RL Reddings Nearly Killed Me

[heavyd]

I donned the Reddings with my navy flannel POLO II today thinking I was pretty cool. They slid on like butter and I walked out the door. 1/2 hour later I was in pain, tightness around the mid section of the boots. It was literally driving me crazy as i drove to work... my girlfriend couldnt understand why I kept figgeting but i was too proud to share (having just bought them and all).

I went home, changed into AE's and took the Reddings in for stretching... I honestly would not have 'lasted' the day in those... and would have been walking my office in socks.

Pretty boots though evil.

 

[william]

Maybe you got them a little too small? This hasn't been my experience at all. Well...not the tightness part at least. I did almost bust a** getting the mail in them...but that's on me b/c I forgot that I was wearing a new pair of leather-soled shoes.

Can you imagine what it must've been like when all shoes had leather soles and all streets were made of cobblestone?? Bloody frock coats everywhere!

 

[edmorel]

I'm not a fan of forcefully stretching shoes. If they are that tight, you should only wear them for an hour or so and then take them off. You should increase your wearing time as they get more comfortable and don't expect to wear them for a whole day until they are somewhat broken in.

 

[heavyd]

Originally Posted by edmorel

I'm not a fan of forcefully stretching shoes. If they are that tight, you should only wear them for an hour or so and then take them off. You should increase your wearing time as they get more comfortable and don't expect to wear them for a whole day until they are somewhat broken in.

In fact they are a little large to allrow for a stretch. I have a wide foot, and have experience with the C&J Chukka of similar construction. If I tried to stretch these naturally, I would miss the winter season before they were comfortable. These boots are so well constructed, I dont think I can do any real damage.. we'll see. Trashing fancy shoes is my MO unfortunately.

For traditional shoes, I agree with you entirely. I always break in AE's naturally for example.

 

[pkincy]

+1

I normally wear a new pair of shoes a couple of hours while watching TV or doing the fora. And I work that up over a 3 day to 7 day period before I wear them out. One reason is that if there is a possible return I want to make certain they are going to work before I mar the soles.

The longer period of break in are for my EGs which take a lot longer to break in as they are designed to be so tight to begin with.

While you are breaking them in you might spray them inside with stretching fluid (alcohol/water mix).

Perry

 

[grimslade]

Interesting. I find the Hollands tight through the instep/arch area, but roomier through the ball/toe area, while for me the Reddings (which I'm wearing today) are looser through the arch and tighter on the balls of my feet than the Hollands.

 

[jmonroestyle]

My approach to breaking in new footwear is somewhat different. I have neither the patience, nor the tolerance for pain to break my footwear in slowly. I own an arsenal of stretching equipment and have become quite accomplished at using it. People would wince if they saw how I beat up my very costly ankle boots and cowboy boots during the process of fine tuning the fit. However, when the stretchers come out the boots look fantastic, and feel as great as they look.

Learning how to stretch shoes is a very handy skill to have. It can save your feet a lot of pain, and allows the fine tuning of a footwear collection from the comfort of home. It will also allow one more options in selecting shoes, as there may be shoes that one tries on that are almost a great fit from the go, but have just 1 or 2 "touchy" areas". By knowing stretching techniques one will have a pretty good idea of whether the shoe will ultimately work or not.

There is always some gamble with this system. I must have a pretty good feeling that the boot will ultimately work out, as once I start really working on it I won't be returning it.