Customer Quotes

“I picked up my new triple oiled Shoes and took them to Dublin last December covering over 30,000 steps in three days. Worn most days with my iphone confirming 156 miles since Dublin. Most comfortable shoes ever...”

“I absolutely love my Shandals® and Shoes.
They are ultra comfortable and just love the colours.
Can’t wait to order some more.”

“I’ve had my bespoke Lace up Boots for nine months now and I can say that they are almost certainly the best thing I have ever bought! The Italian leather and suede are absolutely the best quality and most beautiful colours I have seen. The level of comfort is incredible. After a lifetime of squashing my wide feet into much too narrow shoes, I couldn’t believe it when I got home and took them off and my toes weren’t red for the first time ever! Calluses on my little toes quickly disappeared and my feet continue to feel stronger and more flexible. I now take off my outdoor shoes at the end of the day and put on my indoor slippers and the slippers are less comfortable! The tire tread soles manage to feel both light and flexible and robust enough for all conditions and surfaces. I have been lucky enough to also have a pair of Mary Janes and Shandals® made for me since getting the boots and all three pairs are equally beautiful. All have been admired by friends, family, and colleagues, both male and female!

When you buy something of such high quality materials and made with such care and skill, it is just a joy and honour to own and use every day. These are objects with a soul! Thank you to the wonderful people at Red Shoes and I’m so happy to be able to support your work and enjoy your beautiful footwear.”

“By now I have a collection of four pairs: Boots, Lace-up shoes, Shandals® and Mary Janes, all in different colours. With awkwardly shaped feet - wide at the front, narrow at the back - and a family tendency to bunions, all my adult life I have had difficulty finding shoes to fit, but having you make them to measure for me means I get the perfect fit. What a relief to have shoes which are so comfortable I forget I’m wearing them! No need to break them in, they’re comfortable from the first time I put them on. Being able to have the repaired is really important too: I live in the country and walk on all kinds of rough surfaces so they really have to work hard and when I’ve had repairs done they’ve come back rejuvenated. I’m now 72 years old and expect to be still wearing the same shoes till I die!”

“Took delivery of my beautiful, yellow leather, blue sheepskin lined, blue laced, and blue Vibram soled Boots, a few years ago, and with my job requiring me to be on my feet all day every day, the boots are so well designed and made, that there is no foot fatigue, even at the end of along day.
The body may be flagging but the feet are in fine shape.
The whole Ruth Emily Davey experience is personalised and pleasurable, from the initial foot measurement, to the various suggested options, most of which will not have been in the mind of a client as they may have crossed the threshold of the shop.
Cannot speak highly enough of RED Shoes, Ruth has more than enhanced the training and association she initially had with Alan Raddon.”

“Your products are completely unique in style, comfort, fit and wear ability.
The service is excellent, and you know you are buying a product that will last till you get bored.
My Shandals® come out every year for at least six months and worn almost daily. They are 8 or 9 years old and I can wear them anywhere and I’m never bored wearing them. ”

“I bought some RED lace up Boots two years ago and they are still amazing. I can’t imagine wearing another make. I’ve been uncomfortable for years, especially as my feet are so wide. These lined boots slip on like a second soft skin and yet are so durable, living in the hills means I need reliable and safe footwear.
Now I’m looking at the Shandals®, which I’d really love to wear at my son’s wedding. ”

“I have pair of shoes and a pair of Shandals® from RED. They are, without a doubt, the most comfortable and beautiful pieces of footwear I own. They fit perfectly and I was able to choose my own colour combinations. It was a wonderfully smooth journey from 1st contact to the finish, wonderful shoe. The fact that they are completely repairable and, if they do ever come to the end of their life, they are completely biodegradable, is just a cherry on a fantastic cake. I am plotting my next pair even as I write this review.”

“I love your shoes and wear them all the time, summer and winter. They have helped my bent big toe, and I feel much more steady. I prefer the softer leather. They are all so well designed and skilfully made - well worth every penny!”

“What can I say about the amazing collection I have, I crowdfunded my first pair of Shandals®, I literally snapped my foot off my leg and after 3 surgeries, 2 rods and 13 screws the only footwear I could walk in was the pair of Shandals® I’d bought but more importantly it was during the pandemic and I didn’t have access to Occupational Therapy, subsequently I’ve accessed OT and they have said the reason that I’m as mobile as I am is because I exercised and managed to walk properly. I subsequently bought two more pairs of Shandals® and two pairs of Boots, can’t wait to buy some shoes.”

