New shoes, ridiculously uncomfortable. Sell or keep?

[liveforchocolate]

I bought some new shoes for a party a few weeks ago. I absolutely LOVE them. I still love them, and they look fabulous. I thought they would finally be the holy grail of comfortable heels as they have a platform and block heels. After wearing them for about 2 hours I could actually barely walk. I'm not even quite sure which part was the most uncomfortable. I think the part around the toes as they are patent and quite stiff. I don't think I will ever wear them again.

I don't know whether to keep them for 'shoes to restaurant' occasions just in case, as I do love them, or to sell on Vinted.

Has anyone ever sold shoes on Vinted? I've sold lots of clothes but am worried about selling shoes. Also, I presume I'll only get back a very small fraction of what I paid so is it actually worth it?

I'm so sad as they are so lovely, but it would be even worse if they just gather dust.

Are they actual leather? If so, I'd keep them and wear them round the house to see if they give and soften up a bit.

A proper cobbler should be able to soften the leather or amend the toe shaping a little. Might cost a bit, but surely worth trying before you give up on them?

I've taken uncomfortable shoes back to the retailer before, M&S and Next have both refunded me even though I'd actually worn the shoes.

I've bought on Vinted, paid about £8 per pair for BNWOT or very lightly used.

@BlossomBlossomBlossom that's a great idea - thank you!

They weren't cheap, so I would need to sell them for quite a lot on Vinted in order to make it worth selling, rather than keeping, otherwise they may as well gather dust.

It is so upsetting.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads they are leather, so I can try wearing them at home with thick socks too, thank you.

Am so sad as they are so lovely...

27 year old me would say keep them, break them in, suffer for style.

57 year old me (i.e. now) would never wear them again! I have zero tolerance nowadays for uncomfortable shoes, underwear, or clothes.

Total sympathy! It’s happened to me far too many times … Though not recently, thankfully.

I really want to see them!

Haha, @CointreauVersial I think this is the problem in my head and my younger self is currently winning 😂

The straps are diamanté, and they come with a second set of plain straps too.

They look gorgeous, and also as if they'd be quite comfortable so I feel you. Could you try and ascertain what bit exactly is bothering you? Like, would an elastoplast help until you broke them in?

Thank you @girljulian I need to work out how to draw on the photo and upload it again. It is hard to describe but it wasn't the pinchy bit I often get with heels, or having the toes at an angle... was more to do with the thickness and 'hardness' of the sole. a plaster could help in one part tho I think, and maybe I should use that while I break them in?

Gel pads under the ball of your feet and slightly stretching the toe box?

@fernsandlilies aha, the toe box - is that what that part is called? Yes, that needs stretching a bit I think. I did put in soft insoles but they didn't help. I'll try some gel pads, thank you.

Yes that bit where your toes sit looks weird. Like maybe a gel insole would fix it, the kind that just goes under ball of foot

Some kind of insole perhaps?

A podiatrist once advised using a broom handle and a bit of force to stretch bits of leather shoes that are rubbing - obviously not the heel bit - by pushing from the inside. I use a wooden hairbrush handle. It beats stretching them out with your own feet.

I hate to say it OP but I’m not sure you’ll be able to break them in. With that style of shoe, the platform makes the sole rigid, therefore the shape / contour of the sole has to be just right to mean that the shoe ‘rolls’ as you take a step.

If you’ve ever see a pair of wooden geisha shoes or traditional clogs with thick solid wooden soles, you’ll notice they have a defined curve from the ball of the foot to the toe of the shoe. If that doesn’t exist, the rigidity of the sole prevents you from walking normally; because we walk without thinking too much about it, we end up fighting the shoes. This can make the upper of the shoe (the leather) pull in weird ways, pinching, feeling stiff etc. and can make feet try to compensate causing discomfort such as blisters and rubbing, but also muscular pain from moving differently. This issue can be even more pronounced with shoes that have a separate heel and toe part to the upper, or those with lots of seams, as the edges / seams are the least flexible part.

From that picture (caveat: it’s harder to tell from a picture than looking at them IRL!) the shape of the sole on these looks very flat, so when you’re stood the sole could be pulling on the toe part of the leather, and when you walk the lack of ‘roll’ is likely to cause the toe part to tighten against your foot as you move. Whilst the leather might give (though patent is notorious for not doing, due to the way it is treated and coated to give the shiny finish) the sole profile won’t change and the shoes will ‘behave’ in the same way, so you might not see much difference.

