Proper shoe fit

abburke · 31st July 2008, 17:02

Hello everyone again,

I want to get more advice from you all about proper shoe fit. I recently ordered a pair of flats which I know is not part of this site discussion but still I know you all can help. This is the shoe here:

http://www.endless.com/indigo-Clarks...keywords=peony

When I tried them on I found that the left fit just fine but with my right foot it kind of felt like my big toe was a little too close to the point of the front portion of the shoe. It seems my toe is getting pretty close to the inside of the tip of the shoe. I guess my question is, what distance and where should your toe lie from the front of the shoe? I am also having a little trouble with the vamp (is that what you call it?) of the shoe rubbing where my big toe meets the mass of my foot and wonder if this is normal sometimes. Maybe I should wear knee highs or hose with them until they are broke in. Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Thanks,

Aaron

gwl1 · 5th August 2008, 22:36

The big toe should not be up against the front end of the shoe. If it is, the shoe is too short and will bend or force your toe back, causing discomfort and possibly permanent injury. You need toe room. Some shoes are long enough but too short vertically in the toe box and press down too hard on the toe, which can also cause discomfort. Neither situation is desirable. Buy shoes with enough toe room.

You can stretch leather shoes somewhat in length, although it is a lot easier to stretch them in width (if that is a problem). You can buy shoe stretchers to do this with.

One technique I use to get shoes to fit me is to wear them in the bath or shower (careful not to slip!) some morning and give them a really good soaking (5-10 minutes). Then wear them all day and by the time they dry, they will have conformed to the shape of your foot rather well. Wear nylon stockings (knee highs or pantyhose) so that the moisture in the leather and the moisture from your foot's natural perspiration can escape. One thorough soaking and dry cycle like this will probably not damage the shoes at all (after all, the leather got wet quite often when it was on the cow), so give it a try. This technique will sometimes work on vinyl shoes, but they don't stretch as well usually.

GWL

hhboots · 5th August 2008, 23:46

Quote:

One technique I use to get shoes to fit me is to wear them in the bath or shower (careful not to slip!) some morning and give them a really good soaking (5-10 minutes). Then wear them all day and by the time they dry, they will have conformed to the shape of your foot rather well. Wear nylon stockings (knee highs or pantyhose) so that the moisture in the leather and the moisture from your foot's natural perspiration can escape. One thorough soaking and dry cycle like this will probably not damage the shoes at all (after all, the leather got wet quite often when it was on the cow)...

Hehe, interesting idea gwl1 - I might have to try that sometime. I have a couple pairs of boots I bought online that where the right length and were the same width that I get all my other shoes, but these two pairs of boots were both very tight over the middle of my foot on top. One eventually stretched out over time and is not bad to wear these days for a couple of hours, but the other is I think a very thick leather and it never did stretch out, so I never get to wear them out, only can put them on for 15 minutes before my feet ache and feel like they are about to explode out of the boot. Guess I was too cheap to get a stretcher, but I see they are actually cheaper than I thought. That or the shower idea sounds intriguing to try once anyway :)

astrid · 7th August 2008, 13:51

Good advice there. I find it really difficult to find pumps that fit me properly. On many occassions, I have found a lovely pair only to realise that the right one is a fraction too big. Nothing worse than walking around with one shoes lose.