A letter from a reader

At 58, my grandson asked why my shoes are always the same

Karen Jennings
Hobart, Tasmania · September 2026

Hello, I am Karen and I have never written one of these before. I do not even write emails longer than a few lines, so if you spotted this between a recipe and a news piece, that is why.

I wrote this for the boutique after a family lunch I will tell you about, and they asked if they could share it. I kept thinking I ought to tell someone before I forget the feeling.

The comfortable shoes trap

For about ten years I had quietly agreed to a kind of bargain. Comfortable, or feeling like myself. Practical, or pretty. I did not choose either side of it, that is the thing. I just stopped looking. My summer shoes became the ones I could walk in, the ones my sister calls my nurse shoes, and I told myself that was fine because I was the one who would have to stand in the queue at the chemist.

I bought them in black. I bought them in beige. I did not try anything else on. If a friend suggested something a little softer, a little more me, I would laugh and say I am not that person any more. Which is a strange thing to say about a pair of shoes, when you think about it.

I had agreed to comfortable or feeling like myself, as if I had no say in the matter.

A Saturday at my sister's

My sister Belinda turned up to a family lunch in a pair of sandals I had never seen her wear. Soft straps, a sole that actually bent when she walked, and a colour that was not black and was not beige. I said nothing. I am not brave about compliments.

Later, when my grandson Tommy was sitting on my knee being his usual honest self, he looked down at my feet and said, nana, why are your shoes always the same. He is six. There is no recovering from that.

On the way home I looked up what Belinda was wearing and found a small boutique called Bruny Boutique. They quietly do this rather well, I thought. The range of designs is wider than I expected for somewhere I had never heard of, with colours and styles for all sorts of days, and the one I kept coming back to was called the Lizette.

They are soft woven sandals that hug the shape of your foot, with hook and loop straps you can adjust yourself and a flexible sole that bends with every step and does not slip. They come in black, blue, green and beige. I ordered the blue.

A garden lunch, and people noticed

Two Sundays later we had everyone over for lunch in the garden, just the family, lemonade and a pot of tea on the table, the dog asleep under the chair. I wore the Lizette with my white linen trousers and told myself nobody would say a word.

Three people did. My niece asked where they were from. My brother-in-law, who has never once in his life commented on what I have on my feet, looked down and said, oh, those are nice. And Belinda just smiled at me across the table as if she had known all along.

I will be honest, that is the moment I stopped apologising for them.

Three things they get right

One. The straps adjust to your foot. Hook and loop fastening, so I could fine tune them at the kitchen table. I was between sizes, ordered my usual one and tightened the straps a touch.

Two. The woven upper breathes. It gives a little and lets the air in, so nothing pinches or rubs by half past three in the afternoon.

Three. The sole bends with you. Flexible and non-slip, so it moves the way your foot does, on the garden path or on the tiles at the shops.

The price, and what I thought about it

I saw the sale price of $112.95 and the original price of $374.95 and I sat with my tea for a bit. That is a big difference, and big differences make me suspicious, not excited. I am the woman who reads the small print at the bottom of the receipt.

There was no catch that I could find. Bruny Boutique is a small place selling directly, no middleman marked up, and they are running a 22 year anniversary sale, which is an honest enough reason for a discount.

I read the reviews first. 4.6 stars across 807 reviews, which is a real sort of number. Not a tidy five out of five, which would have made me trust it less, not more. There is a 30 day returns window too, so if they did not suit me I could send them back. That took the last bit of worry off.

What I would say over a cup of tea

If a friend asked me, I would tell her to go and have a proper look at the Lizette at Bruny Boutique. They are 70% off in the anniversary sale while stock lasts, and the blue was the one everyone asked about, so I would not leave it too long. Just a comfortable sandal that looks like it belongs to the person wearing it.

I would also tell her to stop saying she is not that person any more. I was saying it for ten years, and a six year old and a sister in a new pair of sandals are the ones who quietly sorted me out.

Ten years of black and beige, and a six year old sorted it out in one sentence.

Karen

Lizette | Orthotic Support Sandals

★★★★★ 4.6 out of 5 from 807 reviews

$374.95 $112.95

• Flexible woven upper that gently hugs the natural shape of the foot
• Adjustable hook and loop straps for a fit you can fine tune at home
• Flexible non slip outsole that bends softly under each step
• Pairs with jeans, linen trousers, sundresses and relaxed weekend outfits
• Available in Black, Blue, Green and Beige
• Sizes 35 to 43

See which colours are still in stock

The 22 year anniversary sale is on at the moment, which is the only reason I am mentioning the price at all.