“I bought my first pair of Green Brogues 6 or 7 years ago from Ruth’s first shop in Machynlleth. Just lovely, so comfortable and hard wearing.
I now have Shandals®, more Shoes and a pair of Boots! Delighted with every pair and my feet and legs too are very happy!”

“I purchased my beautiful Shandals® last year and I absolutely love them. I did have to go back this year to have a couple of adjustments and the young girl who was in charge that day did everything she could to assist my needs and all is great now.
People look at my feet when I wear them as they are different to the usual high street shoes. Beautifully hand made in outstanding leather and look forward to purchasing another pair in the future. ”

“I bought my first (and so far only) pair of Red Shoes 3 years ago. I visited the shop, had my feet measured, and ordered a pair of ankle lace-up boots. The whole experience was very special and I have LOVED my boots ever since they arrived a few weeks later. They are a perfect fit, they are beautifully made and hard wearing and I am considering my next pair …

Thank you Ruth and team :)”

“I have had the pleasure of owning two pairs of Shandals®.. They are a comfortable fit and absolutely therapeutic to wear... Really worth the cost as they will last me for yonks (years!).
The quality is Impeccable and the hand craft , Unique. I recommend to all as a betterment to their treasured feet”

“You made two pairs of bespoke shoes to fit my very large feet in 2018.
Six years on I still feel special wearing them and cherish everything about them.
I couldn’t have made a better choice!
Thank you.”

“I am the delighted owner of three pairs of RED boots and I love each one. The process of going to the shop to choose leathers and to discuss the making is such a joy. It’s not easy to find boots and shoes that fit my feet, which have their problems. Having my boots made bespoke is marvellous. Each pair is different and each pair is just exactly as I envisioned them. They are supremely comfortable. The oldest pair is now five years old and looks and feels as good as ever. I can’t ever imagine having more perfect footwear. ”

“From the minute I entered the RED shop I felt the special spirit presence in there. It was magical. From the fitting with Margo who was calm, knowledgable and caring. I met 4 local women who came into the shop that day that owned RED shoes and testified of the quality and artician of these shoes! I was a bit disappointed led though when I learned Ruth was on an LOA with a new baby. Much to my joy, she just happened to come into the shop during my appointment with Margo! What a true gift to meet her in person. Such a lovely soul! My shoes arrived when promised in UT after returning home. They are so beautiful! A true gift to me on my 65th birthday! Thank you for sharing your talent.”

“Love my Shandals®, the comfiest Shoes I have ever worn. ”

“I have a pair of Shandals® that I have had a few years now. They are even more comfy now than they were when I bought them. I haven’t worn them a lot yet this year with it being so wet; instead I have been wearing my shoes and boots, also made by you. All of them are wonderfully comfortable.
I have always struggled to find wide enough shoes. Your ones fit perfectly right at the outset.
They are repairable but I haven’t even started to wear the soles down, even wearing every day for a couple of years.
My only real problem is justifying buying some more when these are still so perfect.
I love your new shop. I came over with my daughter a couple of months ago she loves your shoes too, as does my husband who was the first of us to have some shoes made by you.”

“ I wanted foot wear that lasted and was unique, and when I saw a feature on Ruth in a country living magazine, I knew I had found the perfect product. Initially I wanted a pair of boots, and sent for the pack. Then my husband suggested we could holiday in the area so that I could make an appointment and go and get measured properly. That was a few years ago now, and I am the proud owner of a pair of boots, Shandals® and Mary Janes. I absolutely love wearing them, they are all so comfortable. Plus I never need to buy another pair of Shoes or Boots as these can be resoled and so last me for my life time. My husband also had a pair of Shandals®, but sadly passed away a year after he bought them, so never really got to wear them much.
It is also the craftmanship that I adore, the knowing that someone has made these using their hands and eyes, and have made a truly beautiful product.
Im so glad I picked up that magazine that day and found you Ruth. Its been wonderful communicating with you over the years. I wish you all the continuing success you deserve. ”

“My Boots and Shoes have been one of the wisest investments I made. I would recommend that anyone with foot health problems consider the bespoke service you offer. My feet feel safe and comfortable and I am much happier for wearing this footwear. Thank you for your service, you’re a great team.”

“Before finding Ruth’s shoes and Shandals® I would regularly squeeze my poor feet into shoes that were too narrow for comfort. Walking was painful and difficult due to my rheumatoid arthritis . An article in Country Living led me to her workshop . I now have a pair of shoes , two pairs of ankle boots and three pairs of shandals . My feet have never been happier. I have returned them for resoling and some TLC when needed and they come back looking beautiful . I can’t imagine wearing anything else . The financial investment is worth every penny and over the past five years I have spent my money on quality footwear that lasts ……no throwing out shoes and buying a new pair so better for our planet as well !”

