Naturalizer "Dare" Women’s Dress Shoes

What went wrong

The notice saysThe heels of the shoes can lean to either side, posing a fall hazard when worn by consumers.

A detaching or breaking heel shifts your weight suddenly to one side, which is how ankle rolls and falls happen. Heel failures on dress shoes are usually traced to how the heel block is attached to the sole: the nails, screws or adhesive that hold it. You generally cannot judge that from the outside, so the style and color details in the notice matter more than how the heel feels.

How to tell if your pair is affected

Product description in the noticeThis recall involves women’s faux patent leather dress shoes with the style name "Dare." They have a three-inch heel, open toes and a decorative faux patent leather bow across the front. The shoes were sold in sizes 5M to 10M, 11M, 7W to 9W and in gray, nude, scarlet and black colors. "Naturalizer" is printed inside and on the bottom of the shoe. The following stock numbers are printed inside the shoes below the size number: A3279S1020 Dare (gray), A3279S1250 Dare (nude), A3279S1600 Dare (scarlet) and A3279S2001 Dare (black).

The notice gives no style numbers or barcodes, so you match on what it does give: the brand and style (Naturalizer "Dare" Women’s Dress Shoes), the sizes (sizes 5M to 10M, 11M, 7W to 9W), the sale period (July 2011 to November 2011), where it was sold (see “Sold at” above) and the “made in” label (China). If a detail does not line up, the recall contact below can confirm.

What the notice tells you to do

RemedyConsumers should immediately stop wearing the shoes and return them to any Naturalizer store for a full refund.

Recall contact, as printed in the notice: For additional information, contact the firm toll-free at (888) 443-2019 anytime, visit the firm’s website at www.naturalizer.com, or email the firm at [email protected]

The recall is 14 years old, and the last pairs were sold about 14 years ago. The notice gives a phone number, an email address and a website for the firm; contact details that old may no longer work, while the CPSC notice stays online as the record of the recall.

How this recall compares

• With about 6,100 units, this is the 52nd largest of the 95 footwear recalls in our archive that give a U.S. unit count. The median recall in the archive covers about 7,200 units, so this one is below typical size.
• 26 other footwear recalls in the archive cite the same kind of hazard (falls), 9 of them in women’s footwear. The earliest in this group dates from 1998.
• The notice puts the sales window at about 5 months (July 2011 to November 2011), against a median of 7 months across recalls that state one. The recall came 1 month after the last sale date.
• The notice gives a price of $25 to $50. For heels and dress shoes in the archive the typical stated price is about $79, so this pair sat at the cheaper end of its group.
• The notice cites 1 report before the recall. 36 of the 95 detailed notices in the archive cite no incidents at all.

Year, part, store and origin

• 2011 brought 7 footwear recalls in our archive, covering about 192,400 units in all. This was the 7th of the year by date and the 6th largest by units.
• The notice names the heel as the part that fails. 8 other footwear recalls in the archive name the same part in their hazard statement; the most recent is Women’s High Heeled Sandals (2023).
• Made in China. 61 of the 91 notices in the archive that name a country list China (67%).
• 1 report on about 6,100 units works out to roughly 16 reports per 100,000 units. The median across the 55 recalls that give both figures is 16, so this recall drew more reports per pair than most.
• At the stated price, the 6,100 units come to roughly $230,000 of retail sales.

Comparisons use the 103 footwear recalls in our archive, read from the CPSC recall database on October 20, 2026. See data and methods.