An easy way to tell if this is the problem is to stand them up on a flat surface and push down on the toe end. The shoe should roll forward, the heel lifting off the floor - from memory you need the sole to reach an angle of about 15 degrees with the flat surface (floor) to be able to walk in them comfortably (ish). The less lift, the more likely this is the issue.

IMHO you have two options:

1. Cobbler - I’d ask if there’s anything they can do to change the profile of the sole; I’d say they need more upward curve from around the ball of the foot to the toe to compensate for the rigidity. Whether this is possible will depend on the construction of the shoe as the grip sole (black bit) will need to be removed, the patent peeled back, sole reshaped then everything putting back together - if the inner material isn’t solid enough, it won’t work but they might not be able to tell without removing the grip sole. You could also ask them to hammer the edges of the toe piece to soften the seams and increase the flex where it touches your foot, though this risks damaging the patent no matter how careful they are! Warning; not all cobblers may be happy to do this sort of work, it depends on their skills and also what equipment they have access to.
2. Return them - I’d argue that these shoes aren’t fit for purpose as their sole profile prevents them from functioning, ie. Prevents you from walking in them! If the test I described above shows little or no heel lift when the shoe is on a flat surface, you can always show them that to demonstrate your point! If the shop don’t allow you to return them on that basis, an email to head office / customer service may be in order….

Good luck OP!

p.s. Yes, I know I’m a massive shoe / biomechanics geek…it comes in useful (very) occasionally 😂

@YorkshireWelsh bloody impressive! I am always in awe of anyone with such in depth knowledge of the day to day

I am unbelievably impressed by your knowledge!! I think you have correctly diagnosed the issue, although I have to go and try out the little test to confirm. Sadly, the store I bought them is over an hour away, and it is a French brand, so I don't think they will have a head office here, but I will definitely see which way I might be able to pursue this.

This has reminded me of the time I took a pair of gloves back to M&S many years ago because I wore them and I didn't find them warm, so I returned them, successfully, on the basis of not fit for intended purpose.

I don't think customer service these days is what it was and I don't know what kind of reaction I would get, but I guess I could try phoning them in the first instance.

Thank you for such a full and detailed reply. From this day forward you will be my first port of call with shoe issues! Maybe you should start an AMA thread! There are always so many questions, eg how to tell in the shop how comfortable a shoe will be, and which trainers are really most comfortable etc etc :)))

@YorkshireWelsh I ran upstairs to test out the 'push'... photos to report that they do in fact move. Not a lot... see below. Is this a test I should perform when buying heels in general?

(one picture is flat and still, the other is me pushing down on the front). This is fascinating!

@liveforchocolate - I had a pair of shoes very very similar to yours many years ago. Also very much loved them ( they were a deep purple with diamanté - nicer than it sounds - designer and I spent a lot of money as I loved them so much!).

Anyway despite trying many things I could never get them to be comfortable! Having read the very helpful
post I suspect that was the problem - but also it was as if the shoe was too heavy almost? So the toe box always dug in after a while. My feet always also hurt as the shoe then didn’t follow my arch.

So my sad advice would be probably to sell! Nothing worse than shoes you can’t walk in!

I also find patent leather never seems to soften at the edges in the same way non patent does

It’s a great test for any shoe with a rigid sole, so heels with any kind of platform, or any shoe with a thick / platform sole, or anything that’s reinforced (protective footwear etc). If the shoe is rigid, it has to have the ability to roll, or it won’t be comfortable.
If you’re not sure how rigid it is, you can test it by grasping the back of the shoe with one hand, around the toe with the other, and twisting in opposite directions. Obviously the more difficult that is to do, the stiffer the sole. Slightly different with shoes like these as the part of the sole under the middle of the foot is thinner, so may allow some twist - here it’s the thickness and rigidity of the section under the ball of the foot that’s key.

Good luck with the return, I really hope they’re sensible and refund you - it drives me mad when things aren’t fit for purpose!

As for AMA, it would never have occurred to me, it’s a bit of a niche subject 😂

They do sound like they had similar characteristics to OPs shoes 😂 the feeling of heaviness / weight can be worsened by the stiffness too. I suspect the pain you had was due to your foot trying to compensate for the stiff shoe during walking; put simply the stiffness can cause tension in the soft tissues in the bottom of the foot (arches can be quite happy without something directly touching / supporting them, but they don’t typically like prolonged tension).

I hope you’ve found some equally beautiful but more comfortable replacements!