Thinking seriously about getting a pair of Birkenstocks, specifically the Papillon Yesterday Arizona… so, what do you think about Birkenstocks? Overpriced? Tacky? Lesbian? 
I freaking love mine. I have two pairs that I bought for around $110 each-- TEN YEARS AGO. They’re only just now getting to the point where I should probably replace them. Seriously, it’s an extremely high quality product.
Oh, and I’m a straight non-hippy male. 
I’ve never found anyone else who has the same problem with Birkenstocks that I do - they chew up my feet. I get awful redness followed by huge blisters on my insteps, arches and the soft part of the bottoms of my feet. I don’t know what it is, but that slightly rough “suede-like” fabric they use just kills me every time. I’ve tried real Birks, Birk knock-offs, multiple styles - all of 'em kill my feet.
So chances are good that you won’t have the same problem, but that’s why I hate them.
I have the exact opposite problem as you, WhyNot. My feet chew up Birkenstocks.
They are really comfortable, but after two years mine look like they’ve been through a war zone: holes right through the soles and the leather tearing off.
I’m rather hard on footwear but they are comfortable while they last.
I broke out my Birks today for the first time in a loooong time. They are the plain dark brown standard style that I bought in my junior year of HS - 14 years ago!
I think they are a little uglier than they were when I was a cute coed, but they are still not terrible. It doesn’t hurt that they go with my outfit (kinda hippie-ish flowery shirt).
And it can scream lesbi-wear, depending on what you mix it with.
I have two pairs, so I like them. One has been resoled. They’re comfortable and I think they look good. They’re ubiquitous enough now that they don’t have the lesbian connotations; you can get knock-offs at Target and Payless.
Does anyone have a link to this particular style?
I don’t think they are the prettiest shoe in the world, but I love them and have worn them for years.
I have two pairs of Bostons (clogs) that I wear almost exclusively, in winter with sock sand in summer without. Plus a pair of the rubber ones that I use for walking the dogs in wet grass. One of these days when I’m flush I’ll buy another pair in another color.
The brown pair is the one I wear the most, and I’ve had it resoled twice. The second time the Birk shop cobbler replaced the corks for free. 
Black suede is for dressier. I prefer the regular footbed to the “soft footbed” or whatever they call it.
I started wearing them to protect my ingrown toenail. They’re practically like steel-toed shoes when it comes to everyday protection against bumps. Plus I like being able to slip them off at will.
I looked it up. I see these as Unisex shoes (lesbian??). Ugly, but comfortable.
Weeps softly
Seriously, I know that they’re much beloved by a lot of people, but they’re hideous. I’m all for comfort, but there’s no rule that comfort can’t be cute.
Comfortable, yes, but not enough so to justify the ugliness or the exorbitant price.
I wouldn’t wear them in a zillion years. But I have a semi-irrational hatred of them. I especially hate them if they are worn with socks.
Sorry, I know some of you wear them in this way, and I know it’s really comfortable and everything, but I can’t help but think that if you’re going to wear sandals, you ought to leave the socks at home. If your feet are cold, I think maybe you should consider wearing shoes. If they are uncomfortable without socks, then I have no idea what the point is of owning them at all.
Just my opinion of course.
Any chance you’re allergic to leather? Can you wear other sandals without this happening?
Good? Yes
Bad? No
Ugly? Yes
Then again, with size 12-W feets, I can’t be too picky about style.
Bought my first pair 9 years ago on the advice of my podiatrist, and I love them. I stick with the basic styles (Arizona is the most popular). Got a thong style once and HATED it, it had a round “post” that goes where the thong goes, and rubbed blisters. Another one, similar to arizona but with openwork on the straps, is OK for casual but for any substantial walking it hurts the tops of my feet.
My husband got a pair last year (Arizona, soft footbed). Hated them for three days. Now wears them all the time.
Some styles are less ugly than others, though - check out what they have at Birkenstock Central.
In an misguided effort to “glamorize” them, they actually created two models that are covered in gold or silver shiny stuff and fake jewels, and hawked by Heidi Klum. With a price tag of 200+ dollars. Somehow, I managed to resist (they were ass-ugly and tacky looking).
Oh - straight female here, obviously.
Nope, I wear other leathers, including leather moccasin boots, all the time. It even happens with vegan-Birk-knockoffs. It’s something about that stiff, thick sole with the stiff arch and the texture (know what I’m talking about? Slightly rough and sueded?) of the material covering the arch. Sucks, 'cause they’re really practical shoes for the kind of lifestyle I lead (no laces, easy to get on and off, thick sole for walking through puddles, etc.), but I’ve tried over a dozen pairs with the same weird problem.
I don’t know if it’s related, but I do have pretty high arches. Maybe I’m ok with softer, more flexible shoes because they can mold to my arches, where the Birk-style leaves just enough of a gap to chafe and irritate as my arch touches and then doesn’t touch with each step?
I’ve been wearing Birks for years. They are so unbelieveably comfortable. I wear sandals in the summer and clogs in the winter. They aren’t the cutest shoes I have ever seen, but the comfort is worth it.
They’re good, bad and ugly.
Good for shelping around a campsite, walking the dog, or buming around doing yardwork.
Bad for formal events, job interviews (unless you’re interviewing at a natural foods cooperative), and the Academy Awards.
Ugly all the time. Particularly if worn with big fuzzy lumberjack socks which is how us Canadian girls wear them.
I have a pair - they come with me camping, and when I’m visiting my parents in the middle of Butt-Fuck Nowhere, MB. However, I would never wear them to work, or to classes. That’s sooooo 1993.
They’re marginally more attractive that [url=http://www.ihatecrocs.com/]Crocs but that’s not particularly undamning…