Trends for Spring
Seeing as we have a bit of winter I thought I’d do a bit about Spring trends in shoes! The main looks coming through are pointy toes, wedges, patents, pastel colours, bright colours, buckles, lacing, platforms, and studs. Not all on the same shoe…And these are ladies shoes I’m talking about! As ever it’s all about taking elements of the looks and picking those that reflect your lifestyle and personality, rather than slavishly buying into a look because it’s the in thing, as then it can look overdone, and if it’s something you wouldn’t normally wear then the shoes will be wearing you.
Shiny shoes!
I’m just starting to get some new season stock in, quite a few are patent. I’m realising not everyone knows what it is. Patent leather is normal leather that has a thin coating of clear very shiny plastic over the top. This can create a few manufacturing problems as it’s not as flexible as non-coated leather, and it can be bulkier. The reason price can vary so hugely on patent shoes is down to the ratio of leather to plastic coating; a very thin piece of leather with quite thick plastic will be much cheaper than a nice quality leather with thin more flexible plastic. Check the pictograms; (the little drawings that should be on every shoe!) where the plastic is thicker than the leather it can’t be described as a leather shoe, so it will have a diamond shape meaning ‘other material’. If a patent shoe is described as ‘leather upper’ then it is a better material. In wear, patent shoes are more susceptible to cracking, particularly ones with cheaper plastic. They are easy to look after though as it’s a plastic surface, so they can simply be wiped clean, and although you can get specialised patent sprays, I’ve always used Mr Sheen and it’s worked perfectly. (Sorry shoe cleaning supply people!)
How to make shoes that don’t fit do…
During sale time in particular it’s easy to fall in love with a pair of shoes that are simply not your size, and there’s none left and no way of getting them. There are a few tricks that can help… Sadly it’s trickier if they’re much too short for you. The length of the shoe is determined by the sole; this is not going to magically get any longer. Width ways they will ease, and you can help this by wearing them even for a few minutes at a time with the thickest socks you own and stuffing your feet into them for as long as you can bear it. A broom handle can help with easing the toe if you stand the broom upright, put the shoe over the top so the handle is right inside down the toe, then pull down on the shoe. I’ve never broken a shoe by doing this, but I’m sure it would be possible to so be careful! That really is as much as you can do; some people stuff potatoes in shoes swearing the moisture helps as well, I’ve never tried that.
Too big is marginally easier; there is no limit to the number of insoles you can stuff inside shoes, as I have scrawny feet I usually have 11/2 insoles in my shoes anyway. The only problem is depending on the style of the shoe, the more you put in the bottom, the less heel fit you tend to get. Balance this out by using half insoles as well as full ones, as these push you towards the back. If there’s straps you can get extra holes put in to tighten them or they can be shortened by a decent repairer. Lace up shoes can have extra padding put under the tongue so you can use the laces to hold them on rather than them overlapping. Extra room around the toes doesn’t really matter (so long as it’s not so much you’ll trip over), the important bit is round the heel and over the top of the foot so it stays on.
And ultimately if you really love them, I think everyone has a pair of car-to-bar shoes not meant to be walked in and just admired.
