Today I have a special review of a pair of shoes from Royal Vintage Shoes. Some of you may be familiar with this company but for those who may not know about it, a little background.
Royal Vintage Shoes is the sister company of American Duchess and brainchild of Lauren, the wonderfully talented blogger and designer for American Duchess footwear. Royal Vintage offers a curated collection of historical reproduction and vintage style shoes representing the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. The shoes for sale are made by different companies but are offered in an easy, one-stop shopping location for the vintage shoe enthusiast. Forget spending hours searching the web for vintage style shoes! Now you can go to one site and shop until your heart's content!
 |
| Telsa Vintage Suede Oxfords by Chelsea Crew |
The shoes I am reviewing today are Telsa Vintage Suede Oxfords by Chelsea Crew. I'm always a little hesitant to order shoes online. I have weird feet, in my own opinion, and tend to stay clear of unfamiliar online brands. I have heard from many people that Chelsea Crew shoes can run narrow. Since I had never tried a pair before I consulted the size size and thought it best to order my normal size. Royal Vintage shipped my shoes and they arrived very quickly. However, I found the Telsa's did in fact run narrow, at least for my feet. So after filling out the super handy return form, with a note about exchanging for a different size, back they went. Again, communicate was great and shipping super fast!
My new pair are a size 38 and fit great. They even have room for insoles which is an extra bonus. These are a nice vintage style pair of shoes at go great with both vintage style and modern clothing. I do wish the toes were a bit more rounded but that is really my only complaint.
The color is called wine, which I think it pretty accurate, though in person they appear a touch more purple then the pictured on my computer screen. I've worn them many times and find them comfortable. They look great with both pants and skirts for a vintage look. I found they were an almost perfect match with my me-made 40s skirt. It's one I made back in 2012 and was patterned from my 1940s brown suit, you've seen the suit a few times on my blog as it's a favorite of mine. The skirt was among my first attempts at taking a pattern from a vintage piece of clothing. My sweater, shown in my last post, was part of a vintage sweater gold mine a found at a near by thrift store! Some one must have cleaned out grandma's closet because I purchased 5 fabulous vintage cashmere sweaters all in one swoop!
I am very pleased with my experience shopping at Royal Vintage Shoes and I know you will be too!
Outfit Details
Silk Scarf - Fort Anne Antiques
Sweater - Thrifted
Skirt - Made by me
Shoes - Royal Vintage Shoes
Silk Scarf - Fort Anne Antiques
Sweater - Thrifted
Skirt - Made by me
Shoes - Royal Vintage Shoes
I
receive a small commission for providing affiliate links to certain
products. However, all opinions in this post are my own. Please visit my
Sponsors/Reviews page to learn more about my policy.
I just discovered Royal Vintage Shoes a couple of weeks ago. They look awesome. Someday I hope to buy a pair of shoes from them.
ReplyDeleteYay! I wore my Telsas on Christmas too, and didn't have to take them off halfway through the day. Very comfortable and solid. Thank you so much for the review. I'm so glad you like them. :-)
ReplyDeleteVery bad experience with #RoyalVintageShoes. I think the design concepts are great. Delivery is prompt. The lines of the shoe and sole are clean. But the overall execution is not so impressive. The fit is off. The shoes are manufactured in China. The materials are cheap-looking, more like costume than couture. The customer service is terrible, and when I attempted to post constructive comments, they were omitted from the company's web and blog sites. Companies like ModCloth know better. They retain posted comments, even critical ones, which are helpful to customers. In my own nearly thirty years of experience, I contend that customers must be valued, and products must be excellent. Without the reliability of standard fit, combined with poor product quality, policies that are not competitive and poor customer service, I will not be buying from Royal Vintage Shoes again. I know when I deserve better.
ReplyDeleteI'm really surprised at the above comments. I've ordered several pairs of shoes from them and I've had nothing but an outstanding experience. As far as I can see they don't make their own shoes, but are just a retailer who sells the same brands as you'd find elsewhere. Quite a few of the shoe styles are also available at Modcloth (although Modcloth doesn't mention the brand or style names, which is very odd). They just have a nicely curated collection. Their non-free shipping is cheaper than Modcloth and their free shipping is way faster than Modcloth. To each their own I guess. Happy New Year!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that your experience was not very good. I can only speak for my own and say that is was very good.
