The Tadeevo Vegan Black Winter Boots are a comfortable, flexible, and cold-weather ready boot that is very flexible and warm! It’s combination of flexibility and warmth make it a very appealing boot for winter adventures. Read more for my review of the Tadeevo Vegan Black Winter Minimalist Boot!
Overview
The Tadeevo Vegan Black Winter Boots are a comfortable, flexible, and cold-weather ready boot that is very flexible and warm! It’s combination of flexibility and warmth make it a very appealing boot for winter adventures. Read more for my review of the Tadeevo Vegan Black Winter Minimalist Boot!
From the Manufacturer
The vegan version of the Tadeevo Winter shoes. All used materials are vegan friendly – free from any animal products, by-products or animal-derived ingredients. In Vegan Collection you will find the same quality and protection as in other Tadeevo products.
Tadeevo Vegan Winter minimalist shoes accomplish our concept of ultra minimalism. High flexibility, natural foot shape, zero heel-to-toe drop, lightweight construction and no artificial stabilization provide natural barefoot-like movement. The shoes look as if they had a small elegant heel. However, this is an optical effect created for purely aesthetic reasons, as the shoe has a slight recess inside the heel part of the sole. This means that the height difference between the heel and the toes is still exactly zero.
Tadeevo Vegan Winter shoes show the same flexibility and ultraminimalism as all other Tadeevo products. It seems that our Tadeevo Vegan Winter are probably the most flexible and the softest winter minimalist shoes. This product is for conscious barefoot walkers: you can be elegant and still experience natural freedom and warm in Vegan shoes.
Sole
The Tadeevo Vegan Black Winter Minimalist Winter Boot features Tadeevo’s own Ultraflex rubber. This rubber compound is lightweight, but still durable and rugged. It features diamond-shaped lugs throughout and these are pretty shallow at 1-1.5mm.
During my time with the boots, the lugs did not exhibit wear or balding. Their shallowness is something to consider if you want to wear them in the snow. There is a low clearance for wet conditions. You will need to be aware of the thin sole if you encounter puddles or snow.
While the shoe is rated as having a 6mm stack height, it feels much thinner as a result of the sole material being so flexible.
This is, by far, the most rollable boot that I have reviewed. As someone who seeks out the most minimalist option as possible, this boot is fantastic as an everyday boot. If worn with thin socks or even barefoot, you could get away with summer use as well.
The ultraflex rubber is grippy and I had no issues climbing on man-made surfaces. With such a thin boot, you will need to be better about landings and be more careful overall—this is a plus for me, not a negative. I always believe in being more “human-first” in terms of shoe protection and technology; less shoe, more you. The Tadeevo Winter Boot allows your foot to do its job, from your arches to your toes.
When placed on a flat surface, there is a slight bit of spring in the front of the sole. While this is something that you can visually see on the Tadeevo boot, it is still zero drop and when you wear them, it is perfectly flat on the ground.
The sole has an aesthetic heel that helps the shoe look more like a traditional boot. I will discuss this feature a bit more in other sections, but overall the false heel is very convincing and contributes to the flexibility of the shoe by being a cutout heel, rather than a carved false heel, such as in my previously reviewed dress shoes from Carets.
The diamond lugs on in the ultraflex rubber are okay for dispersing some water, but they are not aggressive by any stretch. Grip is adequate on smooth surfaces, but the sole is pretty flat overall. This sole is not designed for mud or snow. I would characterize this sole as a good city and lifestyle sole; great for keeping light and comfortable, but not great for slick circumstances.
Aesthetics
The Tadeevo Winter Boot has a hip design with a tastefully done zipper and its aesthetic, false heel provides a traditional boot look that is appealing for many buyers. Advertised as a vegan boot, it does not look plastic-y.
