I have a hard time finding shoes that work for me, so it’s a happy day when I get to write a positive shoe review. Today, I’m reviewing a pair of flats from dr. Liza, a Canadian brand.

First, a bit about the company. Liza Egbogah is a chiropractor, osteopath, and posture expert who started a clinic in Toronto called the [fix]. She launched dr. Liza in March 2017 to offer fashionable and comfortable shoes to her clients. The brand says their products, which includes bags, are ethically and sustainably made in Brazil. (However, there’s not specifics about what this means on their website.)

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The shoes are orthotic, but don’t look like it at all.

I first learned about the brand when I saw a pair of their sandals on Instagram. The shape of the shoe — in particular the curve of the heel — was what caught my eye. dr. Liza makes just a few styles: there’s the sandals, the flats, two types of pumps, and two booties. But the few shoes they do make are all tasteful. There’s something about the sculptural, minimal, balanced look of their shoes that’s really pleasing to me. The shoes are orthotic, but don’t look like it at all.

In August, I impulse bought a pair of dr. Liza leopard print flats. I’ve worn them for a little over two months now. Since we’re in a pandemic though, I haven’t worn them as much as I would in a normal year. Usually, I’d be out and about, taking public transit and walking quite a bit. But these days, I don’t venture that far from my neighborhood since I’m still sheltering in place and have the luxury of working from home. All this to say that I’ve never worn these shoes for more than an hour at a time.

First Impressions: The flats arrived in a timely manner from Canada. It took 10 days. (Shipping is free within Canada but about $11 USD flat rate to the U.S.) They were packaged in a sturdy black shoe box, which was wrapped in a plastic mailer. The shoes look well-made with straight stitching. The leather is not the super soft kind that will mold to your feet and show every bump. It’s more on the stiffer side and holds its shape while still having some give.

The rubber heel is a .5″ — just a little bit of lift. Surprisingly, the royal blue outsole is a hard material. The website says it’s rubber, but it feels hard and clicks against the pavement.

Fit: Though the website says that the dr. Liza flats fit true to size, I was nervous about buying from a brand I had never tried before. (Especially since purchases are not returnable for U.S. customers. A one-time exchange is permitted, but the customer must pay the return shipping.) So I measured my feet according to this sizing page on their website, and wrote in to ask for a size recommendation. I usually wear a 6.5 US/37 Euro. In this case, they told me to order the 6. So take note: these flats run about a half size big.

The size 6 are definitely the right size for me. They’re wide enough for my wide-ish feet and almost too big at my heels. Almost — but thankfully not. The toe box has plenty of wiggle room, a purposeful design to accommodate bunions. If you have narrow feet, these will probably be too wide. But, if you have any questions about sizing, just ask them. Amanda in customer care is really helpful and replies quickly.

What these shoes have that the others don’t is decent arch support and sesamoid support.

Comfort: The most exciting thing to me about these shoes — besides the fact that I’ve finally found an ethically-made leopard print shoe — is the padding in the leather footbed. Now, these are not the most padded, most cushy shoes ever. In that regard, they feel moderate. They have neither the bouncy feel of my Hopp Studio wedges nor the sink-into-cushiness feeling of Allbirds. (I’ve reviewed several Allbirds styles.) But what these shoes have that the others don’t is decent arch support and sesamoid support.

The sesamoids are two small pea-shaped bones located in the ball of the foot beneath the big toe joint. As I shared last year, I started experiencing an achy pain in my right foot and it turned out to be sesamoidtitis. My podiatrist told me to relieve the pressure on the ball of my foot by wearing sesamoid pads and these sneakers. Dutifully, I stuck these pads on my foot every day for months and learned how to style ugly sneakers.

Fast forward a year later and my foot is still not 100%. The ball of my foot still hurts sometimes, even in cushioned shoes. But these dr. Liza flats have built-in padding extending from the arch area to near the ball of the foot and it helps. In some of my other shoes, my foot feels achy right away, but not with the dr. Liza flats.

If you’ve never had shoes with this kind of cushioning, then it might feel weird at first, but you get used to it. Now I want ALL my shoes to have this kind of cushioning.

These flats also have a built-in padded heel liners.

Aesthetics & Style: The details of these flats feel just right to me. Although the round toe box has plenty of room, it’s not too round. I personally don’t like a very rounded toe, which looks kind of clunky to me. This shoe cuts an elegant shape.

At the back of the shoe is a pull tab, with a leather “L” (and a backwards “L” on the left shoe) sewn onto it. You can also add an ankle strap through the tab. dr. Liza included a free pair of ankle straps in my order and I love having this option to change up the look.

These flats look good with both pants and skirts, so they’re easy to style. I’m in the leopard-print-is-a-neutral camp, so I wear these with just about everything. But dr. Liza makes these flats in a bunch of colors (black, ivory, light brown, red, sky blue, bubblegum pink) as well as in limited-edition prints.

I’d still like to wear these out all day and see how they perform. Will my feet feel tired after a full day in them, or will they feel fine because of the padding? So far, I’m quite happy with them. I didn’t even need to break them in, though of course, I’ve been wearing them in increments of an hour or less. I’m also happy to shop from a small, ethical, Black-owned company.

These are my first dr. Liza shoes, but I don’t think they’ll be my last. I have my eyes on other pairs, like their booties and the dr. Liza sneaker pump, which has a a walkable 2″ heel. (I like this charcoal color and this sunny yellow).

As a quality, ethically-made product, the price point isn’t cheap. The flats run $136 USD, the sneaker pumps are $230, and the booties range from $385 to $463. However, dr. Liza holds good sales — I bought my flats at 40% off. Their next sale, an early Black Friday on a Monday, is scheduled for November 16. I just marked it on my calendar.

UPDATE 7/2/22 – I’ve had these shoes for more than a year and a half and wear them regularly. They remain comfortable for me, though their comfort has a time limit. I wore them for 10 hours once, much of that time spent standing, and my feet were pretty tired at the end of the night. I’ve since bought them in two other colors. However, the pair in navy suede feels snugger and I had to use a shoe stretcher on them. Not sure if this is true of all the suede colors, or just this colorway. But if you’re getting the navy suede, you might want to take your regular size and not size down.

UPDATE 1/9/23 – I bought my fourth pair of these flats in gold, and they also feel snugger. So, there does appear to be inconsistency in sizing, as half of them fit smaller. Or maybe the newer batches are more true to size. Putting my shoe stretcher to use on them, but if I had to do it over again, I’d order them in my usual size.

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