I’ve never been able to wear Everlane’s shoes because my feet are wide. Also, because I’m an old lady and I need to wear orthotics. So when they released the Glove Boot, aka the sock boot, I got kindof excited because maybe there was finally a shoe that would work for me. Around the same time, I was invited to become an Everlane affiliate, meaning I would get gifted a couple of items. In return, I’d post about them, and if enough people bought things through my affiliate link, they’d continue to gift me items. As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that I also assumed I’d make a commission off of the sales through my link, but I’m actually not even sure about that. So anyway, I thought I’d choose the boots as one of my gifted items (the other gifted item was a pair of jeans, which I didn’t love and returned, even though they were free).
The boots themselves are fine. I love the color and they’re really comfortable. The heel height is perfect and since there’s almost no structure, my wide feet and my orthotic fit just fine in my normal size (6.5). It’s just a bit weird to be able to see the outline of your toes through the top of your shoe!
The interesting thing is that because the boots were free, I didn’t put them through the rigorous examination I normally would when I decide whether or not to keep a purchase. If I’d had to pay for them, I most likely would have decided that they didn’t add enough value to my wardrobe and would have returned them. Since I didn’t have to make that call because I had no money invested, I kept them. Have I worn them? Yes, and I’ll try and continue to wear them as much as I can to make them useful (some influencers resell the stuff they’re gifted and I could also do that). But I know that they’re not going to be a long term addition to my wardrobe and that makes me uncomfortable.
To give an example of how this works when items are not free, recently I sat online waiting for the new sweaters to be released from Elizabeth Suzann. Elizabeth Suzann is one of my favorite brands. I love the philosophy behind her company, her investment in her workers’ well-being, and of course, I love the clothes. I’m wearing the Elizabeth Suzann Harper tunic in linen in these photos. Because of the difficulty in sourcing ethically made wool, it had been two years since she sold any sweaters. I love sweaters+I love Elizabeth Suzann=I must have one of those sweaters. I paid my (not small amount of) money and waited for several weeks for my item to get made and shipped to me. It was truly like Christmas day when it arrived. But then, I put it on. And my heart sank. I didn’t love it. I loved a lot of things about it and I really really really wanted to love it, but it didn’t feel great. I think it’s that I don’t love the color, but I’m not actually exactly sure what it is - and I don’t have to know. All I have to know is that I don’t love it. In this case, I’m sending it back, but I can imagine that if I hadn’t paid for it, it would have snuck right under the bar I set for my wardrobe and stuck around.
This isn’t about whether Everlane is a good company or whether or not I like their products. This is just a reminder that you don’t have to take things that are free. Those tee-shirts at the conference or the run expo? You don’t have to take them just because they’re there. Your sister’s closet cast-offs? Will you actually love and wear them? If not, don’t take them. A strange thing happens once something comes into your possession - all of a sudden, things have more value. So if you take the free t-shirt, even though you didn’t care about it when you took it, because it now belongs to you, it’s now harder to let go of, adding hassle and stress. I don’t need to take gifted items just because they’re offered to me. I’m only human, and if someone offers me something I know I would buy for free, I’ll probably take it. I’m a moderator, so I won’t make any hard and fast rules about what I’ll do in the future, but at least now I’m more aware of my behavior.
P.S. the links to Everlane products in this post are affiliate links, which means I may get a commission if you purchase something through it.