TOMS Kids Boys Alpargata - Black

I love these Toms for my daughter. The ash gray is perfect because it goes with pretty much anything in her closet from a day dress to a pair of jeans. She regularly gets comments about how cute her shoes are. I also love that they are very easy for her to put on by herself and they are comfy for her.All that said, I do have some frustrations with these shoes. This pair in particular fit her perfectly but there are variations in color and sizing from shoe to shoe. Once she outgrew her size 7's I ordered her a pair of size 8's since Toms doesn't have half sizes. The 8's really are too big on her. I try to over tighten the enclosure but even still I find her heel sort of flops about in the shoes. (She cannot tighten them enough by herself to be able to put these on alone) I found the heel of the size 8's to be much, much wider than the 7s. So much so that I thought there was a defect (the 8's also had a purplish hue to them). I found the replacement 8's to be the correct color gray but the heel was still freakishly wide. My daughter has extremely wide feet (it makes it difficult to find shoes for her) but what's happening in the heel of the shoe is crazy. I'm hoping that as her foot gets a little longer these will fit better because they really are my favorite, go to pair of shoes in her closet.

I used the size chart provided on the Toms website to measure my sons feet and order the correct size. He was between sizes and I ordered two different sizes just to be sure I got the right size. I still don't know that I have any legitimate advice as to whether or not they run big or small- a T2 fit my six month old but just barely when they came and a T3 was a little too big when they arrived, but only for a week. If your baby isn't really used to wearing shoes, they will fly off their feet like crazy until they get used to wearing them- way more so than a shoe that comes up higher on the ankle. They look super cute with shorts and summer outfits, especially for little boys (there are SO MANY cute options for baby girls but it seemed like I could only find flip flops, hiking sandals, and crocs for boys and I just am not ready to do that to my kid, personally). Great deal, great shoes!

Let me start by saying that any moderately attractive pair of shoes for a young'un is bound to fall off. It's like there's an inverse relationship between beauty and functionality, and the more contraptions and straps there are, the uglier the shoes are (but you know they'll stay put). So, with these Tom's, which are sleek, they don't stay on for very long at all. That's why I feel it's not fair to take away more than one star for these Tom's because it's likely that any itty-bitty shoe without a bunch of straps or laces isn't going to work out very well.And that's the huge downside to these shoes: they stay on for a few seconds, maybe a minute if we're lucky. However, these Tom's also have their own inherent flaw: they have pretty thin, shallow walls, which makes it quite easy for our son's feet to slide out of them. Just like adult Tom's, the shoes have a minimalist look. The only difference is that there's a small flap of Velcro over the top of the child's arch. We had hoped this would make the fit snugger--and it does, but only ever so marginally, and it's really the thinness and shallowness of the shoes' walls that cause them to fall off so much, and the lack of straps.With all the smack-talk above, what's to like about these shoes?1) For one, I like that they're closed-toed--good for keeping our son's feet clean as a whistle during trips to the city.2) They're cute in their simplicity. As mentioned, the shoes don't have a ton of straps every which way. They're just a basic looking pair of shoes that go with everything (my wife and I wanted to buy one pair of shoes, not a bunch of pairs, especially at this price). In my opinion, they're versatile because they're so simple--they look cute in pictures but they don't stand out, and they're neither too dressy nor too casual.3) For a slip-on pair of shoes, they're quite easy to put on because of the Velcro strap, which opens up to offer a little more room (great for those beefy baby arches).Would I buy these again?Probably not. Although the shoes were cute for some outings and photographs, and proved to some well-meaning family members that our son actually does go out in public in shoes (sometimes), the shoes didn't ever stay on for more than 60 seconds when my son was walking around. When my son was sitting down, he often pulled the shoes off due to the Velcro straps. We believe we had him in the correct size, and we in fact bought the shoes in two different sizes (it was recommended by many to size down and we found that one size down from our son's true shoe size indeed offered a much better fit in the Tom's). So, for all of the above reasons, we remain on the hunt for a pair of shoes that are simple-looking yet stay on the feet.

I bought these shoes for my 3yr old daughter and she loves them. I originally purchased them when she was a year old and still learning to walk and she walked with them perfectly. Now that she runs about everywhere, she just loves them. I think the Toms creator should've just made them for kids the same as Croc's - they should be worn by children only because kids look adorable in them. When adults wear them, I feel like they're trying too hard LOL - but that's just my opinion. I would definitely recommend them to anyone if they are looking for some cute, comfy shoes for their kids. As for adults, I can't say because I don't own a pair but they look very comfortable so I guess if I did buy a pair for myself, I'd have a different opinion about Tom's and adults wearing them LOL! Enjoy !!

I give these shoes 5 stars because I just love them, and find them to be the cutest little shoes ever, however, the fitting is a bit odd, my toddler has these in a size 6, which no longer fit at all, so I ordered these (same ones) a size up, 7, it’s been months and still are too big for my son. He's already wearing all other shoes size 7, but these however are super big on him. I suggest maybe Toms should have half sizes, or review their size charts, because there’s definitely something off with it. But don’t get me wrong, I WILL STILL PURCHASE UPCOMING SIZES since these are the cutest, and when they fit my child feels very comfortable in them