New Strands - awkward bulging

Hello everybody, I have learned a whole lot reading this forum and now I have a question of my own, so I finally decided to join.

After looking at shoes for a while, I fell in love with the Strand from AE, the bourbon color in particular. Being a student with a very limited budget, I decided to buy a pair of seconds from the shoe bank. Before ordering, I went to my local AE store and was sized to a 7.5 D. Confident I had my size correct, I ordered them. They arrived today and seemed great at first, but after just a little wearing around my house, the right shoe developed a little bulge on the outside, just a little forward of my ankle.







The left shoe (below) has a little wrinkling on the leather (I presume the it's the reason for them being seconds) in this same place, making it hard to compare the two shoes.



My ankles are narrower than the rest of my foot and I did have a little extra room there when I tried shoes on in the store, but this still seems weird. Can someone explain why I have this bulge there? If you have any suggestions on sizing, that would be great. I haven't worn these anywhere, so I can still send them back and get something else. Thanks!

Welcome to Styleforum PapaGrizz.
Congratulations, you answered your own question. The answer is indeed 'Factory Seconds'. No need to be alarmed. Enjoy your shoes.

They look like a nice fit. I do see the bulge but I don't think it's a problem. I'd happily wear them.

Thanks for the replies. My concern was that with time, they would tend to bow out more and the bulge would be exaggerated. You guys don't think this will happen?

It won't get any worse. Factory Seconds, no matter the manufacturer, will have issues of some kind, ranging from unnoticeable to noticeable. Even so, this should not affect the performance of the shoes. When one purchases seconds, one accepts possible issues while enjoying a signifigantly lower than retail price. What you are experiencing is not buyers remorse. It is your newly found appreciation for a well made and higher end item. You overcame your reservations about spending more than you would have on low end shoes and decided to move up, taking the halfway step into the factory seconds of a greater brand. I for one, congratulate you on your purchase. As long as they fit well, you'll be fine and 99% of people out there will never know they are seconds. In fact, you are quite likely to enjoy a lot of compliments. I encourage you to get out in the world and immediately begin to enjoy them. Look at it this way; most gents don't even know about seconds and scratch the hell out of their finer shoes at retail. You have already won.

I'm not sure what the cause of that is, and I've never had the problem on any of my shoes, but I know that other members have had the problem (on firsts and seconds). I'm not sure if it's a quality control issue or if it's something else. Either way, you bought seconds, so a "cosmetic defect" should be expected; that's why they're discounted.

If that's the only thing that bothers you, then I'd suggest letting it go.

With certain types of shoes this just happens. Usually it is just the way the shoe is made. Overtime, the bulge might leave creases but it most likely will not get any worse. I wouldn't worry about it too much. This issue isn't worth sending them back or trying to switch sizes. These shoes are awesome though! Love the detail, enjoy them!

Thank for the responses everyone. My lack of experience with nice shoes and my hesitance to spend so much more than normal led me to be a little over-concerned, I guess. I wore them out today and enjoyed them. I'm really excited to start wearing them with a new suit I have coming soon!

I was hoping for a different answer because I have the same bulge on my players shoe from Nordstrom. The guy at Nordstrom suggested I try an E width instead of D but they didn't have any in stock. Maybe we just have weird shaped feet, but I'll be going to a retail AE to get fitted if they can price match the Nordstrom anniversary sale prices. Will report back on the results in about a week or so, the problem is a bit annoying considering the price paid and variety of sizing options they offer if I still can't find a perfect fit at the AE retail store at SCP.



lexxdeleon said:

I was hoping for a different answer because I have the same bulge on my players shoe from Nordstrom. The guy at Nordstrom suggested I try an E width instead of D but they didn't have any in stock. Maybe we just have weird shaped feet, but I'll be going to a retail AE to get fitted if they can price match the Nordstrom anniversary sale prices. Will report back on the results in about a week or so, the problem is a bit annoying considering the price paid and variety of sizing options they offer if I still can't find a perfect fit at the AE retail store at SCP.

Click to expand...

Players shoes are no longer carried at ae stores



VinnyMac said:

I'm not sure what the cause of that is, and I've never had the problem on any of my shoes, but I know that other members have had the problem (on firsts and seconds). I'm not sure if it's a quality control issue or if it's something else.

Click to expand...

Based on my experiences, I'd say something else. I get this gap or "puckering" whenever the shoes are too narrow in the forefoot. Sometimes going to a wider shoe takes care of it and sometimes going up a half-size does the trick. Unfortunately, sometimes no combination works and you just have to chalk it up to the last being completely wrong for your foot. It's trial and error.

I recently bought a new pair of Canali shoes (first quality) and I had just a hint of this puckering. And, yes, they were very snug around the forefoot. Since the shoe didn't come in widths, I tried going up half a size. It didn't work because while the toe box felt better, the rest of the shoe felt sloppy. I decided to buy them anyway--the smaller sized pair,because I loved the overall look of them. Fortunately, after a couple of wears, the footbed molded (compressed down) which gave me just a smidge more volume in the forefoot. This seemed to do the trick because now the forefoot is very comfortable width-wise and the puckering is completely gone.