Patent Leather shoes – do they break in?

Thistle

The Ecco shoes in my WiW post are new and I ended up not wearing them today. They were just stiff and not very comfortable.

My Ecco booties are amazing but they are smooth leather. Is it the patent leather that makes them stiff? Does patent leather break in like regular leather or will it stay stiff and uncomfortable? I liked the dressy patent leather, but I won’t wear uncomfortable shoes.

12 years ago

Dressing

10 replies

Latest reply was from

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

In my experience, patent does break in a bit but it doesn't stretch like non patent leather.

12 years ago

moira

Veteran

If it is true patent leather it should break in a little.

12 years ago

Sarah A

Veteran

I typically find ECCOs to be great shoes. Hopefully it is a real leather and not a vegan leather then it will break in. The man made products dont seem to stretch or form well in my experience.

12 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

What Shannon, said.

12 years ago

Thistle

Veteran

Yes, they are real leather, not vegan, so maybe it just needs time.

12 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Hmm. You know, I've never found it possible to actually break in any kind of shoe. They're either comfortable from the start for me or not. But a shoe person told me once that patent definitely can't be stretched as much.

12 years ago

Claudia

Veteran

Thistle here are my thoughts on patent leather. If these shoes are at all uncomfortable right off the bat, either try the size up or walk away from them altogether.

I love bright, shiny patent leather shoes, and because I love it so much and have wanted my purchases to work so badly, I've been burnt by keeping patent shoes that were slightly uncomfortable, hoping that they'd stretch/break in.

Patent leather will stretch/break in, but only a little and with a lot of wear. The issue is that when the shoes are uncomfortable and stiff enough that they bother you, you will not want or be able to wear them enough to accomplish the stretching, however slight. So it's a catch 22 situation.

12 years ago

Jjsloane

Veteran

What Claudia said. I love patent, but they have to be 100% comfortable to start, there's never enough stretch. I've abandoned my hope for pointy patent pumps, the same styles in non patent are comfier to start and I know they have a possibility for some stretch.

12 years ago

Thistle

Veteran

Thanks for the tips. I think I will return them and see if I can find something that fits better!

12 years ago

Anonymous

In my experience, no. Patent is very resilient.

12 years ago

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