Before I started buying my shoes from Don’s, I had gone to several other elevator shoe manufacturers.
My main goal was to try to find a pair of shoes that could give me a significant lift, be wearable (comfortable enough to wear for a full day if need-be), and looks as normal and natural as possible.
The other factor that came into play was price—I’m not rich by any means, so I needed to find something that wouldn’t cost a small fortune.
After several years of trying out most of the main brands (and a few that are no longer available), I came to a few main conclusions.
First of all, I found that several of the biggest brands, that were manufacturing in China, seemed to be a bit of a mixed bag. Surprisingly, I generally didn’t have a lot of issues with comfort—I was able to wear almost all of them for long periods of time without feeling any significant pain or discomfort.
Unfortunately, I generally found the overall look and design of most of them to be average to unattractive. Especially among the highest height increasing shoes (4 inch lifts and 5 inch lifts +) I found that the designs were incredibly bulky. Among the worst offenders, it honestly felt like I had weighted shoeboxes on my feet. Surprisingly, that didn’t equate to them being uncomfortable—the interior of the shoe was generally fine and didn’t press against my foot that often—but I did find them “heavy” to walk in over time. I found myself dreading taking long walks in them if I could avoid it.
Equally challenging for the largest sizes was that the bulky design required *very* specific fashion choices to try to hide the incredibly obvious curve in the back of the shoe, that was added to fit in the additional “hidden lifts” inside the shoe. The effect often looked *incredibly* obvious, and the only way to try to deal with it that I was able to find was to wear them with bootcup pants, with wide legs that would conceal most of the backs of the shoe.
Even in those cases, though, they sometimes made a very odd looking “bend” in the pants that I wasn’t that happy with—it was obvious that there was still something a little strange about the shoes to a casual passer-by, unless I was in a nighttime environment with dimmer lighting like a nightclub or a pub.
Lastly, I found that I regularly had issues with shoes wearing out quite quickly. In the worst case, I had a pair of shoes wear out in less than 6 weeks. I’m not a shoemaker, so I can’t speak as to the specifics as to why the build quality wore out as quickly as it did, but it definitely created a major issue.
All of that made me very interested to compare the shoe build quality when I got my first pair from Don’s.
I was interested in buying a pair of elevator boots from his shop for some time, but somehow just never seemed to get around to pulling the trigger.
Eventually, I caught a few of his videos on youtube, and was impressed to finally find someone who was willing to put their shoes in a video, instead of relying on photos which may or may not have been photoshopped.
The videos convinced me to give them a try.
The pair I picked up looked absolutely gorgeous. It was *easily* the best looking height increasing shoe I’ve owned, despite also having one of the biggest lifts, at 5 inches.
One of the biggest “secrets to their success” in terms of the look of the shoe was building them to have a taller shaft, which worked to drastically reduce the bulky curve that was needed to build in the lifts with other elevator shoes. It also gave more ankle support, and had the effect of giving me a lot more natural strides when I walked.
With some of the other 4 or 5 inch elevator shoes, the fact that they much shorter shafts can sometimes exaggerate the break between the foot movements in the elevator shoe, and the rest of the leg, every time you take a step. I’d be willing to assume that anyone who’s ever bought a pair of traditional elevator shoes will instantly be able to relate to the unnatural “break” between the shoe and the leg that I’m talking about. In a nutshell, because of the huge, bulky curves on the backs of other shoes, and how the short shafts make your foot and leg look, it can often look like you’re feet are in the middle of your shoe, instead of being situated properly.
With longer shafts, it basically “locks the shoes in place” alongside the rest of your leg much more effectively, making a HUGE improvement in how natural you look wearing them compared to other designs I’ve worn.
Aside from that—which for me was easily the biggest improvement over other height increasing shoes I’d bought before switching to Don’s, I have to give them a lot of credit for the build quality and design.
The shoes genuinely look like something that I could have purchased from a high end boutique in New York or London, and regularly gets me compliments. Keep in mind, those compliments aren’t for looking “good for an elevator shoe” but from people who literally can’t even tell that they’re elevator shoes at all, and ask where they can potentially buy a pair for themselves.
If you have any uncertainty about picking up a pair, I’d highly suggest to contact the team at Don’s directly. They’re extremely friendly, and more than willing to send additional photos or even videos of a pair that you might be particularly interested in.
As needed, Don's Footwear can also do bespoke orders as well, if you have a very specific vision in mind for your elevator shoes.
Overall, I’d recommend Don’s very highly, and I’m confident that you’ll be as impressed with their shoes as I’ve been.
