Block & Point is an independent publication about Scandinavian and Nordic-adjacent footwear. Two shapes give the site its name — the block heel and the pointed heel — and between them sits most of what makes Nordic shoe design worth paying attention to.

Why this exists

Searching for a good heel is a miserable experience. The results are affiliate roundups that rank by commission rate, brand pages that tell you nothing about fit, and reviews that describe every shoe as comfortable. Almost none of it tells you the thing you actually need to know: whether this specific shoe will fit your specific foot and last as long as its price implies.

Scandinavian footwear is a small enough field to cover properly. Seven brands do most of the work worth discussing. We cover them in depth, say where each one falls short, and keep the pages updated rather than publishing and abandoning them.

How we assess brands

Block & Point is research-led, not a testing laboratory, and we think being clear about that is more useful than pretending otherwise.

Our assessments are built from:

  • each brand’s published construction and material specifications
  • its own sizing and fit guidance
  • heel geometry and last shape
  • the recurring themes across publicly available customer reviews

We do not run controlled wear tests, and we never present an estimate as a measurement. Where we give a longevity figure — “eight to fifteen years with care” — that is a judgement drawn from how the shoe is built, principally whether it can be resoled. We say so on the page.

Where we’re uncertain, we say we’re uncertain. Fit in particular is personal: treat our fit notes as a shortlist to try, not a guarantee.

What we won’t do

  • Rank by commission rate.
  • Accept payment for placement, coverage or a position in a list.
  • Show a brand a page before publishing it.
  • Describe a shoe as comfortable because its marketing does.
  • Invent test data.

How the site is funded

Block & Point intends to earn through affiliate commission — a percentage paid by a retailer when a reader buys through a link here, at no additional cost to the reader.

We do not currently earn commission from any retailer, because we are not yet accepted into any affiliate programme. When that changes, we will say so on the affiliate disclosure page, with the partner and the date.

We chose to disclose this before there was anything to disclose. It seemed like the right way round.

Contact

Corrections, questions, disagreements: hello@blockandpoint.com.

If we’ve got something wrong — a sizing note that doesn’t match your experience, a brand detail that’s out of date — we’d like to hear it. Corrections get made and dated.

Where to start