Karen Jennings on the sandal she made for women who gave up on pretty shoes
A Letter From Karen Jennings · Founder of Bruny Boutique
Bruny Island, Tasmania · September 2026
Karen Jennings on the sandal she made for women who gave up on pretty shoes
If your closet holds one pair of "good enough" sandals and you've quietly stopped dressing up for the things you used to love, read this.
I made the Kira for the woman who packed away her dressier sandals a few summers ago. Not because she stopped caring, but because the ones she had started to hurt by hour two, and she got tired of pretending they didn't.
Most of the women who write to me say the same thing in different words. They still want to look put together. They just stopped believing the shoe that does it could also be kind to their feet.
Kira is my answer to that. A real sandal with a contoured footbed, soft straps, and a sole that does not slip. The kind of pair you can slip on at 8am and still feel decent in at 9pm. I have worn mine to two weddings, one christening, and a very long lunch.
We are clearing the Kira at $74.95 to mark 22 years of Bruny Boutique. The price will go back up after the anniversary run sells through. I would rather you try it while it is honest.
A footbed that distributes pressure, not concentrates it
I refused the flat foam footbed every other comfort sandal uses. The contoured footbed on Kira spreads your weight across the whole sole, so the ball of your foot stops doing all the heavy lifting by dinner. You walk out of the house the same way you walked in.
"I wore them to a wedding and my feet did not ask about the car until the drive home. That has not happened to me in years."
Straps you adjust once and forget about
I had the strap pattern redrawn three times. The buckles sit where your hand naturally reaches, and the webbing is soft enough that it does not bite the top of your foot on a long day. No rubbing. No red marks when you take them off.
"I adjusted them the first morning and have not touched them since. They just stay where I put them."
A sole that does not slide on a wet kitchen floor
I chose a lightweight anti-slip sole because the women who write to me are not walking on a runway. They are walking across a pub car park, a boat deck, a tiled café in summer. The tread is grippy without looking orthopedic, and the sole is light enough that your legs do not know it is there.
"I crossed a wet ferry ramp in them and did not even think about it. I would have been holding the rail in my old sandals."
A lining that lets your feet breathe
I insisted on a breathable lining because heat is the quiet reason women stop wearing pretty shoes by August. Air moves through the strap and footbed so your feet do not feel cooked after a school pickup in the sun. Cool through a long lunch, cool through the walk after.
"I wore them to my granddaughter's sports day on a 34 degree day and my feet were still fine at the barbecue after."
A shape that goes with the dress and the jeans
I chose a strap shape that reads clean, not clunky. The lines are slim enough to wear under a long summer dress and unfussy enough to wear with cropped trousers on a Saturday. One pair covers the christening and the morning errand.
"I wore them with a linen dress to dinner and my husband asked if they were new. He has not noticed my shoes in ten years."
A price that lets you actually buy them
I set the clear price myself. Department store occasion sandals at full price cost far more, and most women own at least one pair they wore twice. Kira is $74.95 because I would rather you put two in the cart, one for now and one for the next invite, than have you walk away thinking about it.
"I had spent close to two hundred on a pair I wore once. These cost less than the shoes I keep in the back of the cupboard."
The Kira, against the comfort sandals you have been buying
Flat foam footbed that goes numb by hour two
Stiff straps that leave a red line across the foot
Heavy sole that drags on a long day
Looks orthopedic, gets left by the door
Full department-store price, worn twice
Contoured footbed that spreads your weight
Soft adjustable straps, no rubbing by dinner
Lightweight anti-slip sole, grippy on a wet deck
Cleans lines, wear it under a dress or with jeans
$74.95 in the anniversary clearance
I made the sandal I wanted to keep wearing past hour two. That is the whole brief.
Why $74.95, and why now
Bruny Boutique turned 22 this year, and I wanted to do something honest to mark it. So I pulled the Kira into a small anniversary clearance. $74.95 is the real price for this run, well below the $149.95 I usually hold it at, and the stock is the stock from our last container. Once this run sells through, the price goes back up.
I am not running a countdown. I do not like them either. I am telling you the honest reason because most of you have been burned by the fake kind.
I ordered them on a Sunday, wore them to a barbecue on Saturday, and forgot to check myself in the hallway mirror on the way out. That has not happened in years. I ordered the second colour the next morning.
Kira in the Anniversary Clearance at $74.95
If you have been wearing the same three pairs on rotation and quietly stopped looking forward to getting dressed, this is the sandal I made for that. Slip a pair on, wear them around the house for an evening, and if your feet do not agree with mine, send them back inside 30 days and I will refund every cent.
Check what is left in the Kira anniversary run
- Contoured footbed, soft adjustable straps, anti-slip sole
- Slim enough for a dress, kind enough for a long day
- $74.95 in the 22nd anniversary clearance
- 30 day money-back if they are not for you
At $74.95 in the clearance, two pairs cost less than the one department store occasion sandal you wore twice.
See the Comfort SandalsAbout the writer. Karen Jennings founded Bruny Boutique on Bruny Island, Tasmania in 2004. She still picks the sandals, writes the copy, and packs a lot of the orders herself. 4.7 stars across 842 reviews, 30 day money-back on every pair.