Stylist Advice- Help, my heel is too small and I trip out of my shoes!

q Dear Sharon:  For the past three years, I trip out of my shoes. It started when I was on the my way to job interview when, all of a sudden, both my feet slipped out of my pumps! I had been wearing these pumps all year and now they didn’t fit. It was a nightmare just to make it to the door of the interview as I couldn’t take a “normal” step without losing a shoe.

So embarrassing!

From that day on, no strapless pumps fit me ever again. I have tried so many heel grips, heel pads and even innersoles at the same time, but nothing worked. I have squeezed into a size smaller shoe and although the shoe was super tight in the front, my heel still slipped out. I even took a brand new pair to a shoe repair shop. I was there for hours, while they tried different grips, double grips, they sewed grips to the heel they even added as small elastic in the back, nothing. My heel still slipped out. Please help if you have ever heard of this and if you have any ideas. I’m dying to get back into pumps without straps. (J.E.S. via Fashion Advice)

 >> RELATED: Wide Calf Boot Tips

A:

I know it’s embarrassing and potentially dangerous to slip out of your shoes. Just like clothing, not all shoes are cut the same way. The way a particular brand cuts its shoe is called a last. You need to find a last that comfortably fits your foot shape and width. By all means, do not buy shoes a size smaller that hurt… that will open up a whole new can of worms!

Calvin Klein Dolly pumps come in a Narrow width and an array of colors
Calvin Klein Dolly pumps come in a Narrow width and an array of colors

As you age, or if you gain weight or spend more time on your feet, your forefoot width may increase a bit so what was once may have fit comfortably, no longer will and you need a different size shoe. The Zappos blog has tips to measure your feet along with this advise, “Even if you think you already know your proper shoe size, it is important to measure your feet periodically. Our feet grow as we get older and the shoe size you wore in your twenties may no longer be appropriate in your 40s.”

The opposite is also true and the time may have come where you need to consider a narrow, slim or even super slim width shoe. Zappos has a wide array of N, S, and SS  pumps here. It all goes back to properly measuring your foot and selecting a brand that properly fits you well.

You also mentioned that you had been wearing those shoes all year, so they simply may have stretched out and lost their shape.

Try this stylist trick: Put a strip of double-stick tape inside your shoe so it adheres to your tights- it will work in a pinch, as on a photo shoot or runway, but I wouldn’t count on it for longterm wear.  At a certain point, if the shoe doesn’t fit, you can’t wear it… no matter what.

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Lead photo: Jakarta Fashion Week/Image.net

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