Slipper Fitting Tips, Fitting slippers for kids, Organising and storing your slippers, Slipper Care Tips, Foot Fitness
Although much of the information in this guide below is in general related to shoes, the suggestions can also be applied to slippers.
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Slipper Fitting Tips
If you have wide feet, but the shoes you are after do not come in larger width fittings, you may want to try going up a size.
To accommodate narrow feet, innersoles inserted into the shoe may help to create a snug fit. If you have different sized feet (it is very uncommon for someone to have exactly the same sized feet) be sure to buy shoes that fit the larger foot!
Many are able to accommodate orthotics, look at the product information and attributes to check if a particular style suits orthotics.
If you find your shoes press on the ankle bone, look for styles with a lower cut topline (the area around the top of the shoe). If you’re buying lace ups, a heel pad may help, it heightens the foot so that your ankle bone is clear. Heel pads can be purchased from most podiatry clinics and supermarkets.
Not sure what size to buy? Take a look at a Global Size Chart.
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Fitting slippers for kids
It is vital that your child is correctly fitted for their shoes.
Did you know that the tiny bones in their feet are not properly formed until the age of about 7 or 8 years? Putting them in shoes that are too small or too big will have a detrimental effect on the growth of their little feet.
Shoes that are too small can easily bend their feet out of shape without you noticing or without your child feeling any pain at all. Shoes which are too large can flop around all over the place, cause blisters and ultimately effect how they develop their walking, having to compensate for carrying around shoes which are too large for their feet.
When buying shoes for little people, remember their feet grow like crazy and to get their feet measured regularly by a trained fitter.
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Organising and storing your shoes and slippers
Whilst most of us love to shop for shoes, shopping for shoe storage organisers is not quite as much fun. The options are endless and there’s nothing worse than having forked out for a gorgeous shoe rack and then realise it only holds a third of your shoe collection. Soon you end up with a bewildering assortment of shoe storage units in every room of the house.
Step 1. Collate all your shoes in the middle of the room .
Step 2. Divide them into “shoes you wear every day” and “special occasion” shoes. Then sort by colour or style within each group. Further sort each group by season.
Step 3. Eliminate duplicates, shoes that don’t fit and ones that are past their use-by date.
Step 4. If you’ve got 12 pairs or less, try looking for a shoe rack or cabinet. Over 12 shoes, you can’t go past clear shoe boxes for their versatility and stackability. You can just keep adding and stacking boxes as you increase your shoe collection.
Step 5. The best clear shoe boxes have a slide-out drawer which makes getting your shoes in and out much easier than the ones with envelope openings.
Step 6. Assemble the boxes in your wardrobe or on shelves in a shoe closet. Place the current season’s daily favourites front and centre. Out-of-season and special occasion shoes can go higher up or lower down. Help your shoes keep in shape by stuffing with tissue paper (or inflatable inserts for boots).
Step 7. Repeat next season!
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Slipper Care Tips
Waterproofing: Shoes and boots should be waterproofed before weraing them to eliminate water damage.
Suede: Use a soft brush with similar coloured bristles to remove surface dirt. Be careful when brushing suede as it can be easily damaged.
Leather: Clean leather shoes with a soft cloth to remove surface dirt, before polishing.
Soles: Getting rubber soles fitted to your shoes can reduce your chances of slipping in the wet and also ensures the sole stays in good condition, giving extra milage to each pair.
Heels: To avoid further damage of shabby looking heels (leather/material is beginning to strip or the heel cap has worn through) you can easilyget them re-heeled. Any shoe repair place can do this for you, but for cheaper prices, take a look to the forums on Vogue’s website!
Storage: Ensure that shoes are fully dry before storing them in your wardrobe or boxes. Keep shoes out of direct heat or sunlight when not being worn. If you can find them, buy ventilated storage boxes.
Wet shoes: Never dry your leather/suede shoes with any form of heat (no hair dryers people!). Instead, stuff them with newspaper or something similar to absorb the moisture from the inside and stand your shoes where the air can circulate freely.
Product: To prevent cracking of leather and suede due to climate change, ensure you condition and polish your shoes regularly.
Shape: To ensure shoes keep their shape, use shoe trees or stuff them with tissue paper to help maintain their shape whilst they are not being worn. For boots, if you haven’t come across the blow up inserts you can put inside knee-high boots then you need to seek them out! I found them at Howard’s Storage – they’re my latest favourite invention.
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Foot Fitness!
High Heels. We know you love them, and many of of the ladies like me out there just can’t help wearing them, but if you wear them regularly, make time to do some regular calf stretches. They’re quick, easy and your calves will thank you!
Stand about half a metre away from a wall and place one foot in front of the other.
With knees straight and hands on the wall at shoulder height, lean into the wall and hold for 30 seconds.
You should feel the stretch in your back calf.
Repeat on the other leg.
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How often should you replace your slippers? That all depends on whether you want to replace them because they are out of style or because they have just worn out. If your motivation for buying them in the first place was purely their look, then you may tire of their appearance in 6 or 12 months.
Should UGG’s be worn when you go out shopping? This depends on where you plan on going and most importantly the style and look of your UGG’s. A cheap looking pair of imitation UGG’s will make you look like you just stepped out of the proverbial trailer park.