We admit it: we gave in.

After seeing Miss Elle feature these 80%20 Lily patent covered wedges on the sidebar of Broke and Beautiful, we began looking for any excuse to feature them on The Demoiselles. Once they went on sale at Amazon.com we knew there was no going back. We each ordered a pair and, after trying them out for a month, penned our respective opinions on them. The good, the bad, and the ugly (blisters!) are all below.

Jennifer Nicole’s first impression: I was so nervous about trying these on. I have high arches and a bad back (car accident), and when we couldn’t find any reviews I figured it was a bad sign…but when the three of us realized we all wanted to try a pair, my fate was sealed.

First, I have to say that these are actually true to the color in the photo on the site. When I pulled them out of the box (which was an actual shoe box inside a shipping box – a nice touch, though a bit wasteful) they really did look exactly the same, color and all. That also meant that they looked fragile: I immediately checked to see if the “skin” of the shoe had any nicks or tears. There weren’t any, and to my surprise, after wearing them to work, through a muddy yard, and even out with the dog, they still look pristine. Impressive!

However, another thing that hasn’t changed about these wedges is the stiff toe box, which gives me blisters on the tops of the last two toes of my right foot every time I wear them for more than a couple of hours. I hope that a little more breaking in (I’ve only worn them three times) they’ll soften up, but if they don’t, they’ll still be great with thicker nylons and for short happy hour jaunts.

Jennifer Nicole’s style: I figure buying orange shoes means showing off my orange shoes, so when I wear these, I tend to pair them with a toned-down outfit.  One thing I didn’t want to do, though, was play to my usual strengths: instead of going with my tried and true “everything goes with black” mentality, I wore the wedges with browns and creams.  (Okay, and a black bracelet. So?)  The shorts are from the Gap, the shirt’s from Nordies, and that sheer white shrug was a steal from Target.

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Birdie’s first impression: I could not WAIT to pop these babies out of their box and wear them around. I like to test out shoes while doing something like vacuuming my house – it’s a bit of walking around on my soft carpet and because I’m moving, I feel like it’s an accurate day to day test. I was at work though, so I immediately tried them on at my desk and thought “OH NO!! They are too small…” The toe-box didn’t seem cramped width-wise, but definitely cramped height-wise. I know I don’t have ogre feet or anything, but it felt like my big toe is too tall for them. There’s definitely enough room for my little toes, though.

The soles are pretty stiff on these shoes – a good breaking in would be nice. I also feel like if I’d gone any bigger, they might slip off the back of my foot (also making me worry about blisters from rubbing on my heel). I’m lazy and don’t want to have to change the strap length, because I worry the leather will be all lumpy.

So far, I’ve worn them around the house to cook breakfast, I wore them to an art party and I’ve worn them to work a couple times. They don’t hurt on these short jaunts, though they do slide around a little (less so if I wear tights/socks) and if I don’t wear tights, they turn my feet orange.  I cannot wear them for entire days or  if I’m going to be on my feet for extended periods of time as they do cause little blisters around my toes.  The heel height isn’t bad and the toe-box just needed some breaking in, because my feet feel much less smooshed now that I’ve worn them.

Birdie’s style: I bought them in grey.  I have so many black shoes and I just don’t quite know about the orange… it could be any shade of orange and I don’t know where on earth I would wear them!  The grey is lovely like a smoke powder color – they’re almost a nude shoe!  Elle made me wear leggings and I can’t get enough of the leggings and wedges look.

I went straight black and grey with the 80%20 Smoke wedges, black Isabella Rodriguez bubble dress, grey Gap favorite tee and black Charlotte Russe leggings.  The result was fantastic:

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Elle’s first impression: WOW. Pulling these shoes out of the box, I’m filled with a little bit of trepidation combined with total shock. I’m amazed and ecstatic at how true-to-color the Amazon photos were – these babies are just as bright as they ever could have been on a decently calibrated monitor! The “crinkle patent leather” was kind of a scary phrase to read before ordering, but once they were in my hands, I realized that the “crinkle”-ness of the material is neither unsightly nor strange, really. Trying them on, I was a little nervous.

Anything with a mary-jane strap gets me excited, admittedly. They work so well under jeans, with skirts/dresses, shorts… There are very few things that you can’t (read: shouldn’t) wear a good wedge, or a good mary-jane with – what’s not to love?

Let me tell you – the arch support in these shoes are phenomenal. I have moderately high arches (nothing in comparison to Jennifer Nicole!) and shoes almost never make full contact with them. I’ve walked all over Chicago in these shoes without the slightest inkling of a blister. These offer comfort, style, vibrancy, and a definitely unique edge that’s hard to beat.

Elle’s style: I decided that these shoes are so radioactively bright that they definitely needed to be the center of attention, or at least the most saturated color on my body. Pairing them with a pinstriped shirt dress (Torrid) offers shape without distraction, and some sleek, black leggings (um, Torrid, again) with the faintest leopard spots add a little bit of edginess that only compliments the brightness of the shoes. The belt, whose origins are unknown at this point, nip in my waist and offer a little structure to this outfit.

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How would you wear these bright shoes? Or would you at all?