Breaking Up With Breaking In
How To Get Louboutin Heels To Fit Comfortably
When I bought my first pair of Louboutins, the Malachite So Kates, I was beyond thrilled. I had waited ages to wear my very own pair. I unboxed them, took them out of their dust jackets, removed the tissue paper and plastic sticks that help them keep their shape in storage and I tried them on. But to my astonishment they didn’t fit—not only did they not fit my feet, but I felt like they couldn’t possibly fit human feet! They were so tall and harshly angled that I felt like a contortionist trying to get my feet into them. “Are these shoes made for Barbie dolls?!” I thought. Once I finally forced my feet in, I could hardly stand, let alone walk. My head was filled with images of my shoes becoming decorative pieces instead of being worn. I didn’t know what to do and for months I could only ever wear them around the house for a few minutes at a time.
I’ve always prided myself on being able to walk in all sorts of heels with ease. I’ve been wearing high heels since I was 13, and when you’re 5’2.5” you learn to wear heels a lot more frequently than most. So I never really believed anyone when they said that Louboutins were generally uncomfortable. I thought perhaps they just weren’t used to wearing heels like I was. Boy was I wrong. But I was determined and I made it my mission to be able to wear them out; so I did a deep dive on the internet and discovered a method that has allowed me to wear every single one of my Louboutins (and other hard to crack luxury shoes) with ease.
The number one thing I learned is that it’s not necessarily that these shoes are uncomfortable, it’s that they really need to be broken in before anyone can easily wear them! Except with a thousand dollar price tag, you want to make sure you don’t mess up the break in by doing something that could severely damage the shoe. Below are several key factors to think about when purchasing and wearing luxury shoes. While these tips and tricks will work for most leather high heels, I am framing them around Louboutins as they are the most infamously tricky to wear and break in (especially the So Kate silhouette).
You’re Buying The Wrong Size: One of the the most frustrating things about Louboutins is that for first time buyers you're probably going to start off by trying on the wrong size. Loubis generally run small. For almost every other brand I can think of, I am traditionally a size 36 (or 6 in US sizing). For almost all of my Louboutins (with the exception of open-toe platforms) I am a size 36.5. Going up a half-size, especially if you have wider feet like me, is game changing. I’d almost always rather buy too large than too small when it comes to Christian Louboutin because the sizes are so narrow that it’s easier to add some additional padding to the shoe than it is to spend the time stretching a shoe out that is too small.
Heel Height Matters: This is where geometry comes in. When you’re buying Louboutins you need to really focus on the height of the heel. Many of the classic styles have different heel heights, which means a different angle for your toes and arch. The higher the heel, the more severe the angle to stand. So Kates are notorious for the Barbie doll shape your foot must contort to in order to wear them. And if they aren’t broken in properly at first, the angle will feel even more severe. If the So Kate is too much for you, but you like the style, I always suggest the Iriza, Hot Chick or Pigalle heels as alternatives. The Hot Chicks I find to be the most comfortable of the three.
The Toe Box Shape Matters: Size matters, but shape does too! The wider your feet, the more uncomfortable the pointed toe box will be. While I adore the style of the pointed toe, I always go into those styles knowing they will be the harshest on my feet. The rounded toe is much kinder and squeezes far less as your toes have more room at the broader front to widen and adjust. The comfiest shoes are easily open toed. This allows the maximum amount of room to spread out your toes without crunching them up.
Leather and Patent Leather Stretch Differently: So you bought the half size up and even bought a toe box shape that fits your feet, but the shoes are still uncomfortable and tight? There’s a solution to that! And all you need are two simple things: a high heel stretcher and a pair of socks! The first step should be inserting a high heel stretcher (it must be designed for high heels) into your shoes and stretching the shoes just enough to feel pressure. You’ll do this for the first day and leave the shoes alone for at least twelve hours. You don’t want to stretch them too much as you can risk over stretching them altogether.
After they’ve stretched for the first day, take the stretchers out and put on some socks or toe cushions. Put your new shoes on over the socks and sit back and relax for an hour or so. I usually do my makeup or watch an episode of TV to pass the time. This will help your shoes begin to conform to your specific foot shape. Then after the hour is up, put the shoes back into their stretchers and stretch them again, but this time you can set the stretchers a bit further. Repeat this method every day for a few days. By day 4 your shoes will start to feel much more comfortable and much more wearable. But beware! Patent leather is much more difficult to stretch than regular leather and cannot stretch as much without damaging the shoe. You also want to make sure that you're testing the shoes out with your socks both on and off to make sure the shoes fit to your bare feet.
If your shoe is starting to fit right but you’re still struggling to get the shoe on, it could be because of friction. This is once again where socks will come in handy. I like to put on a pair of thin silky socks or tights the first time I wear my newly stretched shoes out. This will help eliminate any friction when putting your foot into the shoe and help you get the closest natural fit.
What If I Bought Too Small of a Size? Luckily, the above mentioned shoe stretching strategy will help to stretch a shoe that is a half size too small to fit at a far more comfortable level. My first three pairs of Louboutins were all 36s, and I even once bought a 36.5 that felt like a 36, but my shoe stretchers got them all to fit! You may just need to prolong the amount of time of initial stretching for a few more days.
What If I Bought Too Large of a Size? I have made this mistake before, but there are some amazing solutions to fix this! All you need is padding! There are two types of padding I like to use in my shoes: heel slip pads for the ankle area of the shoe and pads that go in the toe box to support the balls of your feet. The former is the easiest solution as you can just buy a heel slip pad and adhere it to the back of your shoe, but it can be a little unsightly if the colors don’t match. It also has a larger chance of slipping down and coming off with more use and wear. I really like toe box pads as I don’t have to commit to sticking them permanently in the shoe and they work very well to elevate and push your foot back. This also allows for a more comfortable fit when filling out the back heel of the shoe, rather than squishing your toes up closer to the front of the toe box. I buy both types of padding at The Leather Spa, though you can find various types online, at drug stores or at your local cobbler’s.
I tend to refrain from using any kind of stretching tactics that involve liquids or sprays. Leather shoes are delicate and have varying finishes and dyes, so I don’t always know how a liquid solution would react on them. While there are many videos out there on how to stretch out a shoe with “miracle sprays,” I would advise against that route.
There’s nothing worse than breaking in a new pair of shoes. The blisters can be excruciating and ruin your night out (and sometimes even ruin the shoes), but these tips and tricks have helped me break in countless new acquisitions without all the unnecessary hurt and heartache! And remember none of us have perfect Barbie doll feet. Leather conforms to your body shape over time. You don’t ever need to conform (and contort) to it.
This is super helpful! I just got Gucci shoes that are a bit too small- going to use this advice !!