leather, suede, nubuck, wool, felt, latex, jute, and cork. In 1988, environmentally-friendly adhesives were used in production, which set a new precedent for environmental awareness throughout the world. In fact, Birkenstock is now “leading the way in its environmental efforts,” according to Birkenstock’s website.
The only not so aesthetically pleasing aspect of Birkenstock sandals is that the materials used on the soles of the shoes to create comfort and support for the foot also create an imprint of the foot at the bottom of the shoe, and similarly, black stains on the bottom of the foot. Thus, after a few months of wear, the shoes can “start to stink to high heaven,” according to Johnson. However, that odor can be reduced with oil.
Overall, Birkenstocks are worth the money because they’re made of quality leather, which won’t become ruined after only a few months of wearing. They’re comfortable and provide good support for your feet, which is extremely important because, according to Laura Schocker, a podiatrist in New York City, “the feet are the foundation of your whole body; the base of the skeleton.”
And furthermore, they’re trendy.

Romwe.com Review

By: Emily Brown

975/800 Words

Photo credit to Romwe Clothing

In our world today the want to have the best of the best is growing by the minute. With social media brings an entire platform of different people displaying their fashion, and naturally if a person’s favorite actor is sporting a striking new blouse, they are going to want to have that same blouse. Unfortunately we run into the problem of money and the fact that most of the high fashion items that all of our favorite celebrities are wearing come with a very high price tag to go along with it. And so we come to the want, and the need for a place to get all of these high fashion clothing items for a fraction of the price. Lucky for you, Romwe.com offers a multitude of high fashion, “trendy”, items for extremely low prices.

It seems too good to be true. An easily accessible cheap website with all of the latest fashion trends available. Simply sounds like a dream. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, what’s the catch? The catch that we have here is that it is basically a shot in the dark and in these situations you win some and you lose some. There are some common problems with the products that remains consistent throughout each product.

One of these problems is the sizing. Romwe.com and other similar websites are based in China, therefore it is in Chinese sizing, which is different than American sizing. Everything runs small and it is important that you order a size up, or else your dress will become a shirt. To go along with this issue it is important that when ordering you look at the dimensions of each piece to make sure that they are long enough/wide enough because a lot of the time the model is wearing a size up as well. However if you don’t know this information before you order, unfortunately there will be an upsetting turn out when you try on your clothing items and see that they do not fit in any way, shape or form. It is especially upsetting because the orders take incredibly long to ship. This would be problem number two for Romwe.com.

I recently received my order from Romwe.com after about 3 ½ weeks of longing to see the package on my front steps. I ordered nine pieces varying in type and I was on a bit of a time deadline seeing as though one of the items I had ordered I needed by a certain date. I knew it would take a decent amount of time to come, even though on the website it claims to only take 4-7 business days, so I ordered pretty early in advance. I got the order 3 days before I needed the dress I had ordered and thankfully there were no issues with it. I had done a fair amount of research so I knew to order a size up and it worked, leaving me satisfied with the order. The waiting period becomes an issue because there is no way to track your package. They give you an order number but do not give you a place to input your number and track your package. This causes people to fret because the money was already yet there are no items in return for the money. Morgan, a consumer of Romwe.com, says, “I placed my order on May 7th and it's now May 24 and I've got nothing.”

While there are a few flaws, you still may be wondering if it is really all worth it. I mean if you think about it you can get all of these top of the line style pieces for a fraction of the price, but there is the off chance that the items will be sized wrong or it will take to long to come, but life is all about taking risks, right? Despite these few flaws there are definitely strong positives to this website.

One major and pretty apparent advantages to this website is the fact that everything is so cheap and that there are always sales going on. Every single time you log onto the website there are at least two promo deals to give you a discounted price. Also, with paying less money it doesn’t hurt as much if the item is a total flop. Another consumer of Romwe.com, Christine C., says, “Products are so inexpensive for great quality. I mostly buy shirts on there and they have a wide selection.”

Again, not every piece will be phenomenal quality, but it’s all about risking the five dollars you spend on a shirt or a pair of shorts for the slight chance of them being a cheap material. A final benefit of this website is the amount of options that they offer. On the website they currently have 5,168 shirts, 1,361 dresses, 374 shorts, and 630 pairs of shoes all for extremely low prices. This website compares to no other website because the combination of options and prices are just so outstanding that the competition is just worthless.

Overall this website is a complete shot in the dark. There are probably the same amount of amazing reviews as there are completely negative ones. It is sometimes hard to commit to spending money on clothing, but if you are willing to potentially waste $20 on a few shirts, with the pretty solid chance of success, this website is definitely worth it. If you are looking to try out the latest fashion trend, but don’t want to buy the real brand for full price, Romwe.com is 100% the best place to go no question, you just need to be open to failure and trial and error because there is as much of a chance for success as there is for failure.