New Shoes

I picked up my Hotters yesterday (two pairs for the price of one) and they slipped on comfortably straight away. So no apparent change in size there. I also bought the same pair in red, which was marked at £15. I have never in my life before bought three pairs of shoes at the same time. The red pair looks lovely but is a regular width, so will see how it goes. They should see me through another ten years.

I wouldn’t keep any shoes that were uncomfortable, the damage to your feet isn’t worth it.

Reading this with interest as I am picking up a pair of Hotters tomorrow. They are in the size I always have, but my current pair has lasted 10 years so I do hope they will fit OK. Hotters are the most comfortable as I take a size
9 wide fit!

Bite the bullet, and stop trying with shoes that you know don't work. I've had some made for me, about £120 a pop, money well spent. I'm thinking about trying Cosifeet in the future. Flat shoes rock, and so does being able to walk properly. I've had shoes made in pink, blue etc as well as plain old brown. My shoemaker was Chuckle in Exeter, they might know of others near you. Good luck.

Either Hotter's sizing has changed or my feet have shrunk. I used to take size 5, wide fitting; then I found I could wear their standard fitting. Now I can wear their 4.5 size but choose to order wide fitting to accommodate my growing bunion. I have always found it easy to return shoes or boots, for exchange or refund, though they have changed from using Hermes to the Post Office, Hermes here is so convenient, as it's in a dry cleaning shop.

You may be better to get padding, not on the exact place that is catching, but around it, so that it doesn't have yet another layer to press on it. Perhaps a piece of sticking plaster on the toe with a hole cut in it?

Liz46

I used to buy Hotter shoes but no longer find them comfortable. There's nothing wrong with my feet (unlike the rest of me!) so I'm pretty sure that Hotter have changed.

I think so too.
The sandals I bought two years ago, expensive and not in a sale, rub one toe mercilessly when worn for more than ten minutes! Their after care for customers is rubbish, I gave them to a charity shop in the end.
You could try a corn plaster, but if your feet get hot it may just come off.I would return them....if you can!

Thank you everyone for your comments and observations.

I still have about 2.5 weeks left before I have to return the shoes.

I can’t wear them round the house as I won’t be able to send them back if I get the soles grubby.

I am going to buy some toe protectors and see how the shoes feel whilst wearing them. The emery board tip re the raised seam also sounds worth a try.

Those of you who said return the shoes if they don’t fit properly are probably right!

I am going to try the alternatives first though.

Will let you know the eventual outcome.

?????

I believe Victoria Beckham is said to “break “ her shoes in by wearing them around the house with socks to stretch them.

Victoria must have picked up that tip from me! I used to do that years ago but alas, have to wear wide clumpy shoes now.

When a seam on one of a pair of shoes rubbed my delicate foot, I flattened it and softened it with the coarse side of an emery board. I couldn't find any sandpaper in my tool box, so the emery board had to suffice. It worked.

I have recently bought a pair of Hotter canvas pumps in the sale. They felt fine in the shop but when I got them home they felt tight. Maybe my feet were hot.

Anyway, a friend said wet the shoes whilst you are wearing them and let them dry on your feet. This is supposed to soften them and help them mould to your feet. I haven't tried it yet.

Not sure whether it would be suitable for anything other than canvas shoes though.

Also, I have always struggled with shoes rubbing my heels. When I was young my dad used to rub my shoes with a knife handle to smooth/flatten them. It seemed to work.

Hotter pride themselves on comfort and quality so if shoes rub/catch/nip etc I'd simply return them and tell them the problem. they'll never know if we don't tell them and life's far too precious to put up within comfy feet! Sometimes you just have to search a bit more or change style to be comfortable , I used to get my 14 year old son to wear my court shoes to size them! But always used the sports-socks-around-the-house method, since the 70s !!!

Dd swears by wearing a thick sock and using the hair dryer on the back of the heel for as long as you can bear it.

Lucca, Fitflop do some stretchy knitted shoes.

MawBe

I believe Victoria Beckham is said to “break “ her shoes in by wearing them around the house with socks to stretch them.
The Queen gets her dresser Angela Kelly to break hers in!

Have you seen VB's feet?
They are really really bad...

Talking of Hotter. Our local store has closed. I saw a lady wearing some pale blue open-ish sandals and complimented her on them, she said they were Hotter but I can find them on their website! They looked like they were made of some kind of elasticised fabric rather than leather. Any ideas?

All my life I've had problems with new shoes I always end up with blister not just on heels either. I'm now diabetic so am very careful and stick to the same shoes as long as possible. Just had to replace my slippers bought the exact same pair as previously but ended up with terrible blisters on my heels. I would love to find a solution to prevent this from happening!

My mum used to tell us to rub a piece of raw potato around the inside heel of new shoes to help soften them and prevent blisters. Same idea as the spray-on shoe stretch stuff that Fleur20 mentions?

Most shoe shops sell a spray-on shoe stretch.. you spray inside the shoe where the problem is immediately before putting your foot in... its a bit yeuch(?!).. as its cold and wet.. but stretches the spot just enough to take the pressure away.. you have to do it every wear.. but it lasts for the occasion..

I believe Victoria Beckham is said to “break “ her shoes in by wearing them around the house with socks to stretch them.
The Queen gets her dresser Angela Kelly to break hers in!

Just out of interest I tried on two pairs of shoes in the Cotton Traders sale. I am a 4.5 and the 4 was very good in both pairs. Bought just the sandals as it is summer. Hope that is useful for someone.

May help to vaseline the area of your foot for the first dozen wears. Sure the shoe will soften up and meld to your foot. Wear them in the house a few times

Can you wind sheep's wool around your toe Calandergirl? I used to have a very painful corn and my chiropodist used to make me a sheep's wool sock for it to stop contact with my shoes, I could hardly feel I had it on the toe.

I recently bought some Groundies shoes. Fabulous for wide-toed, narrow-heeled, shallow-footed, ground-loving feet like mine. Check them out if you're looking for foot freedom.

Liz46

I used to buy Hotter shoes but no longer find them comfortable. There's nothing wrong with my feet (unlike the rest of me!) so I'm pretty sure that Hotter have changed.

yes they have! their wide fit used to be fine for me but now is not and they do very few styles in extra wide. My old hotters are still fine so i am sure its not my feet. I did contact them and was told my comment would be "passed on" but nothing was done...and yes seams rub, also I find the they rub round the heel too. My sister finds the same.