All of my shoes decided to die simultaneously*, so over the past few weeks I have slowly been replacing them. I have been doing it very slowly, because the idea of spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars at once, even if it is very necessary, makes my stomach turn. My first purchase was a pair of work shoes, as my old shoes had passed the point of being acceptable months ago, and my second was a pair of hiking shoes.
I must have been tired when I bought the hiking shoes, because I clearly didn't spend enough time choosing them. I tried on 3 or 4 different pairs, settled on the pair that felt best, and then walked around the store for a few minutes. They felt generally okay, although not as comfortable as my seven-year-old pair, and I figured they would feel increasingly good the more I wore them.
No.
They got worse. The shoes were tight in the front and loose in the back, meaning that I had to choose between painfully compressing the front of my feet because I had tied them tightly or almost walking out of the shoes because I had tied them loosely. The more I wore them, the more I hated them.
The worst part was, in a fit of minimalism, I had thrown out the receipt and the insoles (I wear orthotics**), so I couldn't even take them back. Which left me with the choice of a) wearing the bloody things for years until they wore out or b) getting rid of them and spending another $200 on a new pair of shoes. For days I was tormented by the shoes, because I didn't want to continue being uncomfortable, but I also really really really hate wasting money.
Last night, I gave in and started looking on Mountain Equipment Co-op's website for other shoes. I was done with sore feet, and I was going to just suck it up and buy new shoes. But first, I decided to see what people who had bought my shoes had to say. And found this:
It has completely changed my feelings about the shoes. I decided to try tying one of my shoes this way to see if it would help, and by the time I had walked to my car I was practically crying because I no longer despised my $200 shoes. They fit! From top to bottom! And my heels don't slip anymore.
Moral of the story: The internet is amazing. And one should never throw out $200 pairs of shoes***.
Now to spend then $200 I saved on dinner****.
*This may have something to do with the fact that I hate spending money and shopping, so I put things off until the absolute last minute. Like the zero-tread-left, ice-water-leaking-in-through-holes last minute.
**I am a good, book-loving, nerdy queer woman. Who wears orthotics.
***I would not have thrown them out. I would have re-homed them.
****I will not spend $200 on dinner. I like eating out, but not that much.
This is one of my favourite shoe-fit tricks! In the video, the guy says you can't do this with eyelet laces, but a) you can and b) I do this every single day with my running shoes. You just lace the last two eyelets vertically and then slide the opposite lace between the two eyelets - this is a 'runner's loop'! I discovered this trick when I was doing a lot of long-distance running. I would have to buy my shoes a size larger than I actually wear because my feet would swell a lot over the course of 30-50 k and I needed more room. But my feet would slide a lot at the start of my run. The runner's loop keeps my heel from slipping but leaves lots of room in the toe-box. When I'm wearing Converse high-tops (which is what I usually wear when I'm not wearing running shoes or hiking shoes), I just tie the laces around my ankles, which I suppose is another way of getting around the same problem.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know about the eyelet laces. I'm going to be buying some new running shoes, so it may come in handy.
DeleteLet me know how it works out for you (important if you are to tell me how it goes and as-of-yet unmentioned point: this is SLuckettG)!
DeleteI've got a pair to try this on. Thanks! YouTube has taught me to repair my own appliances and has saved me hundreds of dollars.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what one can find on YouTube.
DeleteYou are not alone! I also have to do this (tho a nice shoe salesperson showed me this). Apparently, you can do all sorts of stuff with laces to make shoes fit better. And shoes are designed this way! Why don't they tell us this in stores? I blame it on the downgrading of jobs. Pretty sure people could support a family 50-60 years ago on a shoe salesperson income, and I'm not sure if that's true anymore. Imagine being an expert in shoe fitting, and if we could all go to such people to get the proper shoes.
ReplyDeleteI love youtube for teaching me similar important things. I was a runner (and will be again) and was having horrible trouble with my ankles not feeling supported. Learning a new way to lace my shoes made a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteYoutube also taught me how to tie a tie when I was a baby gay who should have been studying or sleeping.
Youtube is a miracle.
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