There are some costly items are that luxurious and others that are merely expensive and it’s hard to tell the difference. I’ve purchased a lot of expensive items in my lifetime (and sold a lot of them too), and I feel like I’ve gotten better at telling the difference. So are these Chanel ballet flats really a luxury or just merely expensive?

To me, they are merely expensive. TBH they don’t feel all that different from other ballet flats that I’ve owned. I mean the leather is nice and shoes are sturdy but nothing particularly screams “this is worth $750”. They just have the interlocking C’s on the cap toe and the words “Chanel” on the insole. But I’m no expert on ballet flats (I’ve only owned several pairs in my lifetime and they’re not my favorite type of shoe). My idea of a luxurious flat are Martiniano Glove shoes where the leather feels suuuper buttery and sumptuous.

But to be fair, these Chanel ballet flats are durable (I got a used pair and I still wear them out quite a bit and they look great). And they’re a classic that probably won’t ever go out of style.

As for sizing, if you have wide feet like I do you’re going to need to go up at least half a size. I usually wear a size 8 or 38, and I got these in a 38.5. So far I haven’t had any blisters in these, but I also got these used and so they were already broken-in for me.

Since these ballet flats currently retail new for $750 (craaazy), I highly recommend buying them used on a site like Fashionphile or the RealReal. And if you’re worried about the authenticity of used shoes, here’s a quick rundown of how to spot the real thing. And if you want to be 100% certain of authenticity, you can pay for an authentication service like Etinceler (just be sure to get the authentication done while you’re in the return window).