Tips for trying on heels in shops

[DDWW]

Having had to make lots of inconvenient trips back to stores to return shoes that didn't fit, I now always want to try on heels before I buy them. As there are lots of us (me included) who are always a bit hesitant to try on heels in shops, I was wondering if we could start a thread where those of us who have found ways to make themselves more confident in doing so can offer any words of wisdom! A tip that I could offer up for all those who, like me, hate to have loads of people around in the shop when trying on heels, is to get yourself out early and be ready to enter the store just as they open their doors. I am sure this tip must have been said before, but I cannot emphasise enough how useful I have found just doing this simple thing has been for me! I had a great week recently when I bought these 3 pairs of high heels on 2 consecutive days from shoe shops in busy shopping centres. Each time I was waiting outside the doors of the shops just as they were opening. I was able to try on the shoes at my leisure without hardly anyone else in the shops with me, except of course the shop assistants who were all able to be incredibly helpful because I was the only person they were dealing with! As it happened, trying on the shoes turned out to be very important too because the 2 black pairs came from the same store, but ended up having to be 2 different sizes! The red pair was also a size smaller than I would normally have thought I was! I hope this small bit of advice will help some of you guys. If anyone else has any peices of advice they would like to offer, I would be very grateful to read them!

[heelguy]

Great advice DDWW, I have only ever tried on heels in a store once, but infact it was the last time i bought heels and the bright red pair im wearing in my avatar. It was afternoon so the store was fairly busy, and i was unsure of what size to get and knew i would not be coming back to this particular store anytime soon (if it all as it's 2 hours away from my home). I think the best advice you can give to anybody is to just bite the bullet, waltz in and try those shoes in at your own leisure! you may get looks from people, but i assure you, people are either too distracted in their own shopping or too gobsmacked to see a guy trying on high heels to even comment. Once you've tried the shoes on and have made your purchase and you walk out of the store, you feel ontop of the world, seriously. It is the greatest feeling knowing you acheived something you wanted to do so so badly. So, plain and simply my advice is nike's tagline... "Just do it". You'll feel alot better for it I'll definately be doing it again the next time i see a pair of heels i simply must have or every now and then when i get the craving to just buy a new pair of heels! heelguy

[Dr. Shoe]

My advice is to be already wearing heels of some sort when you go in this points out that you mean business. Also I always wear hose of some sort, usually knee highs under my jeans or trousers or have a pair of them with me. You will not be the first man who has tried on and bought heels in a store.

[yozz]

I usually look for a place where you can sit with your back towards most of the store. Then, when it isn very crowded, there will be mostly one or two people who could possibly see what you are doing. There is however no use trying to hide it from the personnel. You do have to ask for the shoes after all. And they can be very helpful, provided they are professional about it. What also lowers the threshold is if you go with your partner, provided you have a supportive partner of course. The first time my wife felt very nervous about it, but nowadays it is no big deal. When I am alone, I try to be far more discrete than when we are together. Y.

[acesecret]

I had difficulty at first with two things: what i was thinking, and what they were thinking. I just stayed looking at the shoes and what i was aiming for to stop me wondering about how awkward the situation might be. Secondly i usually find an assistant i actually wouldnt mind talking to if i wasnt in a shoe store, thats not usually a male to be honest but going by these two rules seems to work for me so far, busy or quiet, i just get on with it. I will admit i do hate changing shoes whilst standing up, i hate nowhere to sit and have all the assistants bring you the many pairs of heels you want to try on. Also wearing a pair of heels into the shop in the first place really does help so i couldnt agree with Dr Shoe more. I have actually walked out of a store i didnt feel comfortable trying heels on in, go to another store instead, and come back 20minutes later with confidence boosted.

[loswabs]

My advice is to be already wearing heels of some sort when you go in this points out that you mean business. Also I always wear hose of some sort, usually knee highs under my jeans or trousers or have a pair of them with me.

You will not be the first man who has tried on and bought heels in a store.

100% agree

[najial]

one way i go about it, if you dont feel confident just going in and trying them on is to tell them you lost as bet with your s/o and that you have to wear heels for X amount of time" and 99% of them will help you

[RonC]

DDWW, I just wanted you to know that I really like the red pair in your post!

