We LOVE these shoes! My three-year-old daughter is very picky about everything she wears, particularly her shoes. She wants everything to be girly, sparkly, etc. However, I want everything she wears to be completely comfortable and sturdy, so her clothes won't keep her from running, climbing, and exploring! These shoes make us both very happy, the first pair to do so in awhile. She has worn them every day for more than two months and they still look fantastic. I'm writing this review because some of the reviews had me concerned about durability and long-term appearance. However, I've been very pleased with these shoes in both these regards. My daughter gets two hours each day of outdoor time at her preschool (we live in Florida, so even though it's winter, this is actually our prime-time play season) and both my kids tend to destroy their shoes quickly. These have held up beautifully. The sparkly surface looks brand new, which is pretty amazing -- way better than any of our sparkly Tom's or Stride-Rites. The rubber toes have kept the shoes safe from wearing out after tricycle-scooting. (Many of our shoes blow out their toes after a month of scooting across pavement on little bikes and cars.) The flower does show a little wear and fraying, but it still looks super cute -- not dingy, in my opinion. It is very securely attached. They don't look like pristine dress-up shoes at this point, but we never would have subjected them to two months of hard everyday wear if that had been my hope, and for an everyday shoe they're actually as dressy and good-looking as anything my daughter needs to wear at this age. She wore them to church yesterday and we got compliments as usual. :) I have had to wash these shoes well one time, when my daughter spent an hour running through potting soil while these shoes were new. :P I used a washcloth and gentle cleanser. Everything cleaned up beautifully, even the flower. Other reviewers have noted that these would not work without socks, and I agree -- the silver stuff would be a little rough. But my kids always wear socks almost every day, even during our hot Florida summers, because playground mulch is no fun to navigate with bare feet. I see that Pediped has these pictured without socks, though, which again, I don't think would work well. We had the same issue with our Tom's shoes with glitter -- too rough on the edges to wear without socks. As for being shoes that are both beautiful and equipped for heavy play, these definitely fit the bill. My daughter trips easily if her shoes aren't great, and she is always sturdy in these. In her words: "My shoes are beautiful and awesome AND fast!" She loves the silver, because she's sure that's what Elsa would wear. :) The glitter has almost a rainbow reflection when it catches the light, which she thinks is magical. These shoes are another huge win for us from Pediped, my favorite source of sturdy, adorable shoes for my daughter. I love the flexible sizing -- you get little foam inserts to use while the shoes are still on the big size, so you can order a slightly bigger size than usual and get more wear out of them. For what it's worth, I also greatly appreciate that Pediped is part of the Fair Labor Association.
