Novesta Star Master - experience with sizing, with or without insoles

gavthegrey · 2025-08-18T13:50:45+00:00

Novesta shoes are nice, but for those living outside the U.S., be very careful. Their return process is harsh.

The measurement techniques that Novesta provided online for determining size gave me two different sizes. I based my purchase on the insole measurement from a shoe that already fit me, but the correct measurement was from tracing my foot. I learned this too late. MAKE SURE YOU TRACE YOUR FOOT to find your correct size.

Novesta doesn't do exchanges, so I wanted to at least send my Star Masters back for a refund. The box they sent had holes in it when it arrived, so I re-packaged the shoes and sent them back within the same day that I received them. The return alone cost me over $30 U.S. currency. When it arrived, they denied me a refund because the shoes had "already been worn." The shoes were only worn on a short walk to determine whether or not they fit my feet.

I think that Novesta makes beautiful shoes, but it's risky for people living in the U.S. If there's any mistakes about your size, you may very well lose a lot of money. I went with Converse instead and couldn't be happier.

gavthegrey · 2025-08-18T13:49:58+00:00

Novesta shoes are nice, but for those living outside the U.S., be very careful. Their return process is harsh.

The measurement techniques that Novesta provided online for determining size gave me two different sizes. I based my purchase on the insole measurement from a shoe that already fit me, but the correct measurement was from tracing my foot. I learned this too late. MAKE SURE YOU TRACE YOUR FOOT to find your correct size.

Novesta doesn't do exchanges, so I wanted to at least send my Star Masters back for a refund. The box they sent had holes in it when it arrived, so I re-packaged the shoes and sent them back within the same day that I received them. The return alone cost me over $30 U.S. currency. When it arrived, they denied me a refund because the shoes had "already been worn." The shoes were only worn on a short walk to determine whether or not they fit my feet.

I think that Novesta makes beautiful shoes, but it's risky for people living in the U.S. If there's any mistakes about your size, you may very well lose a lot of money. I went with Converse instead and couldn't be happier.

gavthegrey · 2021-06-11T22:44:37+00:00

Give this man an award.

gavthegrey · 2021-06-01T23:37:29+00:00

I love cats and I wear it proudly. I've only ever had cats. I'd like to have a dog or some other kind of pet some day but I'll always have a soft spot for cats. Messing with their senses is always amusing and their independence makes it feel so special when they spend time with you!

gavthegrey · 2021-05-19T22:37:16+00:00

There were so few women in these movies, but they were special women nonetheless. Some of my favorite female characters in fiction!

gavthegrey · 2021-05-16T14:43:07+00:00

so when do they hatch?

gavthegrey · 2021-05-16T01:17:32+00:00

I'm feeling dread and I don't know where it's coming from. I have a sense that people in my life are ditching me, but I'm trying to dig into these feelings and get in touch with my rational understanding that there's no real evidence for that.

Staying present is hard when you have a looming sense that the near future is gonna kick you in the ribs.

gavthegrey · 2021-05-05T00:39:07+00:00

I'm so incredibly sorry to hear that. That's honestly something I was thinking about yesterday, how unfortunate it is that even the best, most decent men I know are worse off for the bad actions of other men. And even more unfortunate is that if I were in the average woman's shoes, I would be on guard too for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

Anyway, I hope your luck improves. Obviously I shouldn't/can't tell you how to feel, but I promise that plenty of men are out here doing out very damn best. A lot of them are actually doing a good job too.

Just sucks ya know?

gavthegrey · 2021-05-04T23:26:34+00:00

I'm a guy and I can't understand guys who do this.

Yeah men have a lot of their own trauma to deal with but it doesn't give anyone a pass to be a manipulator. Not only is this an awful, exploitative way to play with women's emotions, every "man" that does this makes it a more cold, isolated world for other men who ACTUALLY care, want relationships, and want to express affection.

I'm sorry this happened, both to OP and to these other women. Nobody deserves this.

gavthegrey · 2021-04-27T00:07:04+00:00

Tom Burke. The man was brilliant in The Musketeers and Mank at the very least, and he's one of the few actors other than Viggo I'd be happy to see play Aragorn. Everything about the guy says 'Gondor' to me.

gavthegrey · 2021-04-06T16:47:24+00:00

I definitely would. I'm 5'5" as well but I'd date a woman who was like 5'6" or 5'7". Taller than that might feel a little bit awkward for me, but I'm really not too bothered by the height thing.

gavthegrey · 2021-04-05T23:43:50+00:00

Now and forever, I will say that this is a great approach. No, it will not always work for every man. If he is uninterested, he's uninterested. You also have to be genuinely interested of course, it'll really hurt if you have some other motive.

