05 August 2015

Shoes, shoes...

Old shoes, new shoes
Been shoppin' - shoe shopping. The old ones are supremely comfortable, but showing signs of almost-constant wear ... not that they'll be discarded just yet. The new ones - well, don't we all love new shoes?

Which leads to thoughts of ridiculous shoes, artistic shoes, and uncomfortable shoes.
Ridiculous shoes - see more here
Strange "shoes" = art??  (via)
As for uncomfortable shoes, the ones that simply don't fit your feet, that are a bit too small or tight ... you could try to break them in (some tips are here and here and here, and elswhere) - for instance, to stretch them, put a bag of water inside the shoe and then put it in the freezer; the water will expand and hopefully so will the shoe. Another possibility is to blow-dry a pair of (thick) socks for two minutes, then put them and the shoes on and walk around the house for half an hour - the heat will soften the leather, allowing it to stretch a bit.

And then there are these -
Jika-tabi (via)
Split-toe shoes tend to look rather satanic, but might be useful for bunions, keeping the toes spread. A bunion (hallux vagus) is a deformity of the big toe joint; they run in families and are thought to be linked to wearing ill-fitting footwear. If you have a bunion, you'll know how quickly the new shoes can be deformed, never mind the effect of tightness or rubbing on the toe itself.

To end, a little more unwearable fun -
(via)
(via)
(via, where you can see flamingo shoes, and others)


3 comments:

Stitchinscience said...

What fun these are.

Anonymous said...

Great new shoes. I got some old shoes I've worn only once. They were canvas and I dipped them in a marbleizing tub. Turned out great but were not a great fit. Saved them ... today I wore them.

When we lived in Brazil I had shoes made as it was what everyone does down there. Many shoe brands come from Brazil now. Anyway I got knee high zippered boots. I have big feet and large calves and can rarely find boots to fit. A once in a lifetime event. When they brought them out, they wouldn't zip! I was inconsolable, the bootmaker was unflappable. He went to the back and poured rubbing alcohol all over the leather tops and brought them out and zipped them on me. He said wear them for a day and they will always fit perfectly. He's right. I still have them.

So that's your shoe tip for today. Leather will stretch if soaked in rubbing alcohol.

Margaret Cooter said...

Thanks for those shoe stories. We all have favourites, the shoes that time didn't forget. I remember red patent shoes as a teenager, heels in lovely leather from Ingledews [expensive store!] while at uni, many pairs bought in Paris including silver sandals bought on the trip with my sister that very hot summer, and the orange ones bought on a day trip that almost caused us to miss the Eurostar back to London! m