Shoes, glorious shoes...
When I was a young girl I liked nothing more than to sneak into my parents bedroom and tip toe into my mother's wardrobe and take out her carefully boxed up heels, gently unwrap them from the surrounding tissue and then I would place them on my feet and lurch around the room with all the delicacy of a small elephant. I fear I may have ruined a good stiletto upon many occasion, but my mother never said a word.
As old age has caught up with me my love of my mother's shoes remains and now I have an entire wardrobe of my own. I collect shoes in the same way a philatelist obsesses over the latest postal trends, I court them, stopping to stare at them in store windows, trying them on for size, taking them home with me and then later taking them out on a first date.
If all goes well we form a long lasting relationship and my new shoes and I enjoy many adventures together, but on occasion I meet a bad pair, ones that capture my eye but abuse my feet.
In the past it has sometimes not worked out and I am left with a gorgeous looking set of heels that are destined to a life in the 'back of the wardrobe' or if they have left tears and blisters on my toes then they may face the fate of Ebay.
No new shoe wants to go to Ebay....
Take these precious darlings that I bought to sparkle up some plain black trousers... (made by Marco Tozzi)
They look like kind shoes, they look like they want to adore my feet?
*shakes head*
These shoes began their life with me with evil intent. They caused havoc on my heels, left blisters on my baby toes and made me want to weep with pain when we first met.
But I tamed them, like a circus star quiets the lion, I tamed these darling shoes and made them respect my feet.
How?
Step 1: I have a spray bottle which I keep topped up with rubbing alcohol for this very occasion. When the shoes were firmly off my feet I sprayed them with the contents and then popped on a pair of old socks and took the shoes for a walk whilst the alcohol was drying. This taught them who was boss....
Step 2: I left them overnight with newspaper soaked in boiled water inside the toe, turning my stiff new feet huggers into soft little angels. Then I was their ruler....
Step 3: I added insoles to make extra sure that these shoes would stay on my feet and not on Ebay!
Then we became best friends!
If these three steps don't work for you it may be that you have committed one of two sins, buying too small or buying too cheap.
I can't offer a solution for these problems, it is time to get out the credit card again, but look on the bright side, at least you get to go shoe shopping some more!