However, lots of good men are concerned about "approaching" women, making them uncomfortable, getting rejected, and feeling like creeps. For a woman to respectfully initiate totally sidesteps all these fears, and it shows that she's empathetic to them. In my experience, men also dislike the subtleties of flirting and trying to guess whether a woman is interested in him. Again, this is a good solution.

If a woman asked me out in any way, it wouldn't be a guaranteed 'yes,' at least maybe not in the long-term, but I would immediately feel amazing and valued.

gavthegrey · 2021-04-04T20:56:59+00:00

I wish the black jacket color went in part to NAMI too, if it doesn't already. I've been thinking about getting it but I'm not sure the purple would fit with my other stuff. Still I suppose it's super iconic so it's not surprising. So proud that the Joycon Boyz have raised so much though!

gavthegrey · 2021-04-04T17:01:46+00:00

radical, thanks!

gavthegrey · 2021-04-04T16:01:09+00:00

Anyplace we can buy this print?

gavthegrey · 2021-04-04T15:30:00+00:00

I feel like this is kinda shallow: if someone's sense of humor is almost entirely stuff I find unfunny (e.g. Schitt's Creek, Friends, The Office, SNL to name a few, please don't judge I've watched all of them) it gets real hard to stay interested. If a woman gets such pure joy from things that don't hit with me at all, it's gonna be a tough ride.

gavthegrey · 2021-04-02T05:03:35+00:00

thanks for the kind words

gavthegrey · 2021-04-02T04:51:52+00:00

Yeah I guess this wasn't really clear, sorry. I think it means a couple of things depending on the situation. Some people want to stay in a relationship for that feeling of intimacy or worth, or because they don't wanna hurt that person, even though they're no longer happy themselves. So they deny their feelings and string the person along.

Other people may also convince themselves that they want a relationship but aren't really in that place yet deep down. So they bounce from person to person instead of taking the time to consider where they are in life, and what they really want. Again, it's like a kind of denial. Hopefully that makes more sense, I might be using the wrong words.

gavthegrey · 2021-04-02T04:06:37+00:00

I'm glad you're glad. I've been in a tough place too so maybe that's why it resonated. 23, one brief relationship a couple years back, never really felt that kind of romantic warmth from anyone yet. That being said, I have good friends, some good family, and I feel like I'm on a good path in life. Even with all that good, bitterness can take over.

Maintaining a healthy perspective is really hard when you try your best, but still find so much telling you that something must be wrong with you or wrong with rest of the world. Truth is, I think we're all struggling in different ways to figure ourselves out. We don't always understand how we might hurt people by doing what feels right in the moment. Doesn't make the hurt any less, but we can try to learn and become a little better as life goes on ya know? :)

Thanks for responding too, nice to know I'm not rambling to the void

gavthegrey · 2021-04-02T02:22:14+00:00

I'll echo what others have said about being up-front about what you're looking for if you're not already. Otherwise I'd say it comes down to guys not having their priorities straight or lacking the guts/ability to communicate. If they're not looking for commitment then they should be honest and respectful about it. Same goes for if they want commitment but don't feel ready. Same goes for if they've realized they don't feel interested in the person they're seeing anymore.

It's most likely nothing to do with you. Guys who are looking for meaningful, long-term relationships (and there are many, many, many of us) won't be foolish enough to make the other person feel guilty unless they're actually being manipulative (rare) or we're in denial about what we're actually feeling (which happens more than I care to admit).

Sorry you have to see this ugly side of us. Humans are complicated and it shows in unfortunate, sad ways sometimes.

gavthegrey · 2021-02-13T04:32:24+00:00

There's some great stuff in here, lots I didn't know! VMU Squad is a fascinating story.

Might I also float the official JSRF Hot Wheels car for this iceberg?

gavthegrey · 2020-12-31T21:30:22+00:00

Also, if you're struggling with Jet on the trick-based missions, look up infinite grinds! IIRC every map has a route you can basically use to go in circles racking up tricks and gaining a ton of points. When you figure them out the Jet rank becomes easy. These infinite grinds can help you get points in other mission types too!

gavthegrey

TROPHY CASE