I am very excited to share with you these incredible find! When Ale first started walking I went through quite a process of finding the right shoes for him – something that is comfortable, flexible and can survive all the abuse such as dirt, rocks, sand, water, dust and so on and so forth. 🙂 I first tried Uggs – they were cute and comfortable, but they did not last due to poor design. Honestly, it was a waste of money. We then also tried few other cheaper brands – some shoes fell apart after 3-4 weeks of use, even though they were lightweight and comfy, others were made of such cheap and synthetic materials they were making baby feet smell! And that to me was a very bad sign as far as materials used, so I discontinued using those shoes.
Then I tried a pair of Pololo shoes from our all time favorite Little Spruce Organic store. Really, that store is a real treasure of high quality organic (actually certified!) children clothes and shoes! The moment Ale saw his new Pololo shoes he fell in love! He put them on without any protest (major plus!) and started running around in them. He spent half the summer and entire autumn in these shoes, some of the winter months and part of March. We just graduated into a second pair as he grew out of his first one. Most of the time Ale spends outside is in the garden or nearby nature walks. So the shoes are constantly exposed to dust, rocks, sand, mulch and wet dirt. More than once he stepped in a hole with water and liquid mud. And while the shoes did get slightly beaten up looking on the outside they remained as sturdy as ever – not a single stitch got loose, the shoe sole is solidly in place, nothing came apart and they stayed as soft and comfortable as new.
I took few close-up photos to show you the craftsmanship and design details. You can see more colors on Little Spruce Organics website. They have more Pololo shoes as well, which I’m sure are all just as fantastic, but this model has been our super-star!
What we LOVE about these shoes:
- Superior quality ensuring the shoes will survive just about anything and serve your child as long as they still fit him/her!
- Natural and non-toxic materials – 100% natural leather that is vegetable tanned, soft and chrome free. The shoes are made in Germany, which in my experience routinely has a significantly higher standards not only for quality, but for safety (free of harmful toxins, etc.) as well. You can learn more here.
- Easy on and easy off! The shoes are very easy to put on and take off. That being said they solidly stay put on the little feet once on!
- The design of the shoe soul – the rubber shoe soul is done in such way that it keeps the water away even when walking on wet dirt or grass. It also helps to prevent the front of the shoe of excessive damage from rocks, etc.
- The shoe sole has a very good grip.
- The fact that Ale absolutely loves them means they are very comfortable to wear.
- Even after a full day of use they never accumulate any smell, unlike synthetic shoes we’ve tried
- Beautiful design and lovely colors!
We are currently on our second pair as he grew out of his first one. The first pair got some TLC from my mom who treated them with some tinted leather conditioning cream. They now look almost new and are awaiting for Ale’s little brother to put them up for some more challenge few months down the road 🙂
