The higher the heel, the closer to God…. But Lord knows an uncomfortable heel can make or break anyone’s day (whether that includes a class, a big event or just a day at the office). Brand new, broken or bland shoes don’t have to result blisters, bruises or a boring outfit. Try out some of these awesome heel hacks below, and just maybe they could save your sole.
1) Break Them In Breaking in a new pair of shoes is never a walk in the park. Heels can sometimes pose particularly difficult problems. If you’ve tried wearing your kicks around the house to no stretching-avail, try adding a thick pair of socks to the mix and strut your stuff down the hallway.
If your shoe is still tight in some areas it may be time to bring the heat. Follow these steps for a quick and easy way to break in those kicks:
On a low heat setting, use a hair dryer to warm up the problem areas of your shoe. (For most people this is the toe box or sometimes the heel area)
Hold heat on the surface until it is pliable. Be careful though! Synthetic shoes will melt with too much heat exposure.
Put two normal socks, or one thick sock, on each foot. This should add around a quarter to a half inch of width.
Put on your shoes. If it doesn't feel snug enough, add another layer of socks!
It's time to do you best Tyra Banks impression! Strut your stuff down the hallway, have a dance party in your living room or head on in the kitchen to cook some dinner. You'll want to stay up and moving in your shoe until those heated areas cool completely. If you remove the shoes too early, you'll just end up repeating the process all over again.
If need be the above steps can be repeated a couple of times for ideal comfort. Then voila! Sexy, sassy and comfortable shoes.
2) Heel Caps
One of the biggest downfalls of heels is the easily damaged heel tip. If you’ve ever had an overly-loved pair of heels that just decided that they couldn’t take it anymore, you’ve probably either thought to throw them out or take them to a professional to get them repaired. Well, broken and damaged heel tips are a common issue with constant wear and tear. Let’s face it, there aren’t always enough hours in the day to run to your friendly, neighborhood cobbler. If you’ve got a few minutes and a mind for thrift, we have a couple of tips for you that offer a much quicker fix.
DIY Heel Tip Replacement : Follow this link to a super helpful tutorial from Ms. Running With Makeup on how to replace your damaged heel tip.
Another quick fix = HEEL CAPS! These heel caps from gogoheel.com are the essence of a quick fix! They're a nice backup to keep in your purse or bag just in case a shoe emergency raises it's troublesome head!
3) Heel Spray We’ve all felt it…. That burning sensation on the back of your heel. We’ve all had that moment when we know we should sit and kick our shoes off. “But these shoes are so cute.” “My outfit isn’t the same in flats.” “My calves look so much better in these platforms.” ”I know it’s going to hurt so much worse when I have to put them back on.” Next thing you know you’re bleeding. Cute shoes aren’t ALWAYS worth the pain. Bandages are an easy fix, but if you’re wearing your newest strappy stiletto or you’re prepping for your showcase performance here at Miss Fit Academy you may not want everyone to see that adhesive nuisance sticking out from around your sexy shoe. There are so many alternatives out there. If you’ve already tried tip #1 from this post and need some more help try a barrier like PreHeels. A spray on adhesive will essentially barricade your foot and protect it from blisters. PreHeels can be used with any type of shoe, to prevent any source of friction. Just spray on and the aerosolized spray molds to the shape of your foot. It dries in just 45 seconds! Now you have a barrier between your fragile feet and their frequent foe, friction! You’ll have beautiful feet inside and out for the duration of wear!
4) Bejeweled, Blissful and Bedazzled We’ve covered the fixes that can help with the physical woes that heels sometimes bring about. But, feeling sexy, sassy and confident in your heels can be just as important. Wear and tear has an aesthetic effect on your heels, but you don’t need to ditch them for a new pair of kicks. Check out these tips to give your old sassy shoes new life. (BONUS: They’re already broken in! …. But no one else has to know that.)
Shoe Painting : give your scuffed up shoes a new lease on life with simplistic supplies. All you need is tape and nail polish. If you want to get fancy, maybe some super glue, sparkles and glitter can be thrown into the mix. Take a look at this tutorial from Gloss and Sparkle to see how she did it!
Get sexy red soles on a budget! Follow this tutorial from SafeGripControl for a no-paint-required project to spice up for kicks: creativeuncommons.co/2012/03/20/diy-painted-high-heels/
We hope these tips can come to your rescue in the future! Comment below with any tips, tricks or experiences you have with fixing your own shoe-mergencies!