You often talk about the possibilities of getting a better fit with bespoke shoes, versus RTW shoes made on generic lasts. Another interesting part is the great possibilities of adjusting the fit of a bespoke shoe later on, since they basically always have both toe and heel stiffeners in real leather, and then the personal lasts that can easily be modified. The shoes above are my first bespoke pair from Gaziano & Girling, which I just got back after having this done.
The shoes did fit quite good, but were slightly snug at the pinky toes, and after I had another pair that were a bit tight here I had a small corn developed on the left pinky, so I got a little careful about using these. This fit part is corrected for my lasts at Gaziano & Girling, as well as some other things that we’ve improved, and what I then chose to do was send the shoes back to G&G where they soak the shoes, insert my modified lasts and make sure they get this fit. Since the toe and heel stiggeners are in leather, the material still lives and can be transformed quite a lot if needed. It does not work in the same way for shoes that have stiffeners in leather board or celastic/plastic. Now these rubber soled beauties fit as nice as my latest bespoke pair from the brand, my chukkas.
This is really interesting to know about leather stiffeners having the ability to transform.
Most of my earlier shoe purchases are too big by 0.5 size due to my lack of sizing knowledge, and I had been recommended to soak my shoes in water with a smaller/properly sized shoe tree and then allow it to dry using a heat gun/dryer, to make it shrink or conform to the smaller shoe tree.
However, I have been hesitant to try this out due to water potentially damaging the insole, and the glue for the linen holdfast that I’ve read that goodyearwelt requires.
J: Yeah, in most cases this is not to recommend. Mainly because if the shoes have plastic or leather board heel stiffeners these won’t follow, and there is a risk of damaging the shoes in various ways. Have you tried inserting a thin insole? Sounds like it could solve a lot.
Thanks for the reply Jesper. Yes, I’ve read all of your articles on the various ways to adjust the fit. I’ve experimented with a variety of tongue pads, thin and thicker inserts, and even double socks. Usually, one of these or a combination helps to resolve the issue to a decent (not perfect) fit. However, there are some shoes that are too long (elongated toe box) resulting in a misalignment of the ball of foot and flexpoint which is more problematic than a minor heel slip/room in the vamp. For this issue, I was considering the water shrinking method since there doesn’t seem to be a good way to push my feet forward (opposite effect of tongue pads) in the shoe.
J: I see. In that case, I would just sell those shoes and buy new that fit better for the money you’ll get. More safe way to make your feet happy.