I wanted to love these so bad…

My first pair of sandals from another well known brand snapped in half through the shank so I figured I’d give Hellas a go based on rave reviews by friends and online. I went for a bootie for the extra ankle support and stability. At first, the colour is so lux and the fabric is very soft. They look beautiful on, but it’s getting them on that’s the trouble. The velvet laces have a lot of friction causing them to twist. This coupled with the oblong lace rings makes for a very wonky and uneven fit. I’ve had to lace and relace these shoes so many times to get tongue to sit straight without the laces bunching up awkwardly. The fabric is very delicate and rips/wears easily, especially around the tip of the toe box and edges of the soles. This is to be expected with a velvet shoe and so I always wear protectors. Lunalae make a pair that match this colour exactly. The shoes arrived with a sole defect, which was disappointing given they were brand new out of the box and very expensive. I understand there is a 3 months sole guarantee but I ended up just fixing the issue myself with superglue because we don’t have a cobbler nearby. Overall, I like the shoes. They’re nice to dance in and are very stable once you’ve gotten over the frustrating laces and put them on. Great for floor work and very slippery which is what you want. This shoe would be a knockout if the laces were satin and the lace rings were a normal O shape instead of an oblong. I’m 50/50 on recommending this shoe.

Perfectly timed luxurious birthday gift

I was so excited to receive these velvet Hella Heels just in time, the day before my birthday in which they were ordered for. I love the unique Cabaret pink colour in velvet that is not on offer by any other brand. I love the Hella Heels velvet range. My only sadness was that I would have liked there to have been matching protectors in stock. I wish to purchase all of the colours that Hella Heels make in the velvet fabric, but only if I can also purchase matching protectors, so I will hold off on purchasing more until the associated protectors are back in stock. I still wanted a birthday gift, so I ended up forgoing the matching protectors for some clear ones from hella heels, but since those don't slide on the floor as well as velvet, I have purchased some very close matching velvet pink protectors in another brand to go over the top and allow me to slide on the floor. Overall I am very happy with my shoe purchase, they are perfect and unique, and had a very quick shipping turn around which makes me want to purchase from Hella Heels again! They also fit well and feel sturdy.

Love it