Claire Women's 1940's Oxfords Wide (Black)

I’ve been obsessed with AD shoes for so long and bought a regular width pair a few years ago. As beautiful as they are, I almost never wear them because they’re torture for my feet. This wide pair actually fit! It’s so nice to be able to finally wear beautiful, stylish shoes that don’t hurt. I hope every pair will eventually be available in wide width.

Right out of the box, these shoes fit my hobbit feet near perfectly. The heel feels a tad short, but I'll get used to that. It is so incredibly difficult to find shoes listed as wide, shoes listed as wide that actually accommodate my 10cm wide foot, or shoes that fit both categories and look stylish! And comfortable to walk in! My foot looks petite and feminine in these. Now I just have to get used to the click clack of walking in heels. It's been a long time since I've had any. I love them! High quality, great packaging, and they look authentically vintage. Kudos!

Every couple of years, I do a search for women’s laced oxfords with a heel. Due to a decades old injury, one ankle has limited range of motion so the heel height controls the fit for me. This year, I hit the shoe jackpot when I found American Duchess and Claire! I purchased Claire in both black and brown since the style looked perfect. They arrived yesterday and I am smitten. The shoes are so perfect that I kept them on the rest of the day after first lacing up. I am startled by the quality and fit at this price-point. I’ve certainly paid more for less. I remember a day in the mid-1990’s at Nordstrom’s, Union Square, San Francisco when I had a similar find. These “perfect shoe” days should be national holidays.

I was skeptical of a true women’s “wide” width which is a standard men’s “D” more or less … with that being said these are true to size with a wide toe box but not too wide in the heel. I wear a 9 wide and these really were perfect. They were comfortable right out of the box and the heel height is similar to a western boot height and as such I had no discomfort in the ball of the foot, ankle or knees. I did a fair amount of walking in these running errands without blisters, irritation or pain straight out of the box in thin wool tights. I was prepared for some disappointment because vintage reproduction usually are just ok but not great. These are worth the money and I can tell the soles are solid and you will get A LOT of wear out of this if well maintained. If AD makes more wide styles I would not hesitate to invest the money.

I’ve been watching AD shoes for some years, knowing that with my very wide feet, there was not a chance of their standard B width fitting me. I was delighted for both them and for myself that they had grown enough to try a run of wide shoes, but ordered conservatively as for me, even a D width can be marginal. I just received my Claire’s yesterday. I measure a Braddock 10.5 WW so I ordered the 11 W and could not be happier. They are quite comfortably roomy over wool stockings and the heel is incredibly stable. They will be perfect with tartan and tweed and I can start to look like the vintage librarian I’ve always behaved like.