An Honest Review of Rothy’s Flats

If you have yet to be bombarded by Rothy’s ads on all of your social media, don’t worry I’m sure you’re next. I’m usually pretty skeptical of these hyped up companies that seemingly go viral overnight, but I tried them and wanted to give a 1000% honest review of Rothy’s Flats.

PS, I’ve updated this review as of 2022 to give you the latest deets and tell if you I’m still loving them (spoiler alert, I am!).

I paid for these shoes myself, and am in no way affiliated with Rothy’s, so you can trust this. Pinky promise. Like I said, I’m usually pretty skeptical of those companies you suddenly see all over your feed with pretty pictures and high prices.

Lucky for Rothy’s, I have a weakness for flats. I hate wearing shoes with heels, but finding a pair of comfortable flats is just as hellish. Which means I’m game to pay and order just about anything that whispers the word “comfort”.

What are they?

These shoes have major cool factor. They’re 3D knit, and I can’t tell you how many people lose their minds when I tell them that my shoes are made of recycled plastic bottles and 3D printed.

While that’s cool and all, they’re also sustainably and ethically made. Rothy’s is incredibly transparent about their production and environmental impacts, which you can read more about here.

I adore having ethically made shoes and clothing, if it fits my lifestyle. And these do. They’re made with comfortable rubber soles, the knit fabric is stretchy and molds to your foot, and you can wash them!

Styles & Colors

When I bought my Rothy’s a little over a year and a half ago, they only had two styles and a handful of colors. Now? They offer four different styles and a ton of colors and patterns.

Andddd as off 2024 they have about a million styles. Okay, not a million, but a ton more. There are now, drumroll please, 16 styles! That is 4 times the amount from just a few years ago. And I have listed them below, but please know that the list is constantly updating with colors and patterns available, so be sure to check out your faves and use my handy dandy discount code at the end of this post.

• The Point – pointy toe flat

  • 10 Colors

  • 9 Patterns

• The Flat – round toe flat

  • 10 Colors

  • 5 Patterns

• The Ballet Flat – round toe flat with a bow

  • 1 Color

  • 1 Pattern

• The Driver – your new favorite loafer

  • 9 colors

• The Lace Up – Recycled sneakers, need I say more?

  • 4 oh so neutral colors

• The Loafer – penny loafer style flat

  • 4 Colors

  • 3 Patterns

• The Mary Jane – A flat with a big MJ bow in a variety of tippy toes in point, square, etc. etc.

  • 20+ colors

• The Clog – A Birkenstock esque potato shoe but sleeker

  • 16 colors

• The Slip On Sneaker – sneakers without those pesky laces

  • 9 Colors

  • 3 Pattern

• The Square – square toe flat, even some with ankle ties!

  • 14 colors & Patterns

Comfort Factor

I don’t believe in breaking in shoes. There I said it. So, if a shoe isn’t comfortable out of the box, it’s going back.

I bought my first pair of Rothy’s in The Point in black. They arrived the weekend before I was to start a new job, and like any person with common sense, I decided to wear them on my first day.

Like any good first day on the new job, you spend it running around getting this clearance and that and filling out these ten forms then taking them to this person and by the end of the day you’ve walked ten miles and met 348 people.

Shockingly, I forgot I was even wearing new shoes. Not once did I have to stop and put a bandaid on. I never felt like my shoes were too tight or rubbing anywhere, and I had no sore spots when I got home.

My feet didn’t even ache at the end of the day from no support. Needless to say, I was converted.

They are incredibly comfortable, and the soft knit is what keeps it from rubbing. You might think they would lose their shape, but since it’s knit with plastic and not a natural fabric, it doesn’t.

I’ve worn them almost every day for a year since I bought them. Seriously, scroll back on the gram and you’ll see.

I will mention that while these will be comfortable for most people with normal or flat arches, if you have super high arches, you might want to replace the insole. This is no problem, since the insole is already removable to wash. You can just pop that out and measure your supportive insole for a perfect match. It would actually be really good if you need special insoles, because you won’t have to layer your insole on top of another insole or get a cobbler to put in a special one!

Little update four years later…..

I now almost exclusively wear my Rothy’s shoes every day. That’s how comfortable they are. My feet don’t feel crunched in them and I don’t look forward to the end of the day when I can take off my shoes, because I just forget they’re there.

Honestly. I’ve had to train myself to take them off when I get home because I’m one of those no shoe household people and I just forget they’re still on.

I love all of the new styles and I’ve branched out into some of the new prints and have basically converted my entire family (of all genders) to love these shoes.

