Make 'em short: knee-high leather boots

February 25, 2010 10:41 AM

I have a couple of super cute knee high leather boots that are just a smidge too tall. Should I try to alter them to fit?

Has anyone ever brought knee-high boots into a shoe repair place to be shortened (do they even do this type of work)? If so, did the results look nice, or did the boots look butchered?

It seems like extensive work to shorten the tops of boots - I'm willing to bring them in if the result looks natural, but otherwise will skip the exercise if other people have had bad experiences.

FWIW, one pair has soft, pliable leather and the other pair has rigid, almost-patent leather with a full-length zipper.

Bonus point for a shoe repair shop suggestion in the SF bay area.

posted by cranberryskies to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (2 answers total)

This might be totally out there, but have you considered adding orthotic inserts / risers? If it's just a smidge off, the inch or two that you'd gain in the heel might be enough to make it work.
posted by charmcityblues at 10:51 AM on February 25, 2010

Yep. They'll charge you about $75 to do it, tops. btw, most leather boots will crease in the heel and get a bit shorter with wear so you might want to break them in before having them cut down.
posted by fshgrl at 10:59 AM on February 25, 2010