Nine West Footwear Sam & Libby Girls' Thong Sandals

What went wrong

The notice saysThe sandals' metal tacks, which help to hold down the sides of the strap to the sole, can detach or be pulled out, posing a laceration hazard.

Cut hazards in footwear almost always come from metal parts: thread, wire, studs, rivets or trim. They tend to show up after some wear, when linings thin out or edges lift. A quick run of your fingers along the inside of the shoe will often reveal the problem the notice describes.

How to tell if your pair is affected

Product description in the noticeThe recalled models are the Fish, Starfish and Angelfish. The model can be identified by the decoration attached to the sandals' straps; a fish, a starfish or an angelfish. The sandals' straps are bright pink (Starfish) or bright turquoise (Fish and Angelfish). The top of the sole looks like wood and the bottom is pink (Starfish) or turquoise (Fish and Angelfish). The top of the sole has a pink label with the words "Sam and Libby" written in silver. The sandals were sold in little girls' size 11 through girls' size 5.

The notice gives no style numbers or barcodes, so you match on what it does give: the brand and style (Sam & Libby Girls' Thong Sandals), the sizes (girls' size 11 through girls' size 5), the sale period (March 2006 to April 2006), 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 stop wearing these sandals immediately and return them to the store where they were purchased, for a full refund.

Recall contact, as printed in the notice: For additional information, contact Nine West Footwear’s Customer Relations Department at (800) 999-1877 between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, e-mail the firm at [email protected], or visit the Jones Apparel Group Inc., Web site at www.jny.com

The recall is 20 years old, and the last pairs were sold about 20 years ago. A child who wore these at the time has long outgrown them, yet sandals like these keep circulating through younger siblings, swaps and thrift racks. The notice gives a phone number, an email address and a website for the firm; details that old may have changed, and the CPSC notice stays online as the record.

How this recall compares

• With about 6,700 units, this is the 50th 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.
• 9 other footwear recalls in the archive cite the same kind of hazard (cuts and scrapes), 5 of them in children’s footwear. The earliest in this group dates from 1997.
• The notice puts the sales window at about 2 months (March 2006 to April 2006), against a median of 7 months across recalls that state one. The recall came 2 months after the last sale date.
• The notice gives a price of $12 to $20. For sandals, clogs and flip-flops in the archive the typical stated price is about $24, so this pair sat at the cheaper end of its group.

Year, part, store and origin

• 2006 brought 4 footwear recalls in our archive, covering about 16,400 units in all. This was the 3rd of the year by date and the 1st largest by units.
• The notice names the metal part as the part that fails. 6 other footwear recalls in the archive name the same part in their hazard statement; the most recent is Sandals (2015).
• Made in China. 61 of the 91 notices in the archive that name a country list China (67%).
• At the stated price, the 6,700 units come to roughly $110,000 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.