I'm not playing dress-up with my mother's heels, I swear

October 18, 2010 6:20 PM

Can I make these heels look like they fit me?

I bought a pair of shoes in the size that feels best -- I have very small, but slightly wide feet. They feel great, but they look like I'm playing dress-up! There is about a quarter of an inch gap in the back of the shoe.

I tried on my normal size and they were way too narrow for my feet. These are one half-size above what I normally wear.

I tried putting insoles in, wearing socks, and stuffing the toes with tissue. The first two didn't make any discernible difference and the last option (tissue in the toes) was way too uncomfortable.

Is there any hope for these shoes?

posted by k8lin to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

I think one of these set slightly higher up in the shoe than where it's supposed to be coupled with one of these will do a good job of snugging everything up. I've used the heel whatsits before, but not the ball of foot ones. They have them at Target (and many other places, I'm sure) and are cheap.
posted by phunniemee at 6:33 PM on October 18, 2010

i have a pair of platform wedge short boots that i bought a half size up bc it was the last pair. i put in some gel heel grips in the heels as well as used a gel insert in the insole. the boot fits great now.
posted by violetk at 6:33 PM on October 18, 2010

Indeed, you want the heel whatsit.
posted by kate blank at 7:01 PM on October 18, 2010

Another vote for the ball-of-the-foot inserts. I wear a 10.5, but stores rarely have it; I end up with a lot of too-big 11s, so use the inserts quite a bit.
posted by quadrilaterals at 7:15 PM on October 18, 2010

Response by poster: Will the shoes look like they fit if I use those heel inserts and a ball of the foot insert? I have a feeling that they'll still look big. They actually don't slip off at all when I walk -- they seem to fit perfectly, they just look too large.
posted by k8lin at 8:04 PM on October 18, 2010

If they fit, don't worry too much about them looking too big. If I happen to be looking, I often see women wearing heels with a bit of a gap at the back. I do this myself sometimes for reasons similar to yours and I never thought it looked particularly odd.

Most of the time, I just don't notice how well other people's shoes appear to fit. Wear your shoes if you like 'em.
posted by samthemander at 9:03 PM on October 18, 2010

Response by poster: samthemander, normally I would agree, but these are downright comical-looking.

I'll try more grippy things and cross my fingers. Thanks, all.
posted by k8lin at 8:02 AM on October 19, 2010

Find a locally owned shoe store, and let them work their magic. My father-in-law works as such a store, and I'm always amazed at how well he can make a shoe fit. I, like an earlier poster, wear a 10.5, so I'm always having to do this. Usually what works is the ball of the foot padding, but a store will have a supply of them that they put under the main inside sole of the shoe; it works a lot better than just sticking the others in.
posted by bizzyb at 5:52 PM on October 20, 2010