Some vegan boots do not attempt to resemble leather, but many parts of the boot adequately emulate leather in look and feel. The toe area of the boot is a different material that is a bit more water-resistant where it matters most. The false heel gives the shoe a more traditional boot-like appearance. Tadeevo opted to cut the sole in the middle to create the false heel. In doing so, it makes the boot lighter and allows the sole to be dramatically thinner overall, which gives the shoe a very minimalist and swift appearance. Many other some false heels are carved into in the sole material, but the sole itself is still a single solid mass. This manner of creating a false heel requires more material to carve into the sole, while Tadeevo’s method allows for a more minimalist look and increased flexibility
Fit and Materials
The fleece thermal layer is fantastic! It covers the entirety of the interior, including the footbed (non-removable), the heel counter, and even the inside of the tongue.
The heel cowl is a thick, which helps the boot stay on your foot and accommodates more foot shapes. This is something that I wish all shoe manufacturers would do. This is a common hot spot for many people, so having a reinforced heel area provides more comfort and security.
Overall, all of this fleece makes the Tadeevo Winter Boot very comfortable to wear. It is probably the most comfortable boot I own.
The upper section uses a more water-resistant material than the cowl, heel, and sides of the shoe. This stands out a little bit in the black version of the shoe, but is not a dealbreaker. In my testing, water beads off this upper material, but the shoe is not rated to be waterproof. As the uppers are a leather-alternative vegan material, you will not be able to beeswax-and-hairdryer some waterproofing into the material like with canvas. The purpose of this boot is to be a cold-weather lifestyle boot and not a snow boot. Its materials overall are attractive and give the shoe a bit of a rock-grunge look.
I found the toe-protection area to be scuff resistant on concrete and bricks. The boot continues to look very good after a few months of wear.
The zipper gives the boot a more upscaled look. As a bonus, it helps out in the durability of the shoelaces. Simply tie the shoelaces down and just leave them. You can use the zipper exclusively in getting the boot on and off. The zipper very smart design choice and it adds to the uniqueness of the Tadeevo Winter Boot.
There are some weaknesses to the manufacturing of this boot. A bit of foam material can be seen peeking out around the bottom of the tongue and cowl and a few of the cuts in the upper material could be a bit more precise in that area. This is not a part of the boot that is commonly seen, so it does not detract too much from the fit and materials of the boot, but it is worth nothing.
Otherwise, the boot is well manufactured, especially for such a flexible and minimalist boot design.
Tadeevo provides a helpful chart for sizing based upon foot length. This is better than most shoe manufacturers, but I wished that they provided templates like some other minimalist shoemakers. Having a template to print out and “try on” at home with your feet gives the consumer an near-perfect sense of how their feet will fit inside a shoe not only in terms of the length of the shoe, but also the shape and toebox.
The toebox is overall pretty generous and should fit most foot shapes. However, the actual shape of the toebox is a bit on the steep side. This shape should fit many people. If you have a foot that is more paddle-shaped, you might have a cramped small toe. This can be alleviated by going one half size up or so. Again, this is where a template for you to check your feet with the size AND shape of the shoe would be very helpful. It would simply be a matter of the company providing a tracing of the sole at difference sizes for their customers to try on and I hope they implement this on their website in the future.
In terms of vertical interior space, I can move my toes up and down inside the boot. The vertical interior height is above average for a minimalist shoe. I usually find that to be a common issue for many shoes that are designed to be anatomically correct, where the shoe is plenty wide for toe splay, but the interior of the shoe is quite flat. In those cases, it’s a bit of a two steps forward, one step back kind of issue. This is not the case with the Tadeevo Boot, which maintains a low and flexible profile, while providing good vertical interior space.
Future Improvements
As mentioned earlier, I would like for Tadeevo to provide more sizing options to inform new buyers of how the shoe will fit. They do provide a helpful chart, but template printouts would be even better.
Overall, manufacturing was excellent, but I would a bit more attention to details on the underside of the tongue.
Maybe look into a truly waterproof design for next winter?
Summary
For a new winter boot from a new minimalist shoe company, the Tadeevo Winter Boot gives the consumer a very flexible, warm, and lightweight design. Its funky looks are very attractive, and the choice of materials and features were smartly implemented.
This is a great boot for cold-weather adventures in the city. A truly minimalist boot design that I hope other companies pay attention to.
Disclosure: The Tadeevo Vegan Winter Boot was provided by Tadeevo in exchange for an honest review.
