Firefox Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 You know those styles wich have a lot of space in front of the toe to make the foot look longer. I think part of the object is for wear with flared jeans. Anyway, I don't always like the look so I have cut back the toes on some pairs. It's not that difficult to do, and I intend to show you how in this thread. No doubt Dr Shoe will pull me up on this one but does anyone else have views or experience with this modification? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 Duh! I like the long toes, but I don't fit in them... They are typically quite narrow and rarely go over 41... I like the square toeboxes too, but narrow ones are the fashion for now as it seems. Still curious to see what you did to them... Bert What's all the fuss about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted September 4, 2002 Author Share Posted September 4, 2002 The basic procdure is this. Cut back sole to desired line leaving leather intact. Remove any liner, packing and padding forward of the cut. Flex the leather and fold it back under itself to form the profile desired. Screw into it from underneath, and glue in clamping in a vice with strong leather epoxy to restore the seal. You will lose the welt effect round the front, but screws and glue work well. File and work on sole to provide smooth shape. Colour and trim leather. Dye black and you won't notice the join. Pictures to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 After picking myself up off the floor and through the tears of laughter, I began to see where Firefox was coming from. Good idea actually and a darn sight safer than altering heel heights. It has to be said though that to do this kind of thing properly you need an appropriately shaped last otherwise you could get some distortion in the toe area. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted September 5, 2002 Author Share Posted September 5, 2002 One of the things I've found with this mod is that you need enough leather to work with and make a decent seal. You have to take off about an inch which only works with those very extreme styles. You probably need about 1 1/2" in front of your big toe before you start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calv Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 When I first read this thread I thought Firefox was suddenly into peep-toe boots , but I think I see where hes coming from. I liker pointy toes so dont think I'll be trying this yet. I dyed a pair of Barratts courts (picked up for £5, reduced from £40 at the new Coventry Barratts outlet shop) from brown to black this week. They've come up very well. I used Meltonian shoe dye FYI. Do your own thing. Don't be a victim of conformity. Calv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 Yes dying works very well. I have even had good results from using magic markers. It can be quite tedious on thigh boots but you can buy markers in about 500 different colours or shades according to the pantone chart. Like hair dye, you cannot lighten a colour with them and you will not get the exact pantone colour unless you start with white shoes because the original colour will show through. (Unless you're dying to black). So far I have never heard of anyone bleaching leather though I suppose it could be possible. Anyone willing to give it a go? Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 I'll give it a bash with some cheap boots I picked up from a carboot Who says fleamarkets don't have their uses?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Thannks! That was very interesting. I love long exagerated pointed toes with high spiked heels. I would enjoy learning how to take closed toe pumps and make open toes out of them. Renee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted September 19, 2002 Author Share Posted September 19, 2002 That's an interesting thought, but I think it could be done by gluing on a leather add on which overlapped the existing toe as a feature, sometimes like you see toe caps with another layer. I fear this would be extremely difficult to get it looking right and convince the onlooker that it was other than a later addition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Oh I do not mean lengthening to toe. I just like long exagerated pointy ones. There is a company that sells gothic type clothes in USA. Bad something-or-other and they carried them in 5 inch heels, but I would take a shorter toe box most days for toe cleavage. Renee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted September 23, 2002 Share Posted September 23, 2002 What you do, is simply take a closed toe shoe and cut off the toe down to the insole and remove and discard the leather. Next carefully part the sole away from the insole and you should see some residue of the upper you cut away which should be removed- do not do this first because you may separate the sole too far back and make the upper too floppy and difficult to cut back. Next get a piece of leather to match the shoe and cut it into a strip around 25mm (1") wide and slightly too long to go around the exposed toe part. Thin it down with a razor until it is the thickness of a paper. apply glue to the edge of the insole and the back of the strip of leather using evo-stic style contact glue and allow to dry. Next, hold the leather under an electric grill or over a hot plate for just a second or so to "re-activate" the adhesive and stick it around the insole so that it is vertical and looks a bit like a wall with about the same amount of leather above and below the insole. Next, brush some glue around the top of the insole and allow it to go off a bit. Push a bit of the leather where the big toe would come and stick it down, you will now have two big loops. Divide the loops in half and stick down so you now have 4 loops, I use a tooth pick or the back of a knife to keep the contact area as thin as possible. Continue this until you have loads of little pleats then smooth down with a lolly stick or a palete knife. Repeat the process underneath so that you have a nice smooth finished edge. Trim and try to continue the end of the tops under the "tunnel mouth" that you got when you first cut the leather. Next you sand down the ridges on the leather underneath so that when you reattach the sole it doesn't go bumpy. Scrape off any old glue on the end of the sole and spread insole and sole with a thin layer of your evo-stik and allow to go off. Hold under the grill again as above and stick the sole and insole together. You may need to put something heavy on it or clamp in a vice to make it STICK! While you're waiting for it to dry, cut a piece of leather to a shape so that it comes almost to the edge of the shoe and goes some way back under the "tunnel" and thin with a razor but not as much as the edging. Spread some Evo on it and let it go off. Do the same with the top of the insole and then you can put the "insock" into place. The shoe is now finished. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted September 24, 2002 Author Share Posted September 24, 2002 That looks like an expert description, but I think some photos would really help as well. I'm going to try some photos of my mods too, so I'm not getting out of this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted September 26, 2002 Share Posted September 26, 2002 Sorry, no camera. Besides, I'm no about to alter any of my shoes though I may get a cheap pair to illustrate after I've invested in a camera. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Surprise Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 How can you make such painful changes to the wonderful long pointed look of a shoe. This is like cutting the hood off a beautiful sports car :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted May 23, 2003 Author Share Posted May 23, 2003 Depends if you like the long toe look or not. In a way long toes defeat one object of HH to make the foot look neater and more compact, so it's taking things back in this direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Surprise Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 I find a long toe (as long as the shoe is pointed and thin), makes the foot look more feminine and elegant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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