Vegan Birkenstocks Rock Your Socks! (Birkenstock Shoes)

Member Name: flutel

Product:	Birkenstock Shoes
Date:	27/05/09 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Non-animal product

Disadvantages: Limited choice of styles

Last week, I received my pair of Birkenstock Vegan Arizona sandals through the post from the Birkenstock website. I must say, I have had them on my feet rather a lot of the time since their arrival.

Avoiding Leather
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The thing is, most Birkenstock sandals are made of leather and leather is the skin of animals (mostly cows). People think it is a byproduct of the meat industry but leather is a profitable product all on its own. To prepare cow hide into leather involves many toxic chemicals - so it isn't the 'natural' product that it is often made out to be. I like my feet to look good but I would rather they looked good in something that did not have to die.

The Search
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There are several shoe shops selling Birkenstocks in my city but none of them sell the vegan variety. So you can see that finding decent funky fookwear that lasts is a bit of a challenge for vegans and I did a lot of research before I plumped for the said sandal. Other internet outlets were selling the sandal but, postage included, Birkenstock themselves were the cheapest. All in all, my sandals cost £51.

I try to be thrifty - so £51 is a lot of cash but they arrived extremely quickly and came with lots of information such as their re-heeling/soling re-everything service. I felt that this was indicative of the care with which they make their product and the level of customer service.

What do they feel like?
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The sandals are incredibly soft yet strong with the cork/latex footbed that everyone who buys Birkenstocks gets but with a 'birko-flor ' upper and a microfibre liner. I bought them a size smaller and I am glad that I did this as I think I would have disappeared into them otherwise. Walking in them is interesting at first. Everyone who buys a pair of Birkenstocks has to get used to the healthy exercise the sandal gives feet - and the vegan model is no different. After a day walking about in them, I did not notice I was wearing them.

Choice - or lack of
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Its great that a company provides a genuinely vegan product - but the styles available are limited to - just the one! Choosing was not really an option with the colours being either black or brown in the Arizona. I might have fancied a vegan 'Boston' or a 'Milano' style - but alas - this was not to be.

However, less of the nit-picking -I love my vegan sandals.

Summary: Hooray for funky Birkenstocks