How to Safely Stretch Designer Heels

I do some weird things for the blog. Target photoshoots. Be extra about everything. However, having my beloved Jimmy Choo heels in the freezer took this to an entirely different level. Here’s how we ended up here. I found these incredible Jimmy Choo heels for an incredible bargain online and I got them in the only size available, which just so happened to be the exact size that my other Jimmy Choos are. The only issue is these are a rounded, closed-toe heels and they had absolutely. no. give.

So naturally I was like I’m going to wear them no matter what. So I did some searching for how to stretch heels. Keyword? Safely. How to safely stretch heels. In a nutshell, all of them seemed like terrible ideas! Of course some were classics like wear thick socks, use a blow dryer to expand them, etc. I’m not about to spend half a paycheck on shoes and then use a blow dryer to ruin them because Pinterest told me to.

Note: Yes, I realize my heels are a little dirty here. I did it for the ‘gram. You can see their actual perfect condition in the tutorial below.

How to Safely Stretch Heels

This will work for up to a half-size stretch. I normally wear an 8 in heels. I learned a trick from an article that celebrities go up to almost an entire size to allow for swelling and comfort during events. For these heels, I needed to go to an 8.5 and this method got me there. They are the perfect fit now after doing this method twice.

1. Grab two sandwich baggies and fill a quarter of the way with water, testing to make sure there are no holes. You can double bag these if you have trust issues like I do. The key is to fill them enough that they fill the toe of the shoe as that is where you want to expand.
2. Put them in the toe of the shoe and ensure the area you need to stretch is covered by the water in the bags.
3. Place in your freezer. Freeze overnight.
   
4. Take them out in the morning and let the ice bags thaw just enough to loosen them from the shoe form.
5. Try on and be comfortable!
6. Repeat once more if it’s not quite the perfect fit.

Trust me, the freezing method truly is the best for patented shoes. The heat method can damage the material and also doesn’t effectively stretch it. I’m not a person who would ever spend a bunch of money and try something that didn’t work. Or that was easily done wrong because I do not trust myself enough to actually be able to follow instructions well enough to not ruin my beloved heels.