How Do Rothy's Merino Wool Compare With The OG Flats?

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With Richard Serra's "Sylvester" sculpture at Maryland's Glenstone museum. — *Wearing The Point original in Flame red.*

If you’ve been wondering how the new merino wool Rothy’s stack up against the original shoes, you’ve come to the right place!

I’m a huge fan of Rothy’s – I have five pairs – and have previously written reviews of the two original styles, The Flat and The Point, as well as an honest discussion of whether or not Rothy’s are really worth it, complete with pros and cons.

If you’ve read those posts or follow me on Instagram, you know how much I love that Rothy’s are washable. Any shoes you don’t wear socks with are going to get a little stinky, so this is a huge plus. But when Rothy’s came out with their new blend of part plastic, part merino wool blend last year, I wondered how that would change the shoe – from fit, to breathability, to washability, wool is just a different beast!

***October 2020 update – they’re baaaack! I’ve updated this post with details on the latest merino wool Rothy’s drop.

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Eager to try the merino wool shoes out, when they first dropped in 2019 I quickly purchased a pair of my favorite style, The Point, in shadow – a heathered soft black that’s almost charcoal (not pictured here, for reasons I’ll get to). After wearing them for two weeks, here’s how they performed – and how they compare to the OG Rothy’s.

There's a lot of hype around Rothy's - do you sometimes wonder if they're really worth it? I wore mine every day for a month; click through for three ways they rock and three ways they don't.

Wearing classic Rothy’s The Point in Flame red.

Rothy’s merino wool flats

When I saw the new merino wool Rothy’s online, my first reaction was joy – I love wool for its breathability and durability, and I was excited about an all-natural fabric that wasn’t likely to harbor as many odors as the plastic weave. However this is where it’s helpful to read the fine print, as the merino wool knit isn’t 100% wool – it’s a blend of merino and the signature Rothy’s recycled plastic. While I do think these are much more breathable than the original 100% plastic weave, I was a little let down to see they weren’t pure wool like the equally trendy Allbirds.

Overall, the body of the shoe gets a thumbs up from me. But I wasn’t expecting to dislike the sole…

The OG Rothy’s have a nice sturdy rubber sole that holds up well and has good grip. But the shoes in the merino collection, sadly, have a slippery “vegan leather” sole that not only had me worried about wet floors, but has worn down visibly after only two weeks of wear. Very disappointing. I would have loved to see these replaced with classic rubber in the next iteration, but sadly it looks like the 2020 batch have the same vegan leather soles.

Notes on fit

The most frequent comments you’ll see in the reviews for the merino Rothy’s are about fit – these babies run big! I initially ordered both The Point and one of the 2019 limited edition merino shoes with the square toe, but that pair was so much wider and looser than the original round-toe flat that I sent it back. With The Point in merino, I hemmed and hawed over exchanging them for a half size down because they felt significantly loose in the heels, but in the interest of time and wanting to write this review, I didn’t. Good thing too, because the reason these run a little bit is probably because they shrink.

While the OG Rothy’s stretch a teensy bit and conform to your foot, the merino shoes supposedly don’t stretch, so the website says to make sure they’re not too snug. Wool, of course, contracts a bit when it’s wet. Once I washed my merino shoes and let them air dry, they fit just fine, albeit still a little looser than the OG flats.

My overall takeaway is that I’m a generally a fan of the merino wool blend knit itself, but the new “vegan leather” soles were a big letdown. It was the main reason I ended up giving away my merino wool pair after just a few weeks (that’s why all the photos here are of the classic Rothy’s).

Fit-wise, it looks like a lot of people are sizing down based on the out-of-the-box fit, but my experience leads me to believe you should buy your regular size and just give them a wash first, because they do contract a little.

I hope this comparison was helpful in laying out what you should consider if you’re looking at the Rothy’s wool collection. Personally, I’ll be sticking with their OG shoes.