GROUNDIES®
Amalfi Women

This is my second summer with the Amalfi and these are gorgeous and elegant vegan minimalist sandals - minimalist in an aesthetic sense moreso than in the barefoot sense. To start off with the pros these are probably the best looking flat vegan dress sandals I've found and I hope to have them in my wardrobe for years. They dress up more casual separates and make an EXCELLENT foot-friendly formal summer option with dresses. They can truly replace a strappy heel and are well worth it for this alone imo. I also like the level of "padding", they are not fully rigid like a piece of hard plastic but they have just a bit of give so they aren't overly cushy like a traditional shoe. HOWEVER... To be good barefoot shoes I think they need a major redesign. These soles are too firm and sadly do not conform to the movement of your foot when walking. They have some flex but not as much as you'd expect from a barefoot shoe. This combined with the long vertical straps on either side of the ankle strap that do not hold the footbed close and secure to your sole means that you sadly have to use the deeply unergonomic "scorpion toe" posture of a traditional flip-flop to keep them on. These are not suitable for extensive walking imo, I will wear actual sneakers if the occasion calls for that and it's sad as I had hoped these could be proper barefoot walking sandals/sightseeing shoes. The ankle strap is also SO short it's shocking. I have extremely small ankles, and low-volume, narrow feet and I literally have to use the largest buckle hole - these will be unwearable for anyone with plus sized ankles. I did size down from my usual 39 to a 38 due to how most sandals are unattractively oversized on my narrow feet (this was the right choice, they fit well) so PERHAPS the strap sizes up significantly when you get to 39+ in size, but I doubt it. The straps are all made of non-stretch vegan leather also - I love the look but this means you cannot easily slide the ankle strap on and off, especially if you had thicker ankles. This is a major deterrent if you want to wear them somewhere like the pool or an indoor/outdoor party where you may be slipping your shoes on and off many times in quick succession. To improve this style and take it from its constant presence on the Sale page to a best seller, Groundies please 1) improve footed flexibility. Even a 20% enhancement would make a big difference to their walkability, as would 2) adding an elastic segment to key portions of the straps. The ankle strap should have some elastic (in a discreet, matching light silver grey) to allow flexibility in sizing and all-important quick on-off functionality, and 3) shortening the vertical side straps and making most or all of them elastic as well would give a more secure fit and ensure the flexible footbed FOLLOWS your foot instead of dragging behind and ruining your natural movement. The side straps need tension to be truly functional. I've thought a LOT about these sandals and how to improve them, and I hope Groundies implements these changes. The aesthetics are lovely and I WILL be wearing them for warm weather dressy events but it would only take a few tweaks to make them incredible all-rounders. Even if you only added the elastic to the straps to improve the fit (presumably a lot cheaper and easier than innovating a whole new footbed material) that would MASSIVELY improve their functionality and perhaps even make adding more flex to the footbed unnecessary - the sole flops down instead of following your foot now but it does have flex, so start there and see what it does. For prospective buyers: I give the current iteration of these sandals a 5/5 stars for aesthetics, 3.5/5 for comfort and functionality and a 2/5 for "barefoot" appropriateness, giving me about a 3/5 overall. I hope this rundown is helpful and gives you a good idea of what you'll be getting - a gorgeous summer shoe whose barefoot functionality is sadly not-quite there yet.