Help! I don't want to look like I'm wearing mommy's shoes!

[Mr. T]

Hello. I recently bought a pair of Aerosoles' "Propertunity" shoes. These are pumps with 2.75 inch heels, in a penny loafer sytle with very short vamps. Did I say they're very pretty? Why, they're so pretty, I bought them in black and green leather. I bought them in a women's US 9.5M. The length is good, but the width is a little tight. Unfortunately these "Propertunities" don't come wider. I suppose I could try the stretching techniques recommended elsewhere in this forum, but the dozen pairs of unworn shoes in my closet attest to my unsuccessful attempts at stretching shoes. I did, however, try the "Propertunites" in a 10M. The width was better, but the length was too long as there was a large gap between the back of my heel and the shoe. Indeed, when I looked at myself in the store's mirror, I looked like I was wearing my mommy's shoes! (I never wore my mommy's shoes, but I did wear my sister's.) I'm thinking of exchanging the 9.5M for the 10M, but I don't want to look like I'm wearing mommy's shoes. I had previously bought other shoes in longer lengths to get a wider width, but my feet would slide down and create an unsightly gap behind my heel--the "mommy's shoe effect." (Of course, the shoes would slip off my feet when I walk in them.) I tried various insoles to stop my feet from sliding into the shoe and close the gap at back of the shoe, but they don't work. I even tried wearing pantyhose with "anti-slip" rubber pads attached to the soles, but that didn't work either. And when I put a wad of tissue into the shoes' toe area, my toes would uncomfortably hit the tissue. Anyone know of a way--that really works--to comfortably stop my feet from sliding down shoes that are slightly too long and looking like I'm wearing my mommy's shoes? (And also stop the shoes from slipping off when I walk in them?) Or should I keep my pretty "Propertunities" in size 9.5M and probably keep them in the closet only to admire how pretty they are and never wear them outside in public? Thanks for any help. Mr. T

[Bubba136]

First rule of high heels! Never allow a pretty pair of heels to languish unworn in a closet. I think I would keep the size 9.5 and take them to a shoemaker (shoe repair shop) and ask the shoemaker to "resize" them by professionally stretching the width. Better to have them to narrow than to long.