I found fashionable, comfy and affordable footwear at Bata Philippines!

The practice of yoga and learning more about overall wellness has brought me even greater awareness about the role of comfortable footwear in health. Thinking back to my office days when I had to walk or stand hours on end on tight-fitting pumps, I now know how punishing it must have been to my feet. These days, open-toed, flat to low, and very comfortable footwear are what I look for. But…most of the flipflops and comfortable sandals and shoes I have bought run into several thousands averaging around PhP 4000-5,000 a pair.

Well, let me tell you that I am so happy now to know where to find fashionable, comfy and affordable footwear. At Bata Philippines!

Bata Philippines, a European brand is known globally for being comfortable and yet, affordable. Partnering up with SM Retail, Bata Philippines’ first home is at the 3/F of SM Megamall Building B, making the Philippines the 76th country where the Bata brand has a presence.

I had a strong feeling that I have already heard about Bata shoes as I was growing up so curious me did some googling and I discovered that indeed, Bata was here in the Philippines many years ago! The website of the Czech Embassy in the Philippines had an article that talked about Bata having a production facility and retail stores here before World War II. The property, however, was destroyed during the Battle of Manila and many of its employees, Czech and Filipino, perished after they volunteered to fight against the Japanese. So hey, they are not here for the first time. They’re balikbayans!

The Megamall launch for bloggers was quite intimate and private. We had so much fun going around, trying different shoes, sandals and flip flops, and really checking out what was available. The celebrities present were doing the same too.

Trying out flip flops — Doesn’t this flip flop style look familiar? It’s just about half the price of a similar style I see in the shoe store I used to get my footwear from.

Ara Mina trying out a pair of boots — Look who was right in front of me – Ara Mina, trying out a pair of boots.

Bata Philippines offers footwear for men, women, and kids, great for formal occasions all the way down to beach wear. Prices start around PhP 1,799 for the non-leather variety and scale up to around PhP 6,000 for the leather ones. Not bad at all, right? I did not check the kids’ section for prices but they could be even lower.

Were they comfortable? YES! And here’s why, I found out. Bata pays a lot of attention to the right kind of padding it puts in every pair.

I purposely wore my Bata black ballet flats to the recent 30th ASEAN Summit knowing I would be on my feet a lot and walking even more. Well, I got through the three most hectic days of the summit without any discomfort so I’m happy! Now I know I can rely on Bata to take care of my feet even if what I do can be gruelling!

Wearing my Bata ballet flats on 3 days of the 30th ASEAN Summit — Days 1, 2, 3 at the ASEAN Summit with my Bata ballet flats and I’m still smiling! Honestly, they were very comfy!

By the way, the Bata Philippines store also has a line of bags and belts for those who want to buy accessories to complement their Bata shoes.

Here are more pictures I took of Bata’s line of footwear. Notice how fashionable they have become. Comfy no longer means clunky shoes. Don’t be surprised if I took more pictures of women’s footwear because I really got carried away. So many to choose from on my next purchase.

Talking to Bata’s CEO, Alexis Nasard, I was impressed by what he had to say about Bata’s vision. He said, “Comfy is the new sexy and sexy is the new comfy.” That captures exactly what their footwear lines are all about.