Differing heel and toe sizes?

[godofcoffee]

I recently stumbled upon these Alden shoes, selling on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ALDEN-Black-Leat...ht_3271wt_1139 The size is billed as C in the heel, and E in the rest of the shoe. I had no idea that shoemakers would do this for you, but that kind of fit would be ideal for me. On the other hand, I'm not too excited about the idea of used shoes. Is it generally possible to get Alden (or other) shoes with a smaller heel size, without going MTM? Or were these shoes a custom order?

 

[a tailor]

at one time many shoes were offered in what was called a "combination last". the area heel was 2 sizes smaller than the rest of the shoe. i always wore these lasts. but i have not found this type of last for years.

 

[tgt465]

The San Francisco Alden store site says:

All Alden shoes are made on combination lasts to provide a better heel fit.

http://www.aldenshoes.com/DrawOnePage.aspx?PageID=14

 

[alliswell]

Alden's messing with you. All their shoes are listed with heel width two down from the forefoot width (e.g., B/D, A/C) but they don't vary this when they're making the shoes, i.e., all their 'D's have 'B' heels. You cannot request a different size heel, so pay no attention to the heel size.