How to care for designer shoes

I love getting emails from readers who have recently invested in their first pair of designer shoes or are about to take the plunge.  I’m just as excited as they are!  Obviously you know that I’m all about investing in nice shoes, even if you don’t have a whole wardrobe of designer shoes, having just one or two to mix into your every day wardrobe is so worth it.  I get a lot of skeptical people too who wonder if I only buy designer shoes for the name or if they really are that much more comfortable.  I’m not going to tell you that it’s like your walking on fluffy clouds of comfort, I mean most my heels are 4 inches or higher, of course it’s going to hurt BUT the difference between 4 inch inexpensive heels and 4 inch expensive heels is huge.  I don’t even know how to explain it but it’s one of those things that after you’ve worn designer heels for awhile you can really feel the difference, especially with the fit of the shoe.  I find that my designer heels mold to my feet whereas cheap heels make your feet mold to the shoe.  (Which pretty much can’t happen and that is what creates the blisters and the rubbing on cheap heels.)  Also, the inside of cheap shoes are mostly made of man made materials so the material will always be a bit stiffer and more uncomfortable to wear.  I’m not saying that all non-designer shoes are uncomfortable and all designer shoes are comfortable.  There’s no way to classify them as that, it’s just that there IS a difference between the quality and the comfort.  I have some Louboutins that hurt like hell but that’s mainly due to the angle of the arch, not the shoe itself.  And I’ve worn cheap shoes that hurt like hell because I was basically walking on plastic that rubbed against my heel and created a nasty blister.  And I mean really, maybe my feet are just a bit pickier and they can feel the difference whereas some people can’t.  I don’t have a definitive answer, I just know that there is a difference to me and that’s why I invest in nice shoes.  Investing in nice shoes also means taking care of them since out of everything we own, shoes get beat up the most and when you’re spending that much money on shoes, you want to make sure that they last!  I’ve literally worn some heels down so that the heel tap has disintegrated and I was walking on the nail in the heel so I know about wearing down your shoes.  Ever since I discovered ways to take care of my shoes, I’ve never had that problem again.

I put together a video showing you the ways that I take care of my heels and how I make them last a bit longer.  One tip that I didn’t mention in the video is to try not to wear your shoes back to back days.  With leather shoes, they need the time to breathe and mold back to their regular shape.  If you wear them too often and for too long, they can get misshapen and end up getting stretched out.

Just wanted to show you my shoes that have been resoled next to the ones that haven’t.  As you can see, you can get the red zip soles that match perfectly to the Louboutin red if you are concerned about the color match.

 

And here I’ve added a pair that just has the regular black zip sole on it.  It’s all the same, just different colors.  I’ve never seen anything other than the black or the red so not sure if they could’ve done something to match the color of the Gucci soles.  I don’t mind though, it’s just the bottom of your shoe, not many people will see it!

 

I hope that helps and if any of you have tips about taking care of your shoes, please do share!