Cute Comfortable Shoes Series: Dansko

First ACTUAL post in the Cute Comfortable Shoes Series! And it is, probably of little surprise to anyone, Dansko shoes.

The Brand: Dansko was founded by a husband and wife team in 1990. One one of their trips back to Peter’s hometown in Denmark, they found a small shop with a type of clog they had never seen before – closed back clogs! They loved them so much they bought a few pairs and brought them back. After buying pairs for family and friends, they starting buying them wholesale to save some money, and then selling them at horse shows (they actually met through horseback riding!). Eventually, demand outweighed their supply, so they did the sensible thing and started a shoe business! They (obviously) named their budding business Dansko, which literally translates into “Danish shoe”. They started 18 years ago with one employee and now have 150 or so. The main goal with the shoes is comfort above all else. They definitely go for a community and environmentally friendly company set up – they give employees paid time off so that they can volunteer, and when an employee does volunteering, the company matches their salary for the hours volunteered and donates it to the organization being volunteered at!! Pretty neat, huh?

The Price Range: Most of Dansko’s shoes are within the $100-175 range, with boots retailing at $175-200. Looking on eBay or at 6pm.com usually results in much lower prices (but of course, beware of individual seller return policies on eBay!), as they’re usually pretty abundant on both sites.

The Comfort: 8/10.

When I worked at Target and was in cosmetology school, a lot of the time I would go straight from school to work and then work until close. This resulted in 12-14 hour days and VERY SORE FEET. I was at a total loss for what to do (seriously – unless you’ve worked similar days when not wearing good shoes, the continuous foot pain is hard to comprehend!) until someone recommended Danskos to me. I snagged a pair of the Professional clogs off eBay, and while they weren’t really my thing as far as looks go, they made my foot pain virtually disappear. When I got a retail job again and was spending my whole shift on my feet, Dansko was the first place I looked for new shoes. Unfortunately, the cuter shoes aren’t quite as insanely comfortable as the clogs, thus resulting in a slightly lower comfort score.

The Look: It seems to me that the look aimed for with most of the shoe models is a sleek modernity. Sometimes the mark gets missed and the shoes end up looking a little bit more on the clunky side. Thus, if you hate wedge or chunky heels, Dansko will not be your shoe brand of choice! Most of the heels are pretty modest as well, usually clocking in at under 3″.

I own three pairs of Dansko shoes. I pretty much love the way the Ryan boot looks, although I wish there was a little bit more room in the toe box – the “roof” of the shoe is kind of low and rubs on my big toe sometimes. The double-strapped Mary Janes (sorry – don’t know the name of the make) I really have no complaints about, except that they’re just barely loose enough that they gave me blisters when I walked in them all day in Austin!

Here’s my favorites out of their current wares:

Tara Mary Janes by Dansko

Tillie Peep-Toe Pump by Dansko

I might actually end up watching for that second pair on eBay. Hm.

Here endeth the lesson – stay tuned for further updates in the series!