A Letter From Rosemary · Founder of Rosemary & Faye New York
New York · August 2026
A Letter From The Founder
I looked for this shoe for years. When I could not find it, we made it ourselves.
On the six things I insisted on when we made the Josephine, how it compares to the shoes you have been buying, and why it is clearing as I close my final boutique.
I am Rosemary, and I kept two pairs of shoes by my front door for years. Neither of them was right. One pair looked lovely and hurt by lunchtime. The other felt wonderful and looked like something handed out at a clinic.
Every season I told myself I would find the pair that did both, and every season I did not. So we stopped looking and made it ourselves.
The shoes made for women our age fall into those same two piles, and I have never accepted that we have to choose between them. The Josephine is my answer, and I argued for six things when we made it — usually with a supplier who wanted me to do the cheaper thing instead.
1A heel low enough to forget about.
Not a flat, which leaves you aching in the arch by mid-afternoon, and nothing like the heels most of us gave up on years ago. A low block spreads your weight across the whole heel instead of balancing you on a point, so you can stand in it, walk in it, and take the stairs without thinking about where your feet are.
★★★★★
"I bought them expecting an hour at a time. I wore them to lunch and then round the shops, and only noticed in the car going home that I had never once thought about changing."
Denise W., Albany
2A buckled strap that keeps it on your foot.
This is the part I would not give up. A strap across the instep means the shoe stays where you put it — no gripping with your toes to stop it sliding at the heel, no wobble on an uneven paving stone. The buckle adjusts, so it holds you rather than pinches you.
★★★★★
"My feet are narrow and most shoes gape at the back, so I am always half aware of them. These just stay on. I have stopped noticing my feet, which is new."
Patricia H., Sarasota
3It looks like a shoe, not like a solution.
Most comfortable shoes announce themselves. Thick soles, orthopaedic lines, a shape that tells the whole room you have made a sensible decision. The teardrop cut-outs beside the strap are there for one reason only: they make it pretty. Comfort is what it does, not what it looks like.
★★★★★
"For five years my choice has been shoes that look nice or shoes I can walk in. My daughter noticed these before I said a word about them."
Rhonda K., Cape Coral
4A rounded toe with room in the front.
A pointed toe looks elegant in a photograph and squeezes everything into a triangle in real life. The Josephine is softly rounded, so your toes sit the way they actually sit. It still reads as a proper shoe from the front, neat and closed and finished, it simply is not doing it at your expense.
★★★★★
"The rounded front is what sold me in the photographs, and it is better in person. I have a bunion on the left foot and pointed shoes have been out of the question for a decade."
Joan D., Rochester
5It goes with what is already in your wardrobe.
The reason I wear mine three or four times a week is that it asks nothing of the rest of the outfit. Straight jeans, cropped trousers, a midi skirt, a dress for a lunch — it sits under all of them without looking borrowed from a different occasion.
★★★★★
"Jeans on the Saturday, a skirt to church on the Sunday, black trousers to work on the Monday. Three outfits and one pair of shoes, which for me is unheard of."
Maureen S., Buffalo
6Four soft colours that go with what you own.
We kept the range deliberately short. Every colour had to earn its place against the clothes women actually have hanging up, so the Josephine pays for itself from the first day rather than waiting for the right outfit to come along.
★★★★★
"I started with the navy because I own enough black shoes to open a small shop. Two weeks later I went back for the black anyway."
Barbara F., Syracuse
The Josephine, against the shoes you have been buying
You can find a leather shoe for sixty dollars almost anywhere. I know, because before I made the Josephine I bought a great many of them, trying to find the one that did not let me down by lunchtime. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Most $60 leather shoes
Slip-on with no strap, so you grip with your toes
Flat as a board, or a heel you gave up on years ago
A pointed toe that squeezes the front of your foot
Whole sizes only, half sizes dropped first
Either it looks good, or you can walk in it
The Josephine
An adjustable buckled strap that holds it on your foot
A low block heel you can stand and walk in all day
A softly rounded toe with room in the front
US 5 to 12, in every half size
Looks like a shoe you chose, not one you settled for
I will not put our name on a shoe that asks a woman to choose between being comfortable and looking like herself. That is the whole reason the Josephine exists.
Why the Josephine is clearing now
After years of building this brand, I am closing my final boutique and stepping into retirement. My daughter Faye grew up alongside the business, and she is ready to lead Rosemary & Faye New York into its next chapter with her own perspective. I am proud to hand it to her.
That means this is my final collection, and it is clearing at up to 70 percent off — the pieces I chose myself over the years, going out before her era begins. I will be plain about it: the Josephine goes by size before it goes by colour, the middle sizes empty first, and there is no next production run under my name. If your size is still showing on the product page, it is there today.
“
★★★★★
I now own the navy and the black. Between the two of them I have barely reached for another pair since the spring, and I have stopped planning my day around my feet.
Eleanor M., Ithaca
It is the shoe I am proudest of. I would rather it went to women who will wear it than sit folded in a box as I close the doors.
The reviews say the same things I have heard from women in person for years — 4.8 stars across 3,166 of them. If you have ever wanted a shoe you can be on your feet in all day without giving anything up to get there, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while your size is still in stock.
— Rosemary
The Josephine Leather Mary Jane
★★★★★ 4.8 / 5 from 3,166 reviews
$59.95
- ✓Genuine leather, with a low block heel you can walk in
- ✓Adjustable buckled strap and a softly rounded toe
- ✓US 5–12 in every half size, true to size
- ✓Free shipping and a 30 day money back guarantee
Buy 2 and save: take a second pair and get an extra 10% off.
See if your size is still in stockAbout the writer. Rosemary founded Rosemary & Faye New York in honour of her daughter, who grew up alongside the business, learning every detail of it. Now, at 28, Faye is ready to lead the brand into its next chapter with a fresh, modern perspective.
As Faye steps forward, Rosemary is stepping into retirement — closing her final boutique and proudly passing the brand on to her.
This is a paid advertisement from Rosemary & Faye New York for our own products. Prices and availability are accurate while stock lasts as the collection clears.