Alitza Review- What a letdown.

[Nimue]

Alitza

I’ve received a pair of black Alitzas and I am very disappointed.  They fit fine (I got my normal size) and are reasonably comfortable.  However, I expected them to also look great and this is not the case.  It feels so ridiculous to say something like “these shoes make my feet look fat” but this is how I feel.  The problem is the Alitza has just too little material, and this is in comparison to the Classics!  The Alitza barely comes up over the back of the heel and the sides of the foot and is also cut really low in the front, covering the toes and that’s it.  This not only takes away from the comfort, but it’s also extremely unflattering.  The laces- it’s a great idea but they went way overboard and there’s just too many of them.  The last strap that cuts straight across the top of my instep is just not very aesthetic.  When I tried on the Alitza with the last strap under my foot rather than over, that was already an improvement.

So the problem with the Alitza is there’s just not enough foot coverage for it to look good.  I know that vibrams in black tend to be smaller overall than vibrams in lighter colors, so it’s possible that the Alitza in different colors would be slightly better, but I’m not holding my breath.  It’s not the size, it’s the coverage.  I’m returning mine and I’m super thankful that I was able to get some Jaya LRs when I had a chance!  Not that it’s necessary to have the Jaya LR’s level of foot coverage, but at minimum there should be as much coverage as in the Classics.

I’m really let down because the Alitza had such great theoretical potential and looked so great in the pictures but since that’s not translating to looking good on actual feet (and my feet in particular), that’s a problem.

[Mr. Leigh]

Have you tried the Entrada for comparison?  I cannot tell if they are the exact same shoe, minus the strap, or if the Entrada offers slightly more foot coverage.

[Lyonel]

Pictures please and... Go barefoot 

[violaceousmumsy]

I'm curious to see pictures because I have the alitza and it fits fine. It so happens this week I prefer my classics (Blame womanly hormones or something) my mind changes on what I like regularly. I will see if I can get a pic of my alitzas on my feet uploaded. They cover my feet just fine. I want entradas or classics or anything slip on in solid black.

[violaceousmumsy]

This the only photo I have.
http://twitter.com/Mumsydebunked/status/336986145911083009/photo/1

[barefootin]

They have become my wife's favorites....  I see her in those more often than her Classics, Entrada's, Jaya's, Speeds, oh well you get the hint.   

[violaceousmumsy]

So here are two pics of my alitzas with out my jeans covering them. Lol sorry. And they link to twitter. Also sorry I don't know how to properly put pics up it would seem.

http://twitter.com/Mumsydebunked/status/337216921445466112/photo/1
http://twitter.com/Mumsydebunked/status/337216965179478016/photo/1

I have no heel slippage and it covers my heel just fine and I think I could wear a w38 in these instead of a w39. When I first got them I felt they looked narrow but I have no issues with them. 

[Mr. Leigh]

They look fine to me.

[violaceousmumsy]

Yes I like them. I have no issues. I posted pics to compare to original posters pics.

[Nimue]

 I’m pretty sure that the Entrada will have enough of the same issues.  I tried them on again to walk around in and analyze the comfort and now (just like Kelly) I can’t get over how low they are on the back of the heel.  If they were just ¼ of an inch higher in the back of the heel, it would be ok but as it is they’re just too low for comfort.  They didn’t actually slip off my feet, but they just felt as if they would and I wasn’t doing anything active.  There is also less room for my toes to splay compared to other vibrams.

So my takeaway is “not for wide feet”.  I’m sure that when I do post photos people will say that my feet look just fine in them.  But it’s just not what I’m used to seeing.  I’m used to seeing my feet look more triangular than oval in vibrams.  However I should note that it’s possible I’m having such a negative reaction to the Alitza because my expectations were too high.  If my expectation is that I’m going to love something I’m either going to love it or hate it.

Viola- those look great on your feet.  I will try to get photos up soon.  Now I’m thinking it’s possible the black ones are just smaller and perhaps I should try a non-black pair or go 1 size up. 

[violaceousmumsy]

I felt the same about the toe splay but once I broke them in I could get my toes further apart. I suppose the heel doesn't bother be because before vff's I was wearing ballet flats and they were a similar height in the heel. I'm sorry you're having a rough time. I just felt mine were super stretchy and would fit just about anyone because of that.