I ordered my usual size in a medium width. I fitted them on, loved the look, and my feet were instantly happy. Great. That meant I could move onto the next phase of road testing their comfort, which means wearing them at home for a while to get an even better measure of their comfort. Unfortunately, things began to go downhill because the vamps — right around the hardware detailing — were slightly too snug and rubbed the tops of my feet. Blast.
I didn’t want to do my wet feet trick because that would stretch the entire shoe. And since the rest of the shoe fit really well, I wasn’t going to risk the result. Then I remembered that our forum member Shannon stretches her shoes with potatoes. It’s as simple as placing a large potato in the opening of the shoe for a day or two, or even longer, to stretch the leather. Make sure they are pushed in hard and tight. And it worked. I debuted the shoes over the weekend and the roomier opening has stopped the rubbing. And the more I wear the shoes, the more comfortable they’ll become.
The potato stretching method probably works best with soft leather. I don’t see it working all that well with patent leather or pleather, but it might be worth a try anyway. Just another reason to love potatoes.
