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Stretching
has an important place in men's high heel shoe fashion.
This is for several reasons:
1.
Perhaps the shoe you desire is not available in your size.
This doesn't apply to me normally, but maybe I see
something in a charity shop a size or two too small that
I would like to wear. Of course, the normal choice of
asking for the next size doesn't apply here.
2.
If you are the right size to buy womens' styles, then
ladies' shoes can run on the narrow side. I actually have
a fairly typical women's foot, but some fashion styles
are ridiculously narrow.
3.
Most men are not prepared to ruin their feet in the name
of fashion with crazy narrow styles in the same way that
women seem to be. We want the heel and the looks but not
in an extreme way. Perhaps having the smallest possible
looking feet is not so important to the average guy in
the same way as it is to a lot of women. It's not
intended as a sexist comment, but how else do you explain
the fact that the shoemakers tend to make women's shoes
deliberately close fitting? It must be in response to
demand from the market.
Don't
use your feet to stretch shoes to any large degree.
Unless you want to ruin your feet that is....
For my first project on this
subject, I'll look at a useful stretching device you can
make yourself. I've done lots of pictures as I think they
speak for themsleves and save on text.
First, buy some wood about 18-20mm
(3/4") thick and at about as wide as your foot. You
can see this wood is 95mm (3 3/4") wide in this case
which is OK for me, but you'll need to select your piece
to suit.
Next, draw round your foot. You
may need to make a device a bit smaller than your foot
and one a bit larger depending on the amount you need to
stretch a shoe. Yes, that is my foot you can see! I hope
you'll note there's no hint of bunions in spite of me
wearing heels regularly for 15 years. You'll also note
that my foot is quite pointed which lends itself to many
women's styles but don't despair if your foot is square
in shape. This device will help that.
Cut out the shape using a hand or
power jigsaw. You can use a tenon saw and chisel, but it
will take longer and having the right tool will also
ensure a neater and more accurate job.
Finish off your foot shape with a
file so that the edges are smooth and rounded. You dont
wan't it to tear the leather with sharp edges when you
use it on a shoe. Repeat the process with the other foot.
You can add screws and packing
pieces as shown here on the "tight points". You'll
notice my foot is just under 250mm or 10" in length.
Keep two pieces of wood flat like this. They can be used
to stretch flat shoes with a heel height of up to about
50 mm (2 "). For higher heels proceed as follows:
For the high heel stretcher,
devide the shape into 10 units and make the toe piece 4
units long, and the other two pieces 3 units long. For
example, my foot of 250mm has a toe piece 100mm, an
instep 75mm, and a heel bit 75mm (each "unit"
is 25mm in this case). These proportions work for me, and
I guess most people's feet are the same, but you may need
to vary it a little. Cut the wood into the 3 sections.
This view shows how I have screwed
and hinged the sections together using 18mm (3/4")
wood screws and steel hinges you an buy at any hardware
shop.
A further view showing the
articulation. Note the positions of the hinges. You may
need to file the inside of the wood faces next to the
hinge so the device jams shut when inside the shoe.
Now to business. How to use it to
stretch a shoe. I have illustrated this with a court shoe
because it makes it clearer. I don't advise you to
stretch courts shoes without straps. With this type of
shoe, a jam fit is needed to keep the shoe on. If you try
these tactics they might slip. With plain courts, you
have to accept that your foot will be squashed a bit.
That is why pointed courts are crap shoes to wear for
prolonged periods. Boots are much better, and more
suitable for men becasue they look good with trousers.
These courts have an ankle strap so it doesn't matter so
much. You can see how much wider the stretcher is than
the shoe.
Here it goes. It doesn't look ever
likely it will fit in the shoe does it? This is what
happens to your poor foot as it gets crushed by the toe
box. However, in this case it will be the shoe that has
to give way!
Go on: force it in! Some shoe
stretching fluid or spray to soften the leather is
helpful at this stage, especially on the inside to
lubricate the wood in without risking tearing the lining.
If you smoothed the edges carefully, this shouldn't
happen unlees the fit is really tight. The back of the
stretcher is placed at the top of the heel cap and then
gradullay further down as the top hinge is pushed flat to
gradually force the toe part in.
The heel of the hand, or both
hands, is used to force jam the top hinge flat, exerting
tremendous leverage to wedge toe toe part open to your
foot shape. It also pushes back the heel a bit which has
the same type of relieving effect when your foot goes in.
Here is the stretcher fully in
with the top hinge jammed down. If you are stretching
shoes two or three sizes, the stretcher that is the size
of your foot may not fit the first time. Hence, make up a
stretcher that is a bit smaller than your foot as an
intermediate stage to do the initial loosening before you
push the foot sized one in.
Here is a really powerful
technique that will force the shoe into submission. The
stretcher will tend to angle the toe part of the shoe
downwards. However, hold the top hinge closed with your
other hand. (Here I am using my foot to illustrate). Then
wrench the toes back past the horizontal with the
stretcher inside. You will feel the leather stretch over
the wood as the toe form is pushed further inside the
shoe. This is so powerful, it will blow a poor quality
shoe apart. But who wants to wear a poor quality shoe?
Good shoes will take it and will be supple and soft when
you have finished.
You'll need a pair of stretchers
of course. Leave them in the shoes for a few days,
performing the jamming technique above every so often.
Then, wear the shoes for 15 mins or so and identify any
remaining tight spots. You can stretch these locally
using blook and screw pressure pads as I show here. The
big and lttle toe are common pinch points
Using the stretcher on boots is
similar. However, you will also need other techniques I
will describe later as this stretcher concentrates on the
heel and toe where as you might be able to get the foot
in but not zip it up where by you need to stretch the
body of the boot. Bear in mind that vinyl will stretch
but it is very difficult and it will only stretch 1/2 to
1 size where as leather can stretch up to 2 to 3 sizes.
Also stretching compound is usless on vinyl as it is not
permeable in the same way as leather.
Forcing the stretcher into the
boot is a similar process to the shoe. Note how the
leather upper is folded back to help get it in.
Here is the stretcher fully in the
boot with the top hinge jammed down. It's time to perform
the toe wrenh technique.
In this view, you can see how a
toe pad can really force out the leather on a sore point.
Don't leave it in too long or you will really deform the
shoe badly, but experiment with the length of time (hours
to days) so that the shoe is snug but not over deformed.
The last picture shows how the
boot should look. I hope you can see how the toes have
been gently pushed out to my foot shape, without
radically affecting the style of the boot. This boot is
really satisfying to wear as well. There's nothing like
the feeling of a boot which gently hugs your foot. What a
contrast to a boot which crushes your foot. However, with
my stretcher, your boots will always be the right shape.
With some materials you will find that a strtecher
slightly larger than your actual foot will be needed (eg
Vinyl and some leather) as there is more spring back
after the stretcher is removed. With other material the
strtecher may need to be kept in for a week or more.
Experiment to get the best result.
A further stretching technique includes wearing the shoes while wet. I fill them up with water and leave them for 5 minutes before pouring the water out and then towel drying/wearing, but only wear them for short periods if they are tight. You can also stuff them with newspaper and leave them to dry out. Other ideas are proprietary shoe stretching sprays, rubbing alcohol, or even proprietary shoe stretchers, but I prefer my version as it it is fitted to one's own foot and I find it very effective. Always remember leather shoes are much easier to strecthc than vinyl which really doesn't stretch much at all. Tight vinyl shoes are not worth working with.
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