Carmina shoes tight in the sides

[apple3210]

Hey guys,

just got a pair of carmina shoes in the rain last and in need of opinions. Length-wise they are fine. In terms of toe width, only the pinky toe has slight discomfort but not painful. i can move my toes up and down within the shoe. it is only the sides that feel tight.

will this get better with wear? should i get them stretched by a cobbler or use the stretching sprays?

If not does anyone know what the return/exchange policy is on carmina's at their retail store. i really hope i did'nt just blow money down the drain. in all honesty they felt ok whilst trying them on minus some slight tightness in the sides and i thought general leather stretch would solve it, but now they feel tighter than they did in store and i'm unsure if the small stretch in leather can solve it

unfortunately i'm no longer in the country i bought them from, but it hasn't been long since i got them (1 week).

 

[Gdot]

If they are made of calf (not cordovan) they will likely loosen up a bit. I personally don't mind a little snug in the toe when a shoe is brand new. Better that than too loose.

The trick here is to 'define' tight.

If you have not worn them out of the house the soles should still be unmarked. I would wear them inside only (mostly sitting around) for a few hours to see how they do. Once you put wear on the soles they will have lost some value on the resale market.

 

[apple3210]

Thanks for the reply. To clarify, I'd say they are quite snug to very snug, but definitely not painful when putting them on. They also havent been broken in so i might just wear them around the house first and see how loose they get.

In saying that, after breaking in, has anyone had much luck with stretch sprays or getting the cobbler to stretch the width. I can imagine the toe box gettinf better but the main snug/tight area is the sides of my foot (ocurring around the middle of the foot)

 

[teddieriley]

Did you size down from a US size or 1/2 size? I did the full size down based on various recommendations, and while they fit snugly in the store, when I got home, I realized that a 1/2 difference was the way to go.

 

[Snedley]

Did you size down from a US size or 1/2 size? I did the full size down based on various recommendations, and while they fit snugly in the store, when I got home, I realized that a 1/2 difference was the way to go.

It's always a 1/2 size difference between US and British shoes so I would ignore anything you read or even what the store selling the shoe tells you. If you wear a 10.5 US then get the size 10 British. And a British F width is a US D.

 

[EBugatti]

^^Sorry, but that is simply false. I am a 9.5D US, and very often take an 8.5F UK. It really depends on the last. A blanket statement like that is very misleading and is just not the case across the board.

 

[teddieriley]



It's always a 1/2  size difference between US and British shoes so I would ignore anything you read or even what the store selling the shoe tells you. If you wear a 10.5  US  then get the size 10 British. And a British F width is a US  D. 

Wouldn't agree. I don't even know if Carmina officially uses UK sizing. I went with the rec because in almost all UK-sized shoes (e.g, Lobbs, C&Js, Barker Blacks, Santoni's and G&Gs, except the EG 888 last), I'm a full size down. Apparently, not the case here.

 

[Snedley]

Wouldn't agree. I don't even know if Carmina officially uses UK sizing. I went with the rec because in almost all UK-sized shoes (e.g, Lobbs, C&Js, Barker Blacks, Santoni's and G&Gs, except the EG 888 last), I'm a full size down. Apparently, not the case here.

First of all, do you even know your correct size because it has been my experience that most people on here don't know their true size which is why you're always hearing complaint about fit.. What is your actual Brannock length, arch length and width.Then there are people with wide feet (very common amongst Gen X and Y's due to childhood fatness which widers the growing bones) Many British shoes are made only in an F (a US D) so these people need to size up since they can't usually get the right fitting unless the shoes come in a G. I can see why you believe it's one full size because C&J make their shoes in an English E (a US C) and if you have a wide foot you'd need 1 size larger.But after 40 years of buying all sorts of shoes I know how each brand fits and all size charts will also give the 1/2 size difference. The reason that yoursmall toe is hitting the side of the shoe has to do with length not width. People constantly misjudge how much extra length they need and the more tapered the shoe the more length you need because the real size is determined by the arch length. At the very least you need a thumb's width of space in the front of a round shoe and more if the shoe is more tapered.If they feel loose then go down in width. The problem is that a lot of shoes even expensive ones don't come in enough widths esp. British shoes.If you buy Churches then buy them in the US because they make more widths for the American market than they do in England which is usually only an F and sometimes a G. I wear an English D (a US B) and few shoes are made in this width in England amongst the top makers C&J makes perhaps 1 or 2 models.

 

[unbelragazzo]

Personally, I've found there's a lot of variance in shoe sizing. I have some US 11.5s that fit me well, some US 12s that fit me well. I have UK10s that fit me well and even UK11s that fit me well.