Dan Sullivan: Visionary Viper

You'll remember me working myself into a frenzy whenever I spied the 'Visionary Viper' boots from the special Dan Sullivan collection. I wanted them desperately! They launched last month and of course I snapped them up the second they hit the site (well after deliberating between the pink or black). I'm actually glad I got them as quick as I did because I cannot express enough how limited these are. Often there is only one pair in that size of that style and once I got the 38's, that size had gone and now there's only a 40 left in the pink.

The box is amazing and I suspect was a rather large fraction of the costing for these special shoes. It flips open and is really ginormous (I'm struggling to find room for it at the moment). The images on the box and sole are adorable.

The shoes were just as fabulous as I expected. They feel higher than I imagined, which is a good thing, because I thought the heel looked a little short. The bits and bobs inside are attached, so you don't get that jangling and slipping around of pieces when wearing them. They are covered in a strong see-through pvc and the inside of the boot is a nice soft fabric (I've found a lot of IC linings scratchy lately), with the adorable cat logo and 'Dan Sullivan' embroidered.

*please see update at bottom of post*
My only gripe and it's a rather big one, is that they are very painful to wear. I wanted them to be practical and to wear them all the time, but I have to be completely honest and tell it like it is! I told myself if they didn't fit I'd return them, even if it would be costly. I do fit them though and I absolutely dread to think how much it would cost to send these back as they are incredibly heavy, so it's not really an option for me.

To expand; the boot itself fits true to size and is very comfortable. It's the cute l'il dolly that is the issue. Although it's not 'rough' against your leg (obviously the boots are lined and there's polka dot fabric behind her too), but she imposes into the space designed for your ankle, so you are both battling for the same room. Obviously you need that area to have a little extra room for movement and to be comfortable, so your ankle can bend and move to walk. I never even considered before purchase that my legs and the dolly would maybe struggle to both fit together, it never entered my head (but then I'm not a footwear designer). The pain is excruciating, to the point that I can barely stand, the doll just seems to hit my ankle bone at exactly the wrong point. She nor my bones are flexible thus the agony. I don't know what to do about it. I tried them on again, re-lacing them in a different manner and this time with socks (for padding) and it felt a little better, my right foot was actually very bearable, but my left is struggling. I'm not sure if my bone or the doll is in a slightly different position, but it hurts, a lot! There's not a huge amount of room to work with i.e. for super thick, padded socks.

I'm so disappointed as like I said, I really wanted to get a lot of wear out of them. They are so fabulous, you just want to wear them everywhere and let everyone see them! It's also knocked the shine off my love and excitement for the boot, which I didn't want to happen. Don't get me wrong, I'm still crazy about them, there's just that disappointment, that I'm not going to get to wear them lots.

Any ideas on how to help the issue would be greatly appreciated. I tried lacing them up to just before the dolly and leaving the top few holes 'open' but it just looked awkward and bulky. So are they destined to become a super expensive ornament? Or is there something I could do to help? I'd be keen to know how the other people who bought them are getting on. I don't think it's my 'fat' legs that are the issue as I don't really consider my legs or ankles to be that fat (!), but maybe a slimmer leg would have more room (although I suspect they would still 'feel' the doll). I just wish this had been ironed out before they went into production as I feel it's a pretty big problem...but they're pretty special boots right?

*update 17th October* I emailed Irregular Choice earlier this week and received a very pleasant reply almost immediately.  I hadn't specified whether I wanted to return the boots (at that point I was still undecided between returning them which would cost around £25 or keeping them and trying to make them work), but I outlined the issues I had with the doll.  I was asked whether I wanted to return them or not (if I had, I would need to show photographic proof they hadn't been worn outdoors) and this was very good of them considering it was now outside the returns period (which I believe is 2 weeks).  They were willing to extend that for me as they didn't want me to be unhappy with my purchase.  My complaint about the position of the doll and discomfort it was causing was passed onto a senior member of staff.  They said they had sold a lot of this style and a member of staff has worn a pair all day to test them.  So I'm taking from that, nobody else was experiencing problems.  I decided to give them one last shot and tried them on again, with no socks or padding (but remember I'd re-laced them) and I was surprised that I was not only able to put weight on them and stand, but walk!  I'd been crippled when trying to do this before, it just wasn't happening.  I lasted a good 10 minutes in the boots, which would have been longer but a delivery man came and I had to quickly take them off, so as not to look like a lunatic in my jammies and boots!  I could still feel the doll, but the pain wasn't excruciating.  So, I'm prepared to try and make them work.  I think if I just keep trying them, a little bit at a time and also work out some sort of padding device, I could maybe be alright.  The re-lacing has obviously helped loads and I've left them reasonably loose in the top 3 or 4 holes to allow for movement.  I then felt rather silly that I'd complained about excruciating pain and a design fault when I decided to keep them.  I wanted them to know I still stood by my original complaint and that I wasn't just being super fussy, but I'm hopeful there's a way around it (when I wasn't at the start).  I really didn't want to take the doll out because she's the main focal point of the shoe and tampering with the boots in any way was scary stuff that could have left them worthless.  However IC have been really good about it and even asked if I wanted to stay in touch to let them know how I'm getting on.  Their emails felt like they genuinely understood my concerns and that they were passing the feedback on (unlike a certain high-profile shoe brand I experienced problems with before, who just fobbed off any complaints of genuine manufacturing faults). Soooo, hopefully you'll get to see these babies soon on The Shoe Girl Diaries and thank you for all your words of advice here and on Facebook x