VIVAIA Shoes After 5 Years: How They Held Up and How They Fit Wide Feet With a Bunion

Five years ago, VIVAIA sent me my first pair of flats. A year later, I wrote my original Vivaia shoes review, and people are STILL yelling at me about it.

There are more than 140 comments on that post. Some of you love these shoes. Some of you think they’re garbage. And a solid handful of you read the whole thing and decided the real problem was me.

But here’s what I can finally do that I couldn’t do back then: show you what these shoes look like after more than five years of actually wearing them.

Disclosure: this post isn’t sponsored. VIVAIA gifted me a couple of these pairs years ago, but I bought the rest, and VIVAIA hasn’t seen this post. Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you if you buy through them.

Measurement	Right foot (bunion)	Left foot
Length, heel to longest toe	9.5 in / 241 mm	9.5 in / 241 mm
Width across the ball	3.75 in	3.5 in
Girth around the ball	10 in / 254 mm	9.75 in / 248 mm

That length is a true US 8, or an EU 39. At a size 8, a standard medium width is somewhere around 9 inches around, and a wide is closer to 9½. I’m at 10, which is roughly a 2E, or extra wide.

So my feet are a completely normal length and unusually wide.

They’ve always been a little too small, especially around my toes. The knit gave a bit as I wore them, but not enough to make the wrong size become the right size. I can get away with them for a while. If I try to make a full day of it, my toes feel cramped, and my heels are not happy.

I want to be fair about what “five years of wear” means here, though. I haven’t worn these constantly, because they’ve never fit quite right. Plus, these aren’t really shoes I can wear during a Wisconsin winter. But I’ve worn them off and on the whole time, and they’ve spent a lot more time on my feet than plenty of other shoes I’ve owned. I’ve also washed them a few times in the washing machine.

They look a little wonky now. You can see it in how the sides and the top of the shoe are sitting. I don’t know how much of that is age, how much is the too-small size pulling everything strangely, and how much is just this older design. It’s probably a mix.

These are the cream Aria 5 flats, the updated version, and they’re still really nice.

I got these in my normal size 8, or a 39, and that one-size difference helped a lot. There’s enough room for my wide feet and my bunion, and my toes don’t feel smashed together.

As some of the comments on my original post pointed out, these aren’t a perfect fit either. There’s a gap along the sides of my feet. But when you have feet like mine, perfection rarely happens. I’m looking for something at least mildly comfortable, and I’ll settle for “sort of fits me.”

How they’ve held up in the wash

I’ve washed these quite a few times. I wish I’d kept count. I wash them in a mesh wash bag in cold water, with my favorite detergent and a stain remover if needed. Check the instructions for your exact shoe, though, because not every VIVAIA style can go in a washing machine.

They clean up shockingly well. This is a cream shoe I’ve worn for years on plenty of dirty city streets, and they still look pretty darn good. The shape has held up better than the black pair, too.

Do they smell?

I know someone is going to ask, because I wear almost all of these barefoot. Honestly, they aren’t bad. I can get through quite a lot of wears before I feel like they have any odor to them, and the smell has always come out in the wash.

Are they good for travel?

I’ve traveled with these and worn them for sightseeing, dinners, and work events. I would not choose them over sneakers for a full day of walking, especially when my feet are swollen. They don’t have enough arch support or cushioning for that.

The three pairs I’ve worn since 2024

My receipt for these next three is dated May 14, 2024, so I’ve had them more than two years. All three are my usual size 8. That’s plenty of time to see which ones actually leave the closet and which ones mostly sit there looking nice.

Addison pointed-toe slingbacks

Addison · US 8 · May 2024 · Wearing them a lot more now

When I filmed the video for this post, these fell into the “mostly sit there looking nice” category. I didn’t reach for them often, mostly because I don’t wear solid black heels much anymore.

Then I packed the Addison slingbacks as my nice shoes for a work trip to Nashville, and I have to update my opinion. They were SO comfortable.

I walked about 10 minutes from my hotel to dinner each night, and I was on my feet for cocktail parties most nights. I also walked to the Ryman and back for an awards show. Then I wore them to a fundraiser back home, which required a fair amount of standing around all night.

Despite all the walking and standing, my feet never felt uncomfortable. No rubbing, no blisters, no numbness. They were just as good as my flats, if not better.

I’m getting them in more colors.

The Addison is also available through Nordstrom.

These are a different story. I wear these a lot. They go with a ton of outfits, and people notice them. I’ve gotten compliments from women and men, which doesn’t happen all that often with my shoes.

I can actually walk in these, and I can stand in them for quite a while without immediately regretting my choices. The wedge feels stable, so I get height without wobbling around on a skinny heel.

They do rub the backs of my heels a little. That clearly hasn’t stopped me, but if I were taking these to a wedding or another long event, I’d have blister bandages in my purse.

Of all the dressier VIVAIA shoes I own, these are probably my favorite.

I wear these a lot, too. The ivory works with almost everything I own in the summer, and the crochet makes them more interesting than a plain neutral wedge.

I recently wore these to an event in Chicago and was on my feet for about three or four hours. I survived. That is my very scientific comfort rating.

@haveclotheswilltravel I’ve been in a bit of a dress rut lately… just not feeling like anything fits quite right or makes me feel that great. But this @revolve dress finally did it for me. It was comfy enough for dinner and drinks outside on a patio by the river, but still felt fun and a little va-va-voom.  A very good dress and a very lovely night. #revolve ##revolvepartner #ootd #dress #polkadot ♬ Good Mood – Naiara Costa Da Silva

I could walk normally, and I wasn’t desperate to rip them off halfway through. My heels did rub, though, and my toes were numb by the time I left.

