Customer Reviews Dansko Margrete

These shoes have saved my feet, knees, hips & back.\r\n\r\nI have a very active job and am typically on my feet for 8-14 hours a day, most of those hours on very hard walking surfaces (stone, concrete, marble tile).\r\n\r\nI put up with foot, calf, knee, hip & lower back fatigue every day for two years at this job simply because I thought I HAD to...\r\n\r\nand then one day I was killing time waiting for a friend and wandered into a shoe store and saw the Danskos a colleague of mine always swore by.\r\n\r\nI tried them on.\r\nI bought them on the spot.\r\n\r\nDanskos in their classic shapes have a somewhat heavy appearance-- they are clogs, afterall, and blocky-looking. But try them on and you will see-- they are suprisingly light! The soles are thick, but they\'re made of a material that is light and extremely shock-absorbant. They are also surprisingly QUIET on the hard surfaces I walk on all day.\r\n\r\nThe curve of the footbed works extremely well with the natural shape of the foot. There is a rise to the heel, so they\'re not like Earth Shoes or others that drop the heel into a well (which is good for other stuff), but the rise feels comfortable and incredibly natural. The arch support is superb without being obnoxious-- it doesn\'t take any getting used to. The toe-box is wide enough for the natural spread of the forefoot-- no squashed toes, no bunions, no corns here.\r\n\r\nThese shoes offer excellent support without feeling too rigid or in need of breaking in.\r\n\r\nThey are the most natural-feeling structured shoe I have ever worn in my life. They have saved my body and given me hours back in my day simply by alleviating so much physical fatigue that used to build up in my lower body. I cannot praise the comfort of these shoes enough.\r\n\r\nThe style of this model is a little easier to take, too, if you\'re not into the heavier clog styles. They\'re cute, and I get a lot of compliments on them.\r\n\r\nOnly drawbacks, which might be specific to my feet & my occupation:\r\n- the ankle strap chafes one particular part of my left foot when i wear these without stockings. i just wear a bandaid under the strap where it rubs and it\'s fine. or i go without the bandaid and just deal w/ the light chafing. it\'s mild, not any worse than i\'ve had with any other shoe, and certainly better than some.\r\n\r\n- the material of the upper on mine is a leather that scuffs super-easily. i am a preschool teacher and am constantly kneeling down, getting back up, sitting criss-cross, getting back up, etc. , and the leather is quite scuffed now across the tops of the toes (from kneeling), and along the outsides (from sitting criss-cross). the leather isn\'t wearing THROUGH in any spots, but the scuffing is very noticeable and I\'m not sure what to do about that yet.

These are the most comfortable shoes ever for my flat, narrow feet. I punch two extra holes in the strap and they work fine for my AAA width. (They\'re loose in the toe box, of course, but that\'s no problem.) The hard shank is essential for supporting the flat foot. This style of Dansko--the clog style, not the more streamlined, styley collections--offers the best support. And the Margrete goes with jeans, pants, capris, tights & skirts, whatever. I find that the open back and vented toe makes them look not too wintry to wear with bare feet in summer, but not too summery to wear with tights/socks in winter. Basically, the perfect shoe. My only complaint is that the heel tread wears down pretty fast. I just got another pair and was kind of bummed to look at my Zappos record and realize that my previous pair only lasted 18 months before the heels were worn down on the outside corners and making my feet oversupinate (rock outwards). But I wear them practically every day, so I guess that\'s not so bad.