Alden pain help.

[mizanation]

i bought my second pair of alden shell cordovans. this time, however, i got one half size up since my first pair is a little bit snug.

my left shoe feels great. however, i have a pain in my right achilles heel. everytime i step, it feels like something is digging into my achilles. the shoe has no bumps and the back heel is smooth. does anyone have any suggestions? would shoe inserts help?

last time, i had this problem, it was because my shoes were a little too big. when i put in heel inserts, the problem went away. however, in this case, my shoes are boots, so i'm not sure this will help.

thanks,

miz

 

[dave023]

Hey man,

I'm sorry but can't help you about your problem, but, could you tell me if it's possible to buy some Indy boots in Europe or are they exclusively sold in the States...

The reason why I ask you is because your pics made me love'em!!

Thank you very much.

 

[mizanation]

hey dave, good to see you on the "other" SF.

i am not sure if the indy's are sold in europe. but, if you want, i could gladly ship you a pair for you. just send me a pm.

 

[dave023]

That's very kind of you...only issue...I'm really not sure about the size...

My red wing size is 10.5D and I read I should size down( in your post Btw), so still hesitating...

How much do they cost ??

It's good to know you would help.

 

[mizanation]

hey, dave, i think they are on sale right now at the alden store. i will check and get back to you....

 

[dave023]

thank you

 

[jmonroestyle]

Originally Posted by mizanation

i bought my second pair of alden shell cordovans. this time, however, i got one half size up since my first pair is a little bit snug.

my left shoe feels great. however, i have a pain in my right achilles heel. everytime i step, it feels like something is digging into my achilles. the shoe has no bumps and the back heel is smooth. does anyone have any suggestions? would shoe inserts help?

last time, i had this problem, it was because my shoes were a little too big. when i put in heel inserts, the problem went away. however, in this case, my shoes are boots, so i'm not sure this will help.

thanks,

miz

I have never owned any cordovan boots so I don't know if my approach to breaking in new footwear will help you or just ruin your boots.

This is what I do with my new calf ankle boots.

1. I make sure that I am satisfied that I bought the correct size. I decide if the fit can be made to work with a little "tweaking" or if the fit will never work no matter what I do. I know once I start "working" on my boots they can no longer be returned.

2. I try different thickness socks with the boots (I have 5 different thickness socks to choose from). Generally the thicker the sock the better, as it will provide more cushioning around the ankle bones and achilles area than thinner socks.

3. The leather in the area around the ankles on almost all of my ankle boots (except for my deer or kangaroo boots) is always initially too stiff for me to wear the boots comfortably. I know most people want to see as few wrinkles in their footwear as possible. With ankle boots I beat up the ankle area and tongue by folding the leather back and forth numerous times with my fingers. I crumple the leather in my hands (like one would crumple a piece of paper). I also spray the interior of the ankle area with shoe stretch fluid and beat up the leather from the inside with the end of a handle of a wooden handled hammer (I admit this does take some courage to do all this, especially on ankle boots like my J.M. Westons).

4. I start wearing and enjoying my new boots.

I know the common wisdom is to wear new shoes for short periods in the begining to"break them in". I also know pain around one's ankles or achilles tendon can be quite severe. If I didn't go through my above process, I just couldn't keep most of my boots on my feet long enough to ever break them in just by wearing them.

With a good quality calf skin, when my process is completed, one can hardly see the wrinkles that I artificially created. However, the leather is now much softer than when I started, and the boots are now wearable.

Perhaps others can comment how cordovan responds to lots of bending and folding. I would imagine this process done on less expensive corrected grain leathers would leave the boots looking very wrinkled.

I am wearing my J.M. Weston ankle boots now as I write this. They are now much softer around the ankles than when I first bought them. However, they still look almost the same as when they first came out of the box.

If the boots are high lace up boots, I leave the last two or three holes or hooks unlaced as this eases pressure on the ankle bones and achilles tendon.

Good luck with your new boots.
Hopefully you can make them work.

 

[mizanation]

jmonroestyle,

thank you for your help. i think i will do at least a few of the things you suggested.

cordovan can be very unforgiving, so i hope your methods will work.

btw, i found out that they actually sold me an 8.5 when they told me it was a size 9. they are the exact same size as my well-fitting pair, but just one size wider (i had my first pair stretched width-wise). so, these should fit perfectly.