So yes, I like them, and I’ll wear them again. But when I call these comfortable, I mean comfortable compared to my other heels. I do not mean they feel like sneakers, and I wouldn’t pick them for an all-day event.

These are the square-toe, water-repellent boots in almond, in my usual size 8.

On looks alone, I really like these Gisella boots. The color is easy to wear, the heel is a good height, and I could pair them with jeans, trousers, or a dress. And I can comfortably wear these with socks, unlike practically everything else in this post. So, yay.

I had high hopes for the square toe, because in theory that should leave more room for my toes. But they’re a little cramped around my bunion foot. It’s not terrible, but at $219, I need to be confident I’ll wear them enough to justify keeping them.

I haven’t worn them outside, so I can’t tell you how they feel after several hours or whether the water-repellent upper does much in actual Wisconsin weather. The sole feels thick and grippy. But water-repellent doesn’t mean waterproof, and I would not buy these as serious Wisconsin winter boots.

These are also not machine washable.

In the end, I sent them back. I cover how that return went further down.

The Gisella is also available through Nordstrom.

These are the round-toe loafers in olive drab with little Blacknose sheep on them. Also an 8.

The sheep are either the entire reason you want these Audrey loafers or the reason you’d never buy them. I think they’re fun, and they feel nicely made out of the box.

They fit me better than I expected. The backs don’t rub my heels at all. They’re slightly tight around the bunion, but not enough to make me want to return them, and the upper is super soft. I adore these, so they’re staying.

These ones are machine washable, though.

Again, my usual size 8. And these annoy me, because they are SO cool-looking.

They feel really well made. My husband saw them and immediately wanted a pair, though he also thinks they’re too expensive and is now hunting for a cheaper alternative.

But these Allday Unisex sneakers are too narrow for me. I could probably get away with wearing them barefoot. There is no chance I’m comfortably fitting a sock in here with how wide my feet are.

I already own Allbirds that I have to wear without socks, and I love those. I’ve worn them for an all-day music festival, work trips, and long travel days, so they’ve proven themselves. I don’t need a second narrow sneaker to do the same job. (If you’re hunting for wider options, here are the best sneakers I’ve found for my wide feet and bunion.)

As much as I like how these look, I’m sending them back.

Here’s the single most useful thing I can tell you. Some of VIVAIA’s flats and heels work better for my wide feet than most dress shoes do. That does not make the whole brand wide-foot friendly.

A size 8 fitting perfectly in one style does not mean the next size 8 will fit the same way. And their size chart put me in the wrong size the one time I followed it. I’ve now learned that lesson twice.

For my original post, I returned a pair of boots directly to VIVAIA. I eventually got my money back. But after I mailed them, I heard nothing. I had no idea whether they’d arrived or whether a refund was being processed, and I had to chase customer service.

That was years ago, so I was curious what the process looks like now. I returned the Gisella boots directly to VIVAIA, and it was much easier this time. I requested the return on VIVAIA’s website and got a return label almost immediately.

My refund arrived about two weeks after I shipped the boots back. So returning to VIVAIA has gotten easier than it was the first time.

I still prefer Nordstrom for customer service and returns, though.

Whichever way you order: try them on inside, keep them clean, and read the current return policy before you wear them out.

A quick update on the sustainability claims

My original post was very critical of the way VIVAIA marketed itself, and of the idea that making shoes out of plastic bottles automatically made it an eco-friendly company. Do I still feel that way? Pretty much. I still need more than a recycled-material claim before I’ll call an entire brand sustainable. The full argument, and that comment section, are in my original Vivaia shoes review.

People also asked why I singled out VIVAIA when I’m not an especially eco-conscious shopper myself. That’s fair. But sustainability was basically VIVAIA’s entire sales pitch in the beginning, and I couldn’t find enough evidence behind the claims. I wasn’t expecting them to be perfect, and I definitely wasn’t claiming I was. I wanted them to back up the promise they were using to make money.

VIVAIA now identifies REPREVE as one of its recycled-yarn suppliers, and REPREVE does hold legitimate third-party certifications. That gives the recycled-yarn claim more backing than it had when I wrote the original post.

What I still couldn’t find was enough product-specific or company-wide information to verify the much bigger idea that VIVAIA is a sustainable company. There’s still very little detail about factories, workers, or the full supply chain.

Being made in China isn’t automatically a problem, though. The lack of transparency is.

I think the most environmentally meaningful thing a shoe can do is not get replaced. A pair that lasts five years does more than a pair made from recycled bottles that falls apart in one. Durability is also the only claim here I can actually verify.

It’s not a clean win. These are still plastic shoes, and every time I put them through the wash they’re shedding microplastics. I’m not going to pretend that isn’t happening.

So, would I buy VIVAIA again?

Yes, I would. But if I could, I’d order through Nordstrom. They just have a better customer service history in my book.

And I’d order my normal size instead of trusting that foot-length chart, because that’s the mistake I made the first time.

I still haven’t found a perfect brand for my weird feet. This is as close as I’ve gotten, which honestly says more about dress shoes than it does about VIVAIA shoes.

If you own any of these, tell me in the comments which style you have and what kind of feet you have. Narrow, average, wide, bunions, whatever. I want to hear it.

Read next: My BRUTALLY Honest Vivaia Shoes Review: MUST-READ Before Buying