Customer Reviews BILLY Footwear Kids Kids Classic Lace High (Little Kid/Big Kid)

for SMO / AFO parents: we’ve been seeing quite about about these Billy shoes lately and we decided to give them a try. We’ve been having a very hard time with our most recent pair of Sure Steps -even with the XW New Balance. I’ve literally bought and returned 8 pairs of shoes in the last 3 months. Our sons regular shoe size with no braces is a 10 wide. We usually size up a whole size, XW and remove the insole. It’s still not working. We can make it work but it’s a struggle every day so inevitably he’s not wearing his SMOs everyday and his PT can tell. So we decided to give the Billy shoes a chance. They are not specifically designed for SMOs or AFOs and the do not come in wide sizes. We bought an 11. Not even close. The bottom of the brace wouldn’t even fit inside let alone zip. So I ordered a 12. Thinking they would huge. Well.... they work. I’m shocked!!!!! They are a tad long, but nothing more than I wouldn’t consider as room to grow. You have to loosen the laces to get them to zip shut. The high top completely covers the SMOs. We’ve never cared that they show, but they look nicer than the new balance look with the funky patterned brace hanging out. Biggest bonus.... He is not uncomfortable while I’m putting his foot in it because and there’s no forcing it on like the regular athletic shoe. He actually asked to keep them. I’m concerned because they are canvas and the zipper will get lots of use that they might not be durable for a 6 year old. But if they do hold up we will definitely buy additional pairs.

My 3rd grader loved the zipper on these because they were so easy to get on, and they were super stylish. He got a lot of great compliments on them. HOWEVER...after just 3 weeks of wear, the inside heel was almost worn through the insole, and the heel inside was shredding. See photos for what I'm talking about. If BILLY Footwear fixes this quality issue, we would definitely buy them again. But 3 weeks and falling apart is unacceptable.

This shoe fell apart in six weeks of wear. Very cute and love the functionality of the round zipper, but very disappointed with the quality given how much I paid for them.

So if you are looking at these shoes you must have some sort of AFO, SMO, or other device. My son who is 13 has AFO braces and has for the majority of his life, this is the first time that we have found shoes like this and were so happy we did. We have had them a week now and he is super happy about them, no more unlacing shoes to get the brace to fit in and then the shoes are pretty worn our quickly. I can not say how they will last since we have only had them a week, but i can say the first time we put them on it was a little hard to zip, a week in now not so bad when zipping so that tells me they are starting to wear in. I have noticed also that the insert that came with the shoe is getting a little broken down, I left them in which i do NOT normally do with new shoes, but figured I would see what happened. the insole is showing some signs of breakdown little foam pieces, but not surprising with the amount of hardware we are putting on them. Im very happy with them and am looking forward to seeing how long they will last. It is hard to survive these braces and devices that my son needs and I am sure happy that this company has taken to trying. I give them 5 thumbs up just for that, but really the shoes look great and even my son's teacher noticed a difference in the way they supported his brace.

I bought these shoes for my 4 year old daughter. She wears SMO orthotics. I ordered a size larger than her normal size to accommodate for width. (Since only m width available.)They fit her so well and she loves them! She can also take them off and on independently with zipper, which she cannot do with New Balance shoes, that she has been wearing with SMO’s. I am so happy to have some cute shoe options for her! I would love to see this company make boots in the future, since this is also something that she can not wear with braces. The zipper enclosure is genius! I am very pleased with this purchase and will be ordering some more colors!

We got a pair of these a month or so before school got out last year. She wears her Billy shoes all the time. We have had no problems with them at all. She wears afos and usually her shoes do not last long. I've even washed these several times because we got the white ones with the colored stars. They are holding up very well!!! Will definitely buy again.

My daughter wears orthotics and these are AMAZING!!!

