I still remember the first time I laid (virtual) eyes on a pair of beautiful wooden clogs. Michelle Williams was wearing them in yet another chic ensemble while she traipsed around Brooklyn. This was years ago, and I’ve kept one dreamy eye on them ever since. For the longest time, I thought one popular Swedish brand had a corner on the market, but little did I know there is a multitude of traditional Swedish clog makers out there including the one I’m going to review today – Sandgrens Clogs.
The best news? This company rivals the other big names in quality, design and price. Not to mention, they’re kind of good at crafting clogs because they’ve been doing it for more than 100 years.
[ dress, thrifted Loveapella (similar in modal, in rayon, and in organic linen) / Morocco clogs in Nude, c/o Sandgrens / bucket bag, Baggu ]
FIRST IMPRESSION:
These are gorgeous! The natural leather is exactly what I am looking for, and the peep-toe, slingback style is unlike any other clogs I’ve seen. The platform style of these clogs makes them leg-lengthening and easy to walk in. Overall leather is quite stiff. Fit of clogs isn’t nearly as narrow as other popular Swedish brands.
AFTER SOME REGULAR WEAR:
I decided to take these babies for a spin on several occasions – in addition to wearing them around the house quite a bit – to get a genuine sense of how they feel for extended wear, and to speed up the leather-softening process.
Functionality: As mentioned above, the platform style of these clogs makes them really easy to wear. Overall they give me about 2.5″ in height, but the platform at the front of the shoe is about 1.5″ – which means my feet only feel like they are wearing heels an inch tall. Boom!
Vegetable Tan Leather: This is one of my favorite treatments of leather because it’s aged naturally with ingredients like tree bark. Veggie tan leather products usually start with a light tan and eventually darken with sun exposure over time. I love the idea of worn-in, sun-kissed leather. However, this style of leather often comes with a small price: the stiff leather took a few weeks of wearing to soften up. I took it easy and mostly wore them around my house. The leather was extra stiff under my left ankle, and was sort of biting into my skin, so I hastened the softening process by rubbing that particular edge with a damp rag and then I curled and bent it between my fingers. I only did this on one small problem area, and it totally did the trick.
What I don’t like: The side of my foot hangs over a bit on the edge of the footbed of the clogs. Basically the toe box is shorter than your typical clog design and is meant to just cup the toes, and not the sides of your foot (as far as I can tell). As someone who has slightly wider than average feet, I feel like this design exaggerates the shape of my foot a bit. But, then again, if my feet weren’t wide just before my toes tapered, they would look oddly straight. I hope the leather will continue to mold and shape to my feet and this will become less of an issue for me.
Overall: Great shoe! I love, love the streamlined look and top-notch construction of these clogs. Though the footbed is hard, it cups my foot very comfortably. Because of the mild incline I can wear them for hours and still feel comfortable. Bottom line: they look good on and they feel good too.
WHY I LIKE THE COMPANY AND WOULD RECOMMEND THEM TO YOU:
I was first drawn to Sandgrens after reading about their mission to make the highest quality clogs possible – something they’ve been perfecting for more than 100 years. For me, when deciding whether I like an item, quality is paramount. I could have the cutest sandals, jeans or dress, but if the quality is not there, then it is just not worth the space in my closet or my hard-earned dollars. I have found my Sandgrens clogs to live up to my high expectations, and I anticipate they will surpass them in the years to come as they wear-in nicely.
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A big thank you to Sandgrens for sending me these clogs for review. As always, all opinions are my own!
Those are gorgeous shoes! Great tip about softening up the problem spot. Nobody has time for shoes that hurt!
Totally Tonya! Ain’t nobody got time for that! ;)
I’ll be eagerly waiting to here how they wear in regards to the mentioned area in a future blog post. I love the look of the design!
Thanks Brenda, I am sure I’ll be wearing them a lot this summer, and therefore on the blog! :) It’s been a long time since I’ve purchased/owned many ‘heels’ and it is fun to have another pair!
Sandgrens’ clogs are amazing, my mom wore her pairs for over 30 years. (and then it wasn’t a matter of them falling apart, her feet just got a little bigger.). I’ve loved my pair of boots and after a winter of really hard wear, they looked so much better than my other pairs of clogs. The company is also pretty amazing, I’ve been saving up to buy a pair of open toe ones for the summer because they are such great, comfortable shoes.
This pair looks so cute on you and seem very much your style, the tan color is similar to your oxfords so I bet these are amazing with your wardrobe! (and uugh, I’ve been so bad at commenting but I still read your posts – I have SO enjoyed your company spotlights posts. Those are so well done and you do a great job interveiwing.)
I’ve missed you Katie! Thanks for popping in!! I’m glad you’re still lurking!! ;) I think I first heard about Sandgrens from you! How did your clogs hold up in the winter and snow? I love the boots but am unsure if they would work in the winter here because of the rain…
Super cool that your mom wore Sandgrens!!