“I was in Machynlleth and made an impulse decision to order a pair of Shandals®. When I left the shop I was worried about buying expensive Shandals® /Shoes but I need not have been.
They are the best summer footwear I have ever bought. Very comfortable, don’t seem to be wearing at all plus they go with skirts or trousers.
After my first handmade pair I went back and bought two more pairs in different colours! Well worth it.”

“I have three pairs of Ruth’s Shoes including a pair of Shandals®. I love them all and get lots of comments on them - especially the shandals - whenever I wear them. When they need re-soleing, send them back and Ruth re-soles and sends them back. What can be better?”

“It’s now 2 years on since buying my Shandals® in Machynlleth. I still love them as airy and comfortable. They treat my feet well as individuals. I do have slightly odd feet after realignment surgery on one of them 9 years ago. I really appreciated the craftswomanship in the way my feet were measured and assessed, the appropriate choice of leather. Yes they were expensive compared to mass -produced footware but you pay for what you get and you support craft(wo)manship! I can also see them lasting many many years eventually with some re-soling. So environmentally a positive step and actually a good investment. I am a bloke not really into fashion but friends have admired them!”

“Thank you SO much, the boots are AMAZING; beautiful and so comfortable. The shoes are fab too. Looking forward to some Dyfi Shandals to complete the trio - I wear your Shandals a lot through the summer months so it’ll be good to have an alternative pair. ”

“I am thrilled with my Shoes and Shandals®. You truly transformed my toes, feet and life with your skills ! ”

“Just wanted to let you know my boots arrived and they are AMAZING. I don’t normally wear shoes or slippers indoors but l put these boot on and they stayed on most of the day. Sooo comfortable. Thank you again.”

“The boots are PERFECT. The photos on your site are great, but I must say they still don’t do justice to the workmanship, quality of material, and especially to the proportions. Somehow in person they look right from any angle.
The fit is like a glove. They are exactly as you said - snug around the instep and the heel and the toe box is definitely perfect on my hobbit feet.
You are a master at what you do.
THANK YOU”

“The Shandals® are splendid, thank you so very much, not only are the Shandals® extremely comfortable to wear, but I immediately feel more stable when wearing them than when wearing anything else on my feet; it’s something about having the full width of my feet and toes which then provide a more stable base; having the wider base means that I walk quite differently and much more in the manner encouraged by the Pilates exercises I am taught. If I’m on uneven ground, then instead of being tipped over (out wards) the extra stability from the width of the base of my feet, allows me to stay upright. I have a degree of osteoporosis so falling is very much to be avoided. Also I can move more freely if I feel more stable.”

“The quality of the experience Ruth provided put us at our ease and confirmed our hope that we were investing in a beautiful product designed with imagination and made with detailed skill and attention. The opportunity to talk about how the shoes are made and see various designs helped in choosing the style most appropriate for our feet and brought a particular meaning to handmade shoes. Looking through and feeling a variety of coloured leather samples and threads gave choice a personal quality. The thought of having such lovely shoes filled us with delight and we left the workshop confident that our new shoes would be a work of art. We thank Ruth for her friendly manner and providing us with a unique experience.”

“I have found I can spread my toes far more than before I started wearing your fantastic shoes. My little toe in particular is a lot more flexible and I have a bigger space between the big toe and the others. I am confident healing will continue after so many years of “shoe abuse”. Keep up the good work!”

“STUNNING...Thank you so much, clever shoe company, clever you. Absolutely love the copper eyelets...bang on trend. Best of the best going forward.”

“My Shoes feel like they were born to be on my feet.”

“Thankyou for my amazing dream shoes, they are worn everyday and everyone loves them. I can now cope with my 12 hour shifts more easily, and I have far less pain in my foot. The plantar Fasciitis has almost gone. My shoes are wonderful.”

“I went all the way to Wales to get fitted for my Shandals! I am an Early Childhood Educator (complete with bunions and a hammer toe!) and often on my feet for 10 hours a day. My feet now feel great at the end of every day.”

“Thank you for the most marvellous pair of boots! They arrived yesterday morning and I couldn’t be more pleased with them. They are without doubt the most comfortable of any sort of footwear I’ve ever had; wearing them is like walking around in a pair of thick socks. I was expecting them to be a bit stiffer at first but despite it’s thickness the veg tanned leather is supple and beautiful, and the smell reminds me of trips as a child to Ellerkers, an old saddler and rope merchant in York - long gone sadly.”

