ASHES-55 [Black] | PLATFORM BOOTS [PREORDER]

I bought these the second I saw there was a sale and I’m happy with them. I’m a size 8.5/9 AU and a 9 fits really well (though I could have sized up but they may have been slightly too large). They’re good to walk in and they’re sturdy, and they’ve got decent grip. I recommend wearing socks with them if you weren’t going to already (otherwise they get sweaty and “fart” when you walk by pushing air out the top).

I did have a few teensy issues, though.

The buckles are a little hard to do up. You have to thread the strap through this holder on the back of the bat, then pull it up through the hole, and buckle it. It can be a bit annoying trying to pull it through, especially if you need to go past the first hole. In saying that, the spikes are great, but they’re too close to the grommets. I needed to have the bottom strap all the way through, but because the bat is so large and practically sits on the spike when all the way through, it’s hard to buckle the strap in. I actually ended up popping off the grommet by accident because the buckle got stuck and wouldn’t push through. So now I’m missing a grommet on my brand new, nearly $200 shoes…

Also, the flap/tongue doesn’t sit flat when the shoes are done up. It wasn’t made to be curved and pulled, it’s flat, so when the shoes are tightened, it gets a bit wrinkly and squashed and doesn’t look fantastic. It’s not horrible, just a bit disappointing they were made this way.

Other than that, I’m happy with them and I look forward to wearing them out.

I'd been eyeing off these shoes for months. I went to a retailer that had them to try them on, and I'm glad I did because I found they ran a little small. I'm usually a 7 but they were very tight across the top of the foot and left little toe room in that size, but the 8 fits perfectly! They are incredibly stable (I'm not a frequent platform wearer due to hypermobility in my ankles, these are 2 inches taller than my previous tallest one) and easy to walk in. So far haven't had any issues with needing to break them in, but I haven't worn them for extended periods of time.
The box did come quite damaged, however I got them on pre-order so I imagine they came from the supplier that way given they were from the other side of the world, and the packaging around the shoes protected them from all damage.
As a note, the buckles are very fiddly so if you have dexterity issues with your fingers these may not be the ones for you (but the ASHES shoe comes in many styles!)