Is it too much to say that Billy Footwear has changed our lives??? For almost all of her life my daughter has worn ugly white 'Herman Munster' therapy shoes with her bilateral AFO's. (splints that go almost to her knees). I'm embarrassed to admit that in the last three years we've purchased 17 pairs of Billy shoes in all different colors and styles. She feels like a typical young lady now. This mamma's heart is so happy.

I love how thus shoe fits my son foot comfortable with his Smo on. I will be purchasing another pair because they do fit a little small. My son wears an 9, but purchased him a 10 for some extra room and even with the bigger size they fit just right up on his big toe. Also I see they fit better with a thin cotton sock verses a thick cotton sock. I hate to spend another $55 bucks so soon but they're much needed for my son. I really live the concept of the particular sneaker.

My son wears these with his AFO's and love them! We have used the 'normal hidth' style Billy shoe and they worked with his AFO's in the past and I wasn't sure if these high-tops would work with the wide ankle on the AFO... but sure enough, they do! We absolutely love them and I am so thankful for Billy Footware!

I ordered these for my granddaughter. She wears AFO's. She wears hightop shoes that are sometimes difficult to get on over her AFO's. With these, we just set her foot down in them and close the zipper. It is wonderful. She doesn't speak, but her body language said she loves them. She walks with assistance. When her daddy was helping her walk in her new shoes, she had a big smile on her face and was walking quickly. When her caregiver asked her about her shoes, with one foot, she stomped the floor in happiness. I would say she loved them.

Purchased shoes for my daughter who has orthotic inserts. These shoes are perfect!

These were the best sneakers for my son. They fit over his foot braces fine. Super easy to put on. Thank You

Bought these for my son who wears AFO braces. Finding shoes that are easy to put on over the braces is difficult. Thought this shoe was the answer. The zipper opens the shoe completely which is a HUGE plus. He could easily place his foot with brace in the shoe. However, we could not get it zipped back up. The shoe isn't deep enough. Should have tried taking out the insole to see if that helped but didn't think of that till after I sent them back. He's also at the top range of kids' shoe size now and this same style isn't available in adult sizes. That's a shame. It is so hard finding shoes that are cool looking that fit over braces. Still would recommend for some one in same boat but with a smaller foot.

Second pair of this brand. . First with the laces. They are still a zip-up shoe and very easy for a child. Our 6 year old loves these shoes. They are durable as well.

My son loves these shoes. My only complaint is that I wish the insole was a bit more durable. He wore through them pretty quickly.

My son loves Billy's shoes. He loves that he can zip unzip them to put them on and take them off.

My daughter wears AFOs with a high arch, and these are one of the very few that fit really well (as well as the new balance sneakers that have extra wide options). If you are looking for an AFO shoe, they work much better if you take the insole out, and also loosen the strings at first. I read that in a review on here and it made the difference in fit

Easy to wear shoes for kiddos. My little one wears AFOs and these shoes are awesome! They zip, but also allow my kiddo to tie the shoes like a bigger kid. They have enough room to fit over the braces and offer great support. I wish there was more reinforcement or stronger runner material around the front of the toe, they wear super easily. Overall, a great shoe for what we need.

I love that these shoes are for ASOs and for SMOs but for the price they should last longer than 2 months before falling apart

These are a perfect fit over my daughters Afos. They also allow her to put her own shoes on since they have the zipper that opens the shoe up.

We ordered two sizes up from the measurement of the AFOs and got a perfect fit.

Runs small, up size two sizes. I think the measurements are from the outside of shoe, not the width and length of AFOs(inside) but great shoe! So easy on and off.

I bought these to fit my son's SMOs and they fit beautifully. I measured his foot with the SMO and ordered the size according to the fit chart and they were great. I needed to adjust the laces a little in order to zip completely but once I did that, there was no problem at all. What was super cool is that once the shoe was on, I could just unzip while he was standing up and see exactly how they fit his foot. I can't speak to the durability just yet as we just received them, but my son was super excited with how easy the shoes were to get off as he has always needed help with his previous shoes.