After seeing bloggers rave about the styling and quality of Vincent Shoes, I was anxious to check them out for myself. And as one Cool Mom Picks reader put it, after seeing so many of the shlippers (shoe/indoor leather slipper), Vincent offers a wonderful yet still safe and comfortable alternative to the pre-walker shoe.

A family-run company started in Sweden with a US base in Raleigh, NC, Vincent Shoes make European styling accessible, with sizes from 0 up to the tweens! They’re a wonderful change from the typical pink and frilly for girls, and brown and rustic for boys (although they do have those types available if that’s what you’re looking for). “…these aren’t your standard pink shoes for girls. Sure, pink is available, but Vincent shoes come in a lot of vibrant colors.”

And so, here’s what our bloggers had to say.

Like WhyMommy, my only complaint was that my son’s feet are getting too big for the pre-walkers! We wear our MINI’s whenever we go out since they have more padding and traction than the leather booties. Plus, they are very price competitive with other popular brands — always a plus!

These booties are not like your typical hard baby shoes. “Not only do I adore them, but Miss Dub loves them. And let me tell you, folks, Miss Dub is not a shoe wearer by nature. Like her mother, she likes her tootsies free and unencumbered, which has totally sucked heretofore because so many people gave me adorable infant shoes, but she scarcely wore any of them - some never at all - because she was so annoyed by the stiff soles and narrow passages.”

Moms definitely liked the fit of the shoes, according to one mom “An important factor for me is fit. Both pairs fit Mira’s feet without any difficulty. Like her sister, she has chubby feet, and the hard part is always finding shoes that are tall enough in the arch. These fastened without any squeezing of her foot, and there is still some room for growth, too. No matter how much she kicks, she can’t get them off, either. I appreciate that, since I hate retracing my steps to find missing shoes.”

Again, moms commented on the ease of getting them off (and the challenge for the babies in getting them off). “Because of the hook-and-loop tape closure they’re super easy for us to get them on him and he doesn’t sit in the carseat trying to unlace them like his other sneakers. Also, they don’t leave elastic gouges on his little baby ankles like his slip-ons did.” Another mom added” Also, the shoes were really, really easy to get on Miss Dub, but not so easy for her to get off herself. Again, a major issue in our shoe battle.”

For the leather bootie lovers, hear this: “The soles [of the James] are made of real suede so they’re supple and flexible for babies who are just getting the hang of walking, but not so thin that they’d feel every bump of carpet fiber that’s out of place on the floor.”

The only small downside for a couple of moms was that with VINCENT being marked on the bottom of the soles of a couple of the shoes, moms had to explain that their daughter’s were not named Vincent. They both took it in stride, and had a good laugh about it!

These shoes were amazing — they might even get your kid to walk! “And if I don’t sound saccharine enough, I have to say that Miss Dub began to take more steps after receiving these shoes.”

And did you enter our contest to win one of TWO $50 Gift Certificates? Then scroll down to see if you won! You still have until 11/11/07 to use the fantastic 20% discount code (first time shoppers only) “OCT-20-OFF”

GO NOW AND SHOP!

Congrats to Julie who said “I love the HERMANS - and I really like almost all of their styles. The shoes have such amazing style.”

and Stephanie who said “For my newest walker I’d pick the Mini Angelas because they look like dance shoes, and we’re all about dancing around here.”

They both won a $50 GC to Vincent. Congrats!