Advice for Breaking in Shoes?

Hello Haberdashery.

I recently purchased this pair of Cole Haan shoes. Much to my chagrin I found, upon first wearing them, that they killed my ankles. I had some punishing blisters the day after I took these new shoes out for a walk.

I've since housed the shoes back in their box for fear of yet more blistering punishment.

Which brings me to my question:

Do you have any suggestions for me as to ways I might go about 'breaking in' these shoes? Preferably ways which will not involve more blisters? I'm thinking about putting some duct tape on my heels.

Or will I have to continue to suffer the pain until my shoes 'wear in'?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

(Also, I realize that a good many shoes do not require much 'breaking in'. None of my other leather shoes caused me as much pain as these new ones. But I'm rather fond of these new ones, so I'm willing to try to make them work, rather than return them or keep them boxed up).

If they are sized correctly, I would suggest simply wearing them for short periods of time around home to see how things go. In a previous life, I wore a lot of heavy English shoes and they always required a break-in. Wearing them for a full day first off was asking for trouble.

Wear is your friend.

Those shoes look like a poor fit. They should lace up tighter than that. Which might be the leading cause for your discomfort. Did you try and buy? Or were these purchase blindly online?

It does not look like that particular last works for you.

Or the sizing could be wrong.

They don't look like they fit. Advice that's way too late: purchase shoes from a reputable seller that will let you wear them at home for a week (on the carpet) and return them if they don't fit. Next time.

This time: I would try thinner socks. If the blister on the heel is from a sloppy fit (as I suspect) the thinner socks could make it worse. If so I'd get a pad and glue it under the tongue to essentially shorten the shoe. Then break them in a couple of hours at a time. Worst case you save them for half day occasions where you are not on your feet a lot - weddings, dinners, church.

Honestly, I think you're going to have trouble making these work. I've never seen a fit with the vamp that open, and I suspect that is the reason for the ankle pain. If you can't return them you might try bandaids/tape under your socks on the trouble areas, but you've got to ask yourself if life isn't too long to put up with shoes that don't fit.

djh said:

If they are sized correctly, I would suggest simply wearing them for short periods of time around home to see how things go. In a previous life, I wore a lot of heavy English shoes and they always required a break-in. Wearing them for a full day first off was asking for trouble.

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ditto

I took the above photos wearing very thick socks because I was hoping to stretch the shoes a bit.


I am attaching photos here of the shoes worn in thin socks. Any comments on how the fit looks would be appreciated. I'm now fairly certain that I've purchased poorly fitting shoes and that I'll need to try to sell them now.

dwsteen said:

Those shoes look like a poor fit. They should lace up tighter than that. Which might be the leading cause for your discomfort. Did you try and buy? Or were these purchase blindly online?

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I actually bought these in person at a store. I must have been in a weird head space because it seems that I was only paying attention to the how the length of the shoes felt and not the width. It seems to me entirely correct that the shoes should lace up tighter, as do my other shoes. Perhaps I thought this was simply a different style.

musicman1951 said:

They don't look like they fit. Advice that's way too late: purchase shoes from a reputable seller that will let you wear them at home for a week (on the carpet) and return them if they don't fit. Next time.

This time: I would try thinner socks. If the blister on the heel is from a sloppy fit (as I suspect) the thinner socks could make it worse. If so I'd get a pad and glue it under the tongue to essentially shorten the shoe. Then break them in a couple of hours at a time. Worst case you save them for half day occasions where you are not on your feet a lot - weddings, dinners, church.

Honestly, I think you're going to have trouble making these work. I've never seen a fit with the vamp that open, and I suspect that is the reason for the ankle pain. If you can't return them you might try bandaids/tape under your socks on the trouble areas, but you've got to ask yourself if life isn't too long to put up with shoes that don't fit.

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I think you might be right. What a bummer.


Looks like it's too late to return the shoes. I'll have to try and sell them. Argh.

djh said:

If they are sized correctly, I would suggest simply wearing them for short periods of time around home to see how things go. In a previous life, I wore a lot of heavy English shoes and they always required a break-in. Wearing them for a full day first off was asking for trouble.

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Thanks for the suggestions djh. I think I bought these shoes thinking that they fit well when in fact, perhaps, they don't.


I think I might have rushed into purchasing these without duly paying attention to the fit.

A darn good looking shoe though.

One strange thing is that these shoes are actually a size smaller than I would normally wear, but the length feels fine. It's just the width that's a problem.

Anyone have luck selling shoes online?

They look small to me, too. Like others said, I don't think the lace area should be so far apart (sorry, not up on shoe terminology). Eyelets seem too far apart.

August West said:

A darn good looking shoe though.

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I agree. Maybe that's why I rushed into buying them. Sigh.

oc_in_fw said:

They look small to me, too. Like others said, I don't think the lace area should be so far apart (sorry, not up on shoe terminology). Eyelets seem too far apart.

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Yup. I'm pretty well resolved to the fact that I have dropped a bunch of money on shoes that don't quite fit my feet.

Or not.

I'm looking for second opinions on this one if anyone has some experience here.

The thing about these shoes is: They just don't lace up as tightly as do some other brogues. I think it might be a style thing.

Have a look at them when they are not being worn. This is about as tight as they naturally lace up when not on a foot. I could cinch them up a bit tighter, but this to me seems like wear things should naturally rest.



It appears to me that this is not the style of brogue in which the portion of the leather that the laces cinch up, cinches up flush.

I laced them up in a different style and tried them on again with a different pair of eyes. I actually think that they fit as intended and will eventually cinch up a bit tighter with some wear. I could be wrong. Happens often enough.


Anyone else have a pair of this Cole Haan Lenox Caps or shoes that fit similarly?

Thanks again for the words and suggestions all!

A different style of Cole Haan for reference:



The style of both I think are intended to fit in this casual manner.

Did you buy them early in the day, when your feet are at their smallest? Did the assistant tell you they were a good fit?. If I were in your shoes and I'd been ill advised, I'd be tempted to buy a new better fitting pair, do the old 'switcheroo' and take the old ones back in the new box.

rebos said:

Or not.

I'm looking for second opinions on this one if anyone has some experience here.

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I think you may be right.

The traditional "english" approach is to have the shoes lace together so the two pieces of leather "kiss" together when the laces draw them together:



Not that every American shoemaker does this, but often US shoes are meant for the two pieces of leather to be "apart" when the laces are tight (as seen in your photos).

Here's a pair of Cole Haan shoes ...



Now, looking at your photos, I think you probably needed a slightly larger/wider shoe so the laces could come together a bit more for an ideal fit, but ... the proof is in the pudding, and in the wearing of the shoes. IF they fit otherwise, and comfortably (once broken in to stop blistering your ankle) then you have a pair of shoes that fit you. If not, then not.

If you're going to sell them, you may want to insert some shoe trees to minimize the creasing. I don't buy Cole Haan shoes since their quality dropped significantly when Nike bought them. Even worse now that Apax owns them.

"If" you wish to keep them, I recommend saddle soap. Think of breaking in a ball glove; (I do this for new boots).

If you have the capabilities of returning the shoe back to its original luster....

Rub saddle soap inside of every square inch of the shoe. Let stand over night. Wipe out as much of the saddle soap as you can. Wear shoe for 3-4 hours to allow the soap to do its magic. Clean shoe, polish appropriately. Problem solved.

This will allow for the "2 year creases" to form instantly. Drawback is that it will make your new shoes look several months old but they will be super soft and comfy.

Modern shoes shouldn't need to much wearing in at all. At most a day or two around the house with thick socks on. If that doesn't fix them then you need look at the sizing of the shoes.