DeleteBeverly, I just realized that your comment posted twice, strange.
DeleteJust an FYI on ModCloth: 1. the quality of shoes I've ordered from them is far better than the pair I ordered from #RoyalVintageShoes; 2. ModCloth offers friendly service, works with their customers to ensure satisfaction, is transparent about fit and feedback, and is willing to waive shipping and restocking fees. ModCloth did this for me recently with an item that was too large. #RoyalVintageShoes did none of the above; 3. My understanding is that #RoyalVIntageShoes is owned by a woman who refers to herself as a "designer" in her bio, which implies to me that she is designing these shoes.
DeleteMore on #RoyalVintageShoes: Discovering the poor fit of my first order, i.e., the "Ava" in size 6, I telephoned #RoyalVintageShoes, twice. No one answered. I left a voice message. I received no response. I phoned again two days later. No one answered. I emailed #RoyalVIntageShoes, wherein I politely notified them regarding the poor fit and asked for advice on sizing, e.g., perhaps a shoe pad in the back. The owner emailed back and suggested a half size down. I promptly ordered the 5.5 size, and can state that the toes pinch, but the back of the shoe no longer releases from my heel as much as the half size up (translation: the shoe fits poorly in any size). I requested refund on outgoing shipping fees of the size 6. Suddenly, the owner's husband stepped in. He lectured me with several paragraphs in multiple emails about how he was "educating" customers about polices, and stated that I must not be a standard size 6. He also admonished that I was not living up to some agreement I'd made when I purchased #RoyalVintageShoes. Keep in mind, I own over fifty pairs of shoes in size 6, while #RoyalVintageShoes "Ava" size 6 did not fit and the recommended size 5.5 ordered in exchange also fits poorly, just not as poorly as the size 6, with the interior right shoe pad not adhered properly and peeling off, and uneven cloth cut on both heels. I paid outgoing shipping on the replacement size 5.5, and paid the return shipping on the size 6 as per "agreement." I was simply requesting refund on the outgoing shipping fees for the size 6. I was refused. I emailed that I would be taking my business elsewhere. Then the owner's husband emailed me AGAIN with more paragraphs and admonishments. It felt a bit violating at this point. To add insult to injury, I wrote a comment on #RoyalVintageShoes web site on the "Ava" shoe page, nothing angry, simply suggesting to online customers that they consider a half size down. #RoyalVIntageShoes emailed me that they were refusing to post my comment to their site.
One more point: my company's order was intended to be the first of many for motion picture wardrobe, which was made known to #RoyalVintageShoes from the start. Gads, talk about poor customer service indeed! They keep the $5.95, but lose a customer. But they are "enforcing their polices. Now, policies doesn't keep customers. Quality and customer service do. I know, I've been in business with the same company for over 15 years.
A company that won't waive a $5.95 outgoing shipping fee on a poorly fitting item, pleading it is such a small business, and when a customer is already paying for return AND exchange, and is aggressive, unyielding and/or insulting, and is not transparent about customer feedback, is not a company that I or my organization wants to purchase from or deal with. Sorry, #RoyalVIntageShoes. Perhaps it is you who are receiving an education.
That is disappointing to hear. As I said I can only speak for my own experience. I've ordered from the sister company, American Duchess, a few times and had excellent service each time. So I was very excited to order from Royal Vintage. I had to exchange one pair from AD and actually had to exchange my first pair of Telsa shoes from Royal Vintage. I do believe I had to pay for the return shipping each time but have found that is pretty standard for most companies when returning for a different size. I'm not familiar with the "Ava" style so I can't speak for the fit or quality.
DeleteWhile the owner of Royal Vintage does design shoes, most of the styles that are sold through the Royal Vintage site are manufactured by different companies so the sizing and fit does vary some. I've never ordered from ModCloth but have been very tempted as they do offer some nice things and frequently have good sales. Again, I'm sorry to hear that your experience was not a good one.
I do like you blog, btw :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad to have you following along!
Delete