Review on Enhanced Comfort and Performance: New Balance Women's WW813 Athletic Walking Shoes for Women by Gloria Mesa

The first impression is how cheap the shoes look in real life. They're leather, but they kind of look like cheap faux leather. They also have a simplistic design that's more about cost savings than elegance or style. The fit is just not acceptable. They are too tight. Compared to my New Balance 1540v2 in size 9.5 4E, these shoes (same size) feel shorter in length and much thinner in width. I would say the sock is almost half an inch thinner despite being the same size and width. This is aided by the shoe's outsole, which is narrower than the 1540v2, and the toe box with inwardly sloping walls, unlike the 1540v2, which are fairly straight up and down, allowing for a lot more room. The real mystery is how a company can produce these two models, label them the same size, and make the 813 so much smaller inside and out. A male family member experienced similar issues with New Balance shoes. He wears a width of 4E. But for some reason all New Balance men's 4E shoes now have a sole no wider than a medium width shoe and they just add a slightly larger upper to it. He's tried at least 5-10 different models and his thumb sticks out about half an inch past the inside edge. He also tried on some of their retro 80's shoes and the wide sizes were actually narrower than the similar mid-width kangaroo-style shoes. Maybe New Balance isn't the brand it used to be. They used to be the masters at making sure people get the width they want in shoes. And was one of the few to make wider shoes in many bright and colorful designs. But it looks like it's time to just ditch them and look for another brand.