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Gea Soles YRSA – Review

There is not many barefoot brands that make great looking shoes also for those with wide feet. Wrong design and they can quickly look big on your foot. But Gea Soles definitely knows how to make wide shoes look pleasant for your eyes. Just look at those new YRSA ballet flats.

Gea Soles is a Spanish brand of handmade barefoot shoes known for its special hand-dyed shoes with decorative shadows. The women behind the brand is Esther who designs and make all the shoes by herself. She even dyes all the leather and she definitely knows how to make them memorable.

Her new YRSA ballet flats are not just classical Mary Jane style of shoes. Angular details, diagonal strap, possibility to choose two different colours, hand-dyed leather and special shading makes the shoes special and unique.

Disclaimer: I bought YRSA ballet flats with a discount in exchange for a review. But as always, all opinions expressed here are my own and I don’t receive any compensation if you choose to buy some for yourself.

1. General

  • Brand: Gea Soles
  • Model: YRSA
  • Colour: Blue Ocean and Turquoise
  • Tested on: woman, medium-wide feet, 26,3 cm long and 10 cm wide, low instep, skinny ankles

2. Material characteristics

2.1 Upper

Ballet flats are made from high quality vegetable tanned leather. You can choose between many different colours from her colour palette. Your shoes can be made in one colour, or with triangle part and the strap in different colour. I decided to get a combination of Ocean Blue and Turquoise. There is not huge contrast between those two colours, but I just couldn’t decide between those two colours.

The strap for closing the shoes is positioned in diagonal way which gives them unique and special look.

The leather is soft and just the right thickness to hold its shape. The heel keeps its shape nicely, thanks to two layers of leather at the back.

Inside part of the shoe is not lined with extra layer of leather. You will just get a raw side of a leather touching your skin. No hash and toxic compounds. Just soft suede leather, which is completely natural.

Shoes are hand-dyed (base colour and decorative shadows), therefore each pair will look a little bit different and unique. And this is a beauty of this.

If you prefer shoes without shading, just let Esther know that when you place an order.

You can also expect some minor imperfections due to hand-dying process.

I also must mention here that my pair arrived with a glue left on one shoe and because of the glue, the dark thread colour was missing here.

I contacted Esther about that and she apologized for the carelessness and suggest me to use leather conditioner in that part to make the spot darker. I removed the glue and the leather conditioner did darken that part to make it less visible.

Probably your pair won’t look like this, but it seemed fair to inform you about that here.

2.2 Sole

For the sole you can choose between three different options. My ballet flats are made with 3 mm thick rubber sole, but you can also choose Cowhide leather sole or Vibram Tank sole.

The ground feeling in them is wonderful and I’m really satisfied with the flexibility of the sole too. No problems with rolling them in any directions.

3. Sizing information

3.1 Length

Gea Soles shoes are not classified in regular EU, UK or US sizes as you are used to.

Instead of choosing your shoe size, you need to write Esther your foot length, width and also instep circumference and she will choose the right size for you.

According to Gea Soles size guide my feet with length 26,3 cm and width 10 cm are in category 26,1 cm-26,6 cm length and 9,4 cm – 10,7 cm width.

The inside length of my YRSA ballet flats measured with plus12 is around 27,4 cm. I can definitely tell that my toes have plenty of space in them to wiggle. Esther chose the perfect size for me.

3.2. Toebox shape & width

Gea Soles shoes are available in two different widths – regular and wide. Depending on your foot measurements Esther will decide which width will fit you better. Mine are made in regular width.

The toebox has a great foot-shaped form with a gentle slope towards the little toe. The shape really suit well to my Greek foot type (second toe is the longest), but it could also suit well to more squared-shaped foot.

Regarding the width I have plenty of space in them and the ballet flats could fit great variety of foot shapes, widths and volumes.

They are wonderful choice for wide feet and feet with more volume as there is a wide option too. But I wouldn’t recommend them for narrow feet. They will definitely be to wide for them.

3.3. Fit around the instep, heel and ankle

My feet are quite shallow and the only thing that was adjusted on my ballet flats is the strap which fits great to my feet now.

The heel is slightly wider than my heels are, but with the strap I can make them really secure for walking. These ballet flats will definitely fit also to feet with wider heels and ankles.

I can see same gaping at the sides when I walk, but that doesn’t bother me at all.

4. Comfort

Flats are wonderfully soft and comfortable and they don’t need any breaking in period. They are really pleasant to wear for all day long.

5. How to wear them?

YRSA ballet flats are available in many wonderful colours. Different colours will make them work for different occasions. Plain black colour can be a perfect choice for wearing them with formal clothes for example.

I decided to choose blue colour because I like to wear them with jeans, but they work great with a dress too.

Also, new metallic colours (check her Instagram page), can be a perfect pair for evening or cocktail dress for special occasions.

6. Price & where to buy

Gea Soles shoes can be bought from their official website. Full price for YRSA model with 3 mm rubber sole is 99€.

7. Shipping info

Shipping costs are calculated during the checkout process and they depend on the shipping country and the weight of the package. For Slovenia shipping costs are 17,50€.

8. Where are they made?

All Gea Soles shoes are designed, dyed and hand-sewn by Esther from Spain using only high-quality materials.

9. To sum up

This was my first experience with Gea Soles and I must say I’m wonderfully surprised with the softness, fit and the look of my YRSA ballet flats. They are probably one of my favourite ballet flats I have and this is definitely the design that I would love to have in more than just one colour.

I definitely want to get back to this brand in the near future. I’m sure Esther will show us even more wonderful designs to us.

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