I never knew I had wide feet until I tried on my first pair of Louboutins. I haven't had too much trouble but there are definitely some styles that would look a lot better on me if my feet were just a tad bit more narrow. I recently bought a pair of Louboutin Orlans and to my absolute horror, these shoes are deceivingly narrow...so much so that I have a hard time getting my feet in! They were final sale so I can't return them; I could sell or give them away but ideally I would like to keep them. Thus, I started looking high and low for methods on how to stretch narrow shoes out. Here are some things I've tried in the past week (or plan on trying in the upcoming weeks):1. Stuff them with tissue paper, regular paper, newspaper, socks, etc. This only works if the shoes are narrow by just a teeny bit.
2. Fill 2 ziploc bags with water and then put the bags in your shoes. Leave in the freezer overnight. The expansion of water as it turns to ice should help to expand your shoes.
3. Put on some damp nylons or thick socks and wear your shoes around the house.
4. Stuff shoes with damp newspaper or towel.
(Tips 3 and 4 are kinda the same idea...wet leather is more pliable)
5. Take them to the cobbler and get them mechanically stretched. You can also buy shoe stretchers and do it yourself.
6. Leather stretching liquid. Not too sure if I trust this, I read a lot of stuff about the liquid damaging or discoloring the leather...
7. VASELINE. Worked the best for me so I highly recommend it!!
My Orlans are suede so I've been stretching them with my bare hands in combination with breaking them in via some help from vaseline. I haven't had the guts to wear them out yet but hopefully after a few more days of wearing them around the house, they'll be good to go :)
*Note: I actually brought my Orlans to work today but I forgot the vaseline...HAHAHAHA :P
**UPDATE: My Orlans are wearable now and its all thanks to technique #4 and #7. I stuffed the Orlans with wet paper towels and the shoes were noticeably wider. Be sure to leave them in for only one night though...when I repeated the procedure, I left them in there for 2 nights and I think if I had left them for any longer, the shoes would've been destroyed :/ Vaseline doesn't necessarily stretch the shoes out but definitely helps with the level of comfort. I even went and bought a travel-size jar so I can have it with me at all times when I'm wearing my tighter-fit shoes :)
8 comments:
But, I assume you sit most of the time during work. My feet tend to be red even w/o pressure, so if I wear narrow heels, my feet look even more RED. *sigh*....
try spraying the shoe with those shoe stretching spray , borrow ypur boyfriend sport socks and sit in front of the heater for an hour or so ;)
I've done this with my JC & gucci shoes :D * they stretched perfectly after one hour , all i did was sit on the couch and read mags hahaha
I tried #4. I'll let you know if it works for me.
hello :-) first time here! a google search for louboutin declics led me to you and i'm absolutely loving what i see!!! i have a question - my friend bought some declics for me in a sale today. i usually wear an 8 in louboutins but i went a half size up for the declics...do they run small in your experience?
thanks :-)
litlstrawberry: yea, my feet get red too but as long as the pain is minimal...I'm good :)
Imma: I'm lacking on the boyfriend part of your tip...HAHA :P
Deb: I'm trying that too since the vaseline is only a temporary fix...I stuffed them last night with wet paper towels and tried them on just now...a slight improvement! Def has potential...
Lauren: Welcome and congrats on your new Loubs (great friend btw)! Declics run true to size for me and I actually think I would be able to even go a half size down. If you find your new shoes to be a bit too big...pad em up and you should be fine ;)
this is a great post. I've heard of all the tips except the Vaseline..does that darken the leather inside the shoe? Also, i'm surprised that you can wet the shoes! I have patent Biancas and I'm concerned putting them in the freezer might make it crack. =/
xoxo
Alexandra
If you are using vaseline for comfort, I would recommend you use something called Body Glide. You can get it at an REI or sporting goods store. It's basically an anti-chafing, anti-blister product. Comes in a stick. Works great for me to prevent blisters and it's not goopy like vaseline. :)
I was persuaded by the sales people to buy a full size smaller than I normally do. Needless to say I am regretting that decision. I've been told with wearing socks with my patent leather pumps that they will be fine. How much stretching can one expect to achieve? And will the stretching only be in the width of the shoe? Thank you.
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