I loved the bold somewhat edgy look of these shoes (in black) when I saw them online and even more in person. I wear almost exclusively black pants and the style of these gives my foot some pizzazz. As to comfort— this past year I’ve spent transitioning my shoe sizes up at least a half to a whole size and going up from a medium width to a wide width… I have lost 30 pounds over the last year but it dawned on me that my feet were growing weary & tight in the size of shoe I have worn for decades, and despite the weight loss that relieved pressure on my feet, my shoes felt slightly too tight. Sizing up in this and other new shoes over the past year has been a game changer. I spend a good amount of hours at the gym each week in exercise classes, the track and with a strength trainer and interact with a lot of women on a daily basis. I’m amazed how often in conversation the topic of feet discomfort comes up and how many other people have also sized up — the relief that more width and length in a shoe gives is wonderful. So with that said, I think many negative reviews regarding shoe comfort is contributed to by wearing a shoe that’s not big enough to let one’s foot expand. I’ve also bought larger socks over the last year and that’s also a contributing factor to my overall increased foot comfort. Realistically, I’m not nearly as comfortable in a sock that fits a women’s size 4-10 as I am in a sock that fits a womens size 8-12 (considered an XL). My new shoe size is 10.5 to 11, depending on the shoe and how it runs.

I purchased these in 11’s, having bought a couple of New Balance soft shoes that I love in 11’s… the bigger size shoe accommodates my bigger size socks. The overall effect on my foot comfort is the difference between sitting in the rear of the airplane in a middle seat with your knees crammed into the seat in front of you to sitting in a premium seat with inches to spare between your knees and the seat in front of you—I think having an adequately roomy shoe and sock make a huge difference when it comes to comfort— especially in a completely closed in shoe style. In a closed in style like a sneaker, you don’t worry about sliding off a platform like you might with a sandal slide shoe… of course you don’t want a shoe so big your heel comes out of the back of your shoe when you walk. But there may be a better, more comfortable size differential that gives you as much or more comfort that just assigning blame to the shoe design for discomfort. I’ve had 7 foot and ankle surgeries over the last 18 years and my podiatrist also thinks people (women especially) hold on to their smaller shoe size like it’s a badge of honor to squeeze into a size 8 when they need a bigger size. That mentality doesn’t serve our foot comfort.
THIS shoe is very comfortable (in the “right” size) with my feet of many issues! I wear them to walk the track, in my weight lifting to fast music classes and out and about doing errands. I typically get 10,000-14,000 steps a day in them. They are in the slightly heavier side of sneakers that I own because of the leather, the substantial sole and the very cool looking back wrap and front ascending wrap in an amber color that really jazzes up the mostly black with white trim shoe. Because mine are only a few weeks old and I love how comfortable they are, I’ve worn them a lot… not only because they feel so good on but because I love how they look and enjoy getting compliments and inquiries about them. I rarely come how and change into house shoes with these because I don’t experience that “gotta get these tight shoes off my feet before I die” feeling. When your shoes start feeling like a bra that’s shrunk during the day, that should be a red flag that either the shoe size or shoe design (or both) is not serving you well.
Another lady in one of my exercise classes wears this style in the white to class and she loves hers. I am going to order a pair in white since I like the style and fit of my black ones. The base trim of the shoe has a slight flair profile to it and I feel like that gives an extra bit of stability to the shoe, as does the little “octopus” like bumps on the sole lining.
All in all, one of the best New Balance shoes I have ever bought. My activity shoe rotation brands also include Asics, and Brooks and I am willing to pay for the comfort of a great fitting and great feeling shoe that also looks great. Worth the investment.

Aesthetics AND comfort…these areTHE BEST! NB is top notch for comfort especially for a wider fit. Although I’ve had to adapt to “wider” feet, I usually don’t love looking down at them being reminded of how wide they’ve become. NOT with these! I actually love looking at them. I love wearing them with everything to do literally anything. Short morning hikes got my first pair pretty dirty, so I bought a 2nd pair to wear when I’m not exercising.
The design of these (specifically this neutral color) with placement of the black (darker) N on the outside- tricks the eye into seeing a much slimmer/smaller foot. It’s seriously magic! Absolutely In love with them. I immediately went and tried on every other color in this style. Unfortunately this was the only color scheme that magically transformed my feet or I may have bought them all! NB and Calia make a waterproof golf version that’s a light blue with a navy N that are almost as magical (the leather is a bit bulkier- but they are waterproof!).
NB Please consider using this sorcery in more of your designs and I will be eternally grateful! If not I may just stock up on these for the rest of my life. Thank you!

Let me start this review by saying the 327 is my favorite shoe in life. I own four different pairs and they are not only comfortable, but they are extremely easy to maintain and keep looking brand new. I wear them daily as an active mother of three.
I own the white with sea salt gray, a pink pair purchased off anthropologie, a cream with black, and the black/gray with two tone white on the inside. These were by far my favorite pair and I received compliments each and every time I wore them. No one else had this shoe.

Unlike the others, I received a small piece of paper within the shoe upon opening the box that stated spot clean only-colors will run.
I have always been able to put my shoes in the washer to keep looking brand new. I understood I was not able to do that with this pair.

Unfortunately, I was golfing with my children one morning and the grass was dewey. The shoes were ruined. The black ran into the white the entire shoe turned purple. I tried to spot clean the dye away, which made it worse. The shoes were truly ruined.
I CAN understand not being able to throw them in the washer however I CANNOT understand not being able to wear them in grass that perhaps may be wet with morning dew. That is unacceptable.

Please do not waste your money like I did. Whatever you do. DO NOT BUY THE PAIR WITH ORANGE FELT ON THE HEEL. I didn’t take a picture, but they looked exactly like the other review after I tried to wash them. I called customer service and she said there was nothing they could do and that they would absolutely not be refunding me my money or replacing the product. She said the site states that the cleaning instructions are to use a “toothbrush and dye free detergent”— with I’m assuming water because I don’t know how you would clean a shoe without water. I told her that even if I wouldn’t have washed them they would have done this if I got caught out in the rain and what do you know the other review said that’s what happened!! If the orange felt comes in contact with any amount of water it will bled ALL OVER the rest of the shoe (which is white!). I know this because I have been trying to salvage this $110 pair of shoes for an hour and it just keeps getting worse. Really expected more from a company like New Balance. SO MAD. Luckily the nice people at Dick’s refunded me my money. I had New Balance customer service on the phone with the Dick’s manager and they were blown away that they wouldn’t stand behind their product and try to make it right. When I hung up they said “that’s new balance for you”. That’s all I need to know about this company.