[HappyinHeels]

DDWW, Great piece, great advice! I, like most here, initially bought nearly all my shoes online with only a few returns and the one place I went in person was to my buddy's store in Chicago (Skyscraperheels). I did buy some very high platform sandals at Maya's in Los Angeles in 2005 but nobody bats an eye there. But, in a mainstream environment and beginning at a Target in Phoenix, Arizona in 2006, I bought some wedge sandals there and by late 2008 I was buying almost exclusively IN-PERSON at places like DSW, Bakers, Target, Shoe Carnival, and Payless. Going when a place first opens is sound advice if that's calms your nerves or going within 30 minutes of closing as well. However, while this may calm your nerves it places the male consumer of high heels on an implied inferior level as if we're marginals to be tolerated on the periphery of the retail business schedule. Lesson in liberty*****Your money is legal tender just like the genetic woman's, women are buying thousands of men's shoes at this very moment and nobody cares, you are a human being worthy of respect in any legitimate business and in any decent country. Walk confidently into a store, maybe in heels like Dr.SHoe says, which announces your individuality, tells the retailer your intentions, and perhaps challenges them to treat any differently. You are buying a legal product in the prescribed manner so there's no problem-only the block which some erect in their head. If more men, whether alone or in pairs, walked into a store in heels to go shopping this "problem" will disappear and fast!! This is how things get done and how you adjust attitudes. Liberty rocks and freedom rules but only when you demand and get it! HappyinHeels

[Dr. Shoe]

I find that even if I'm not in heels the assistant is already taking one out of the box ready forme to try on the way back from the stockroom.

[Dawn HH]

When going into a shoe store let them know that you are buying heels for yourself and ask if there would be a more private place that you could try them on to see if they fit. If they want the sale they should accept your wishes to be discreet. If you don't want to wear a pair of heels into the store, be prepared by wearing a pair of hose when you come in to buy. That way no publc shoppers would be the wiser that you are buying for yourself. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[keels]

I have sometimes phoned a shop before visiting and asked if they stock shoes in my size. The response will be very informative, anything from being called a pervert to a very friendly of course we do come in and try some on. Guess where I go?

[heelguy]

I have sometimes phoned a shop before visiting and asked if they stock shoes in my size. The response will be very informative, anything from being called a pervert to a very friendly of course we do come in and try some on. Guess where I go?

that's disgraceful! please inform everybody of which store/s it is that said such rediculous and horrible things to you so we can all avoid giving them any business at all. I work in retail and would never dream of being so blatently rude to a customer! At the end of the day, the person behind the counter is there to sell, not to judge.

[Tech]

I have sometimes phoned a shop before visiting and asked if they stock shoes in my size. The response will be very informative, anything from being called a pervert to a very friendly of course we do come in and try some on. Guess where I go?

Tell us all the who/where called you a perv, I'd like to ring them and make a test enquiry to get their reaction..

[tiffany]

I have sometimes phoned a shop before visiting and asked if they stock shoes in my size. The response will be very informative, anything from being called a pervert to a very friendly of course we do come in and try some on. Guess where I go?

Wow! You get called a perv for asking about shoe sizes?

[Dawn HH]

Keels:-) Of course you will shop where the phone caller told you to come in and try them on and completely ignore the other place. Evidently they have so many customers that they don't need your business. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[keels]

I should probably have been more explicit in my previous post. Yes I have been called a pervert for wanting to buy womens shoes, this was somewhere in Aberwystwyth. I have also been asked to leave a shop, Shoe City in Corby. In both cases this was many years ago. Shoe City is now Brantano and I have nothing but praise for the branches I have shopped in of late. I have recently found Stead and Simpson very helpful, their response for my telephone call being to invite me to come to the shop to try their shoes. I have also found it helpful to walk into a shop and ask outright if they have any womens shoes which would fit me. The answer to this is sometimes an embarrased, I don't think so, to a helpful, let me see what we have got. I think this indicates how attitudes have changed over the years, very much for the better.

[roniheels]

There have been some good suggestions in this thread. I, myself, do wear hose when I go into a store to try on high heels. I usually wear either a suit, slacks and sportcoat, or slacks and polo shirt for a neat appearence as opposed to very casual. I ask if they have a certain shoe in my size and where can I go to try them on and I try to be positive and curtious. I have never been told I can't try them on or to leave the store. One shoe store clerk once asked me if I was serious about purchasing a pair before she would bring the shoes to me to try on. That was the only negative reaction I have ever received. Like others have said, you are the customer coming into this store to make a potential purchase and this is the attitude I maintain. And remeber, I'm just saying this is what works and has worked best for me.

[kikepa]

Tips for trying on heels in shops? 1. Find a shop that carries heels in your size. 2. Remove you own shoes. 3. Ensure you're wearing the same socks/hose/skin in which you'll be wearing with your new heels. 4. Try on a size below and above what you would normally wear, as well as your normal size, as women's shoe sizes differ markedly between manufacturers. 5. If they hurt in any way, move on. Such pains only get worse. 6. When you find a pair with a slightly snug fit, walk around the store for a while. Give it a good ten minutes. If after that time there are no hot spots or other issues, and you like they way they look and feel, buy 'em! These are my tips for trying on heels in the stores. Who cares what other shoppers or the employees think?

[rxrenesis]

100% agree

So True

[Griez]

well this is my answer to 1st ask- just ask u to let u try in back of shop, well even they look- ur not in front ^^