“When I wore my shoes for the very first time I forgot I had them on. This has never happened to me before breaking in a pair of shoes. I then wore them on a trip to Venice and was able to enjoy all the city has to offer and not worry about my feet hurting even after walking around for 3 days! As an orthotic wearer shoes that fit and are comfortable to wear is a rare combination.”

“My shoes are now 5 Years old and have lived through a remarkable history of being tried and tested to the limit. They have weathered storms, mountains, rivers, mud, warm summers, cold winters and to add to the list, for the past 6 months I have used them for riding the fastest breed of horse in the world: the Akhalteke from the foothills of Turkmenistan. When not riding the horse, I run behind it, taking us through a mixture of terrains. Thank you for the superb repair, I will do my best to look after my shoes for the next 5 years and beyond!”

“My new Shandals. Custom fitted, lovingly handmade, cut, stitched and blessed by the extremely talented ruthemilydavey, my feet and hands are two points that contact my bike when riding and racing - these shoes give them space to breathe, work and be feet, look after them!”

“I am very pleased with my shoes. My feet are warm and when I take them off at the end of that day there are no red or sore patches on my feet at all. I find I can walk much further and faster in them and I have less back and hip pain than ever before. Many thanks.”

““(About shoes brought over 4 years ago)

My shoes are wonderful. As you can see I live in them. There are no blemishes on my feet and the shoes are bliss to wear. I have worked out they have given me endless foot bliss for under 14p a day!””

“Seeing you has been like having a guardian angel, these Shandals have been so brilliant and far, far exceeded my expectations. I just wanted a more stable base indoors for those times the heel pain in my weaker leg made it too painful to weight bear. As I am in my senior years, it’s apparently most likely a weakening of the arch, even though it’s been slowly getting worse for years, especially after walks. I also have runners knee in both knees due to missed knee injuries in my youth. I have been though many knee sleeves and even tried splints to to try and get past that, all to no avail. I hadn’t realised I have been rolling the weaker foot outwards a lot to get out of heel pain. That looked within normal range in the shop, however, after a few weeks, I tried my light hiking boots on again and was quite shocked to my foot, now expecting to be horizontal, found fresh air all the way along the outer side. Plus the heel wear was now entirely in the wrong place. New boots by Ruth were on my wish list, but I wasn’t thinking an urgently needed essential.

I have had to monitor foot positioning, such as checking I haven’t rolled the weak foot outwards whilst sitting, a habit formed trying to relieve an aching and painful heel; include a mini exercise of repetitively pushing the large and second toe down to try and strengthen them and get a new muscle memory going. I realised I needed to do that after gently rocking on both feet and feeling the difference. I still get heel pain occasionally, it disappears frequently on the next step. Even when it lingers, the duration and pain level is drastically reduced and probably down to a missed unlace and lace.

As for runners knee, WOW! What has gone: the silent and not so silent sigh before going up or down a staircase. There is a low ceiling to negotiate on our stairs, duck forwards and I felt like I would fall forward, so I would hold on and lean back slightly, so painful (the knee inflammation was at a level, I had early notification of fighting off any viruses.) After just walking about the house and no extra knee exercises. All that GONE! I now go up and down without thinking. Gone: empty, energy less knees going up hill. I only tried that once up a short, but steep hill, just a few hundred yards. Shandals are not for hills unless you can afford multiple pairs! Feet push forwards downhill and will stretch the leather out of shape.Nonetheless, I couldn’t resist just once. Gone: walking even the slightest uphill on will power. In: walking uphill without thinking, strain or pain, devoid of energy, empty knees.
The easier it is on my knees has meant the more I want to do that requires knee bending. I still get the knock on effects, but it’s minimal, if any at all. I don’t do much of it as I am finding the open backed move a hard habit to get out of.

I’ve had bone chilled feet in the evening all my life, which I put down to genetics and concrete floors. So I did take the claim, better circulation, warmer feet, with a big grain of salt,(for me). but I have to say once the initial settling in period had passed, chilled to bone has gone. I’ve now warmed up to cold feet. Lovely jubbly:) During the day, I can feel warmth coming back to me from the base of the ShandaIs every now and again. Weird, but so nice:)

I have followed Ruth’s lacing and unlacing technique and the tightness required. As I have had to do that very few hours to start with, I was concerned it would stretch out the laces or worse, the leather around the eyelets Happily, a totally needless concern.

Also gone: that wooden walk to the bathroom in the morning! I started off with putting on Shandals prior, now I don’t need to bother. I am still stunned by all the changes! Ruth has changed the quality of my life that’s for sure.

All in a couple of months. So to you, Ruth, I am sending a big MWAH! MWAH! FANTASTICO!”