I, like many other people, was in love with the idea of TOMS. Buying a pair of shoes AND donating it to a child in a third-world country? Sign me up please!
And so, a little over a month ago, I bought my first pair of TOMS. Shelling out $44 hurt a little bit (okay, a lot bit), but I wanted to see what all the hype was about. When I got the shoes and tried them on, I was super happy with them. They were comfy, stylish, and super easy to wear. When I got mud on them, I just threw them in the wash and BAM they were clean.
But the downsides:
After just a month of use (and actually less, the second picture happened after about 2 weeks), my TOMS has holes in them. Both shoes have holes in the top of them, and the left shoe has a huge gash in the back. At first, I thought it was because I must have caught the shoe in something, and it ripped. But after reading other blogs about this, I realized that other people were having the same experience. TOMS were simply not built to last. Which makes me think about the kids that are getting these donated shoes. I live in a city, which means that I do walk a lot, but no where near as much as kids in developing countries may have to walk. Giving them shoes may at the time seem like a godsend to them, but is it worth it if after a month, those shoes have holes and have ripped through? I don't think so.
TOMS, I don't want to give up on you. So I may still buy another pair to see if the damage was caused by me. But $44 is a lot to spend on a pair of shoes that last less than a month, even if you are donating another pair to a child in need. Because that child in need needs shoes that can last him or her more than a month. The child deserves that.
A Brown CS Girl
And so, a little over a month ago, I bought my first pair of TOMS. Shelling out $44 hurt a little bit (okay, a lot bit), but I wanted to see what all the hype was about. When I got the shoes and tried them on, I was super happy with them. They were comfy, stylish, and super easy to wear. When I got mud on them, I just threw them in the wash and BAM they were clean.
But the downsides:
After just a month of use (and actually less, the second picture happened after about 2 weeks), my TOMS has holes in them. Both shoes have holes in the top of them, and the left shoe has a huge gash in the back. At first, I thought it was because I must have caught the shoe in something, and it ripped. But after reading other blogs about this, I realized that other people were having the same experience. TOMS were simply not built to last. Which makes me think about the kids that are getting these donated shoes. I live in a city, which means that I do walk a lot, but no where near as much as kids in developing countries may have to walk. Giving them shoes may at the time seem like a godsend to them, but is it worth it if after a month, those shoes have holes and have ripped through? I don't think so.
TOMS, I don't want to give up on you. So I may still buy another pair to see if the damage was caused by me. But $44 is a lot to spend on a pair of shoes that last less than a month, even if you are donating another pair to a child in need. Because that child in need needs shoes that can last him or her more than a month. The child deserves that.
A Brown CS Girl
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