I have a confession to make…

Here it goes: I have a shoe fetish. I love shoes and boots. I love them in all sorts of colours and styles. Some of my regular readers would remember the great Fluevog saga  and here of 2010. I wore my Fluevog boots all winter and I loved them!

I am blaming my friend Wandering Coyote for my new round of shoe desires. I have had 2 pairs of Doc Martens. I had a black pair in my early thirties which I wore until they wore out. Now I have a pair of brown Docs, which I also love. Then WC had to go and post pictures of 2 favourite things: the colour purple and Doc Martens. Check them out:

Amazing purple boots!!!

I also love Maryjane style shoes. These are so lovely I am literally drooling over them:

Double buckle Maryjanes

Then I found these:

These are lovely too!

But these, these are my favourites! Red, Doc Marten buckle boots. I wear red and black when I have something important to do and these boots would be a most lovely complement. Here they are:

I love these boots!!

I think my love of shoes comes from the fact that I never have trouble trying on and buying shoots. I do not have odd-sized feet, nor are my feet wide given my size. Shoes always fit unlike clothes. Although clothes shopping is not as bad as it used to be given the proximity of Suzanne Bell’s Fashions in Vancouver. I highly suspect I will be sporting at least a new pair of red buckle Doc Martens by next fall!

Fluevog Saga

So, some of you might be aware that I purchased some lovely Derby Swirl burgundy boots. When I tried them on they felt great. That feeling quickly went away as my right foot started to scream with pain. Even when I considered putting them on made my foot throb. The left boot fit perfectly. The problem is that I wear orthotics. The orthotics are thickest through the arch and the heel and they seemed to take up too much room on my right foot.

I began by having them stretched. I think Kintec stretched them 3 times to no avail. I bought a size bigger (thinking I would sell one pair on craigslist) and I still had the same problem. I sent the larger size right boot down to Fluevog to get stretched and it still didn’t work. I then sent the smaller size one down and they stretched it aggressively. When it came back it was much better but I still needed a couple of millimeters of space. I tried to remove the insole but could not. I took them to the local shoe guy and he said he would have to take them apart to get the insole out. I didn’t really like that idea.

Finally, I went back over to Kintec and asked what they could do with the orthotics. They were actually able to take the thick, cushy top off and instead they put a soft vinyl top on that only went as long as the actual plastic part of the orthotic. When I put the altered orthotic in, it was heaven! I have worn them all day without any discomfort whatsoever!

Gave Up

Well today I gave up and took my right Fluevog boot in to get stretched. I have been trying to break it in for a week now. I put them on again and just about screamed. It will take a couple of days and hopefully this will work!

Breaking in the Fluevogs

After finally finding the Fluevog store on Thursday and getting my burgundy Derby Swirl boots I could not wait to wear them on Friday. I was a little concerned about how difficult they may be to break but decided to go ahead anyway.

Things went ok but by the time I got to the office my right foot was starting to hurt. My right foot is slightly bigger than my left so it makes sense that was where I would have trouble. The boot was cutting across the top of my foot in the middle. I loosened the laces and that helped a little. I was able to get through the rest of the day although the walk to the car was very painful. I had to change into other shoes when I got home.

I was determined to break them in so I wore them again on Saturday. My right foot screamed initially but then it laid off. I did a bunch of errands and it was ok. I lasted for most of the day with them on but finally had to change out of them around 7 pm.

Today I put them on and they feel pretty good. I have a little discomfort in my right foot but it is not bad at all. I have been on my feet a bit today and so far everything is fine with very little discomfort. Hopefully I have either broken in the boots or my feet.

The soles on these boots are amazing. They are so comfortable and it feels like you are walking on air. The soles are very cushy and seem to bounce back a little when you walk. I have never had shoes like these before.

Here are some pictures:

 

Fluevogs Squeee!!!

 

 

 

Very shiny!

 

I think the soles are one of the most important differences between Fluevogs and other shoes. It feels like you are walking on air. Very nice.

 

Soles of my Fluevogs

 

 

Can haz Fluevogs

After about 40 minutes of touring Gastown, including being led astray by my GPS, I finally found the Fluevog store. I immediately found what I wanted. I can’t wait to wear them tomorrow!