# Shoe break hurting toes.



## jblaze (Oct 6, 2009)

Hello,

I just purchased my first pair of "good" shoes, the AE Delray. They fit well, except for the left shoe. It seems like the break creats a crease that ends up folding down into my left big toe. It doesn't leave a bruise, but is really uncomfortable.

Since I walk to work (~1.5 miles round trip), I decided to take the shoe into the local cobbler. He is going to stretch the left shoe (for $5) and says that this will fix the problem.

Does this make sense? Has anyone had experience with this issue? I hope I didn't just disfigure my only pair of nice shoes. 

Any experiences/ opinions are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


----------



## Hanzo (Sep 9, 2009)

New shoes will do that sometimes. Wearing them breaks them in and that will stop over time. I can't think of how stretching them would fix the problem and I think it might possibly cause more. My advice, wear more comfortable shoes for your long walks until you break your AEs in.


----------



## ToryBoy (Oct 13, 2008)

*I have only had this problem with C&J, although with the ankle area*

*Wear them around the house for 3-4 hours and then use a shoe-tree for about 24 hours - problem solved :icon_smile: *

The first time I did this with C&J shoes, I wore them outside for 30 mins and they hurt a lot. Decided they hurt too much to wear outside, so wore them at home and then used a shoe tree.

With my second C&J pair, I used the method in bold and never had a problem.


----------



## Sarge6 (Mar 29, 2009)

Over time and with steady wearing shoes develop more than one break and the broken area gets more and more supple. Use shoe trees to keep the break from molding deep into the form of the shoe.

My AE Park Avenues of all models felt fine for the first month or so. Then as the toe break got really pronounced it crimped down on my left big toe as sharply painful as a pair of needlenose pliers, and by the end of the 4 block walk between my house and the bus I would limp. I came thisclose to throwing them out. Then after maybe a month or two of that they never crimped like that again.


----------



## theCardiffGiant (Sep 16, 2007)

Are you sure about your shoe size? The kind of extreme break you're describing sounds like what happens when a shoe is too long for your foot.

I went from wearing shoes as large as 10M (D) as a teenager, to 8.5W (E) as a 20-something, so finally discovering in my 30s that I should wear an 8 EEE. Salesmen were never any help, offering either "a size up" or to stretch the shoes with a "special machine in the back."

I now have three pair of Allen Edmonds in the right size and none breaks or causes discomfort. One pair was a bit tight at first, but I wore it around the house nights and weekends, and it now fits like a glove.


----------



## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

+1 for too long a shoe. Try a size shorter; and if it feels tight, try a size wider rather than longer. One of the nice things about AEs is they're still available in letter widths.


----------



## Orgetorix (May 20, 2005)

The Cedarville Store does sell a stretcher that's made for raising the toebox, if you're set on trying to stretch them. But I think they'll probably get more comfortable as you get them broken in.


----------



## CrackedCrab (Sep 23, 2008)

^^ I had that happen on a couple pairs of Edward Greens on the 888 last. It just took time, now they are some of my most comfortable pairs. You have to just keep wearing them regularly and use trees in between. Hopefully they will improve for you.


----------



## Pentheos (Jun 30, 2008)

Three miles of walking per day on a leather sole will wear it through very quickly. I used to keep my nicer shoes in my office, and change into them when I arrived. This worked especially well in northern states where there was inevitably slush or snow outside for a third of the year.

But since I no longer have an office (or a job), my shoes stay at home.


----------



## harland (Oct 13, 2008)

Breaking in a shoe takes time. Wearing them around the house with thick socks on for a couple of days and using shoe trees when they're not on your feet are pretty much a must. I'd also add polishing them as well to help speed things along.


----------



## Sarge6 (Mar 29, 2009)

theCardiffGiant said:


> Are you sure about your shoe size? The kind of extreme break you're describing sounds like what happens when a shoe is too long for your foot.


I tend to think every foot is different even within the same general size. I can imagine a wide variety of break patterns when you factor in strides and foot strikes and rolls and so forth. With time, assuming the basic size is right, I would lean towards it working itself out.


----------



## Sarge6 (Mar 29, 2009)

harland said:


> I'd also add polishing them as well to help speed things along.


+1 and realized I left that out. If as a kid you conditioned the heck out of your baseball glove to break it in and get that driving glove flexibility, conditioner and creme polish is the same basic principle to break in good shoes.


----------



## iclypso (Jan 10, 2009)

Right now the leather is stiff and only bending at one point. That point happens to be right above your toe. The more you wear the shoes, the leather will become more supple and the flex will be distributed across the top of the shoe. I think the suggestion to wear the shoes in small doses at first is a very good one.


----------



## Bird's One View (Dec 31, 2007)

I stopped a shoe doing this by flexing it manually a lot and also wearing it for less than an hour with a quarter taped to my foot on the spot where it was pinching and rubbing.


----------



## jblaze (Oct 6, 2009)

Everyone, thanks for the advice. 

So, I ended up getting the shoe back from the cobbler, and it feels pretty good. I haven't worn it for an extended time, but so far, so good. They stretched the sides out. I can feel and see (maybe I'm paranoid) a slight bulge that is supposed to influence the shoe break.

So, I guess I should have "toughed it out" and will next time, but this shoe stretching was only $5 and seems to have worked.

I'll post back if it did not work after I wear the shoe to/ from work.


----------