Smell

Sometimes when I tell people that my shoes are made of plastic, they get this sour look and ask oh so delicately “Oh, doesn’t it smell?”

I have rarely had an issue with smell, and I wear my Rothy’s all day long walking around. The only time I I’ve had my shoes or my feet smell a little is on incredibly hot days where I am also walking a lot.

Feet sweat. It’s natural. A shoe of any other material will end up smelling in that situation also. But, guess what you can’t do to any other shoe? Wash it.

You remove the insoles, throw shoes and insoles separately in the wash (make sure to wipe the sole so it doesn’t rub on your clothes if they’re dirty), and then air dry them. Mine usually dry overnight and are ready for their next beating.

Note: They also dry fast when you step in a sneaky puddle, so you won’t sit in soggy shoes all day.

The smell is always gone after washing, and both the shoe and the insole look good as new. I like to put my insoles in a lingerie bag separate from the shoes so they don’t get lost in whatever else I’m washing.

Washing will also take care of stains, or you can spot clean with water. Again, Rothy’s are plastic, so they don’t really absorb stains. If I don’t want to wash my shoes because some dirt is ground in there, I’ll just wipe at it with a paper towel and it comes right off.

Sizing

All styles of Rothy’s come in sizes 5-13 and comes in whole and half sizes.

If you wear smaller than a size 5, they offer girls shoes in The Loafer & Sneaker style.

I typically wear a 6.5, which is the size I got. So, I would consider them true to size. If between sizes, I would recommend going down a half size. Since the shoes are stretchy, if you go up they might not stay on your foot.

I’ve tried quite a lot of styles over the years, and a size 6.5 has always been consistent for me, even though sometimes they recommend going up or down a half size for certain styles, but your mileage may vary.

Styling

My personal opinion is that the most versatile style is either The Point or The Loafer. These two styles will take you from a casual day to a day in the office and maybe certain fancy events. The pointed toe is sleeker than a round toe, which reads more casual, and the sneaker is extremely casual.

Here you can see some different ways I styled mine!

Price

These are pricier than your typical fast fashion flat, but they’re honestly a great deal for something as well-made and not to mention sustainably made. Considering how often I wear them, the cost per wear is less than $0.25 and continually decreasing.

Honestly, I’ve paid way more for shoes just because they have a certain name than I paid for my Rothy’s. It’s an investment, for sure, but a good one.

• The Point – $145

• The Flat – $125

• The Loafer – $165

• The Sneaker – $125

A ton of styles have been added and the vast majority of them are still in the price range above, style depending. I would say the most expensive now are the shoes that come in merino, and those are around the $180 range, but worth every penny.

You can sometimes catch a sale, and I highly recommend signing up to their email list to be notified when there’s an archive sale so you don’t miss out on any limited time styles (and many styles are limited!).

Durability

I’ve worn my Rothy’s for almost every day for a year and a half. Heck, I’m wearing them right now. They look like they barely have any wear on the soles and the uppers still look good as new.

2022 Update: I wore those same black points for about 3 years straight and only replaced them because I made the mistake of painting a house in them….they are washable but not quite wash out ceiling paint washable. Now they are my oh so chic painting shoes.

I’m not just making this up, either. I’m sharing a picture of my account that shows when I ordered my first pair and a picture of the soles from today and the uppers. You can see that the upper part looks like new.

2022 update: I’ve updated my order history to show allllll the pairs of shoes I’ve ordered over the years.

The soles have some tiny rocks in them, which washing hasn’t removed, but I don’t find that I can feel them they’re so small.

The soles hardly show any wear at all. Most of my shoes that I wear this often, or even less, show wear on the sides of the shoe where the rubber is wearing away or down. I’ve also noticed that the pattern of the sole collects dirt less than some other grippy soles.

Bonus

If you are thoroughly convinced and must have them now, don’t worry. Shipping is ultra fast.

I’m also intrigued by their packaging, which is like a shoebox, but they don’t add an extra box for shipping. Which saves a ton of waste for them and less shipping weight so less emissions!

Get you a Pair!

I just bought my second pair of Rothy’s, the leopard print this time. I don’t like wearing calf hair, so this was the perfect option for me.

2022: I now have about 8-10 pairs of these shoes in a variety of styles and they’re still a winner for me. I’m normally not the person to gush over things like this, but they are worth it and I love them. I hate wearing heels. I hate uncomfortable shoes in any fashion. Quite frankly, I’d rather be barefoot. But these shoes allow me to feel barefoot and still feel fashionable, which is a huge win for me.

I fully foresee my future gift lists just being the newest color or print of Rothy’s.

Let me know if you get a pair or if you have any more questions, I would be happy to answer them!