Scone Shoes (The Shoe Tailor)

Member Name: sersha

Product:	The Shoe Tailor
Date:	09/12/04 (2561 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: comfortable, better fitting shoes at reasonable prices

Disadvantages: limited range, most of them are quite ugly

First let me explain “scone shoes.” When I first ordered shoes from the Shoe Tailor, experts in wider-fitting shoes, I measured my feet incorrectly and found that the only shoes in their catalogue that would fit me were their widest, ugliest, most orthopaedic, brown, granny shoes: the type you might wear to go out with your friends for a scone, in your later years. Hence my friends groaningly called them my “scone shoes” and walked several yards behind me on the way to the pub every night.

They were very comfy! However, they fell apart after a couple of years of continuous wear, and once gone, same said friends took me shopping to some “proper” shoe shops in Glasgow and I never once consulted my Shoe Tailor catalogue again.

That was about eight years ago, and although I’m not exactly old and doddery yet, I am finding shoes to be a pain again, and struggling to get anything matching the comfort of those old scone shoes. Trinny and Susannah would have a fit, but once again I turned to the Shoe Tailor for help.

It was easy to find them on the web and request a catalogue, and I was actually pleasantly surprised that after eight years, their range of shoes has certainly improved. In fact I found three or four pairs that looked almost fashionable! I duly made my husband measure my feet with the tape they sent, thinkly glumly that I would probably find my feet were still their widest EEEE fitting (the range goes from “D” which is a standard fit, the sort you find in shops) through to E, EE, EEE, and EEEE for those of us with pancake feet. He followed the instructions painstakingly: I had to stand with my heels against the wall while he fiddled with the tape. After a couple of minutes he proclaimed me to be a size 6, and an EEE fitting, and also to be stupid for having tried to measure my feet by myself 8 years ago, which clearly isn’t a thing you can possibly do accurately without being severely double-jointed.

The result being that I had a decent range of shoes to choose from, unlike last time. All I had to do then was flick through the catalogue, spot the shoes marked as EEE and ignore the nice pointy ones for normal D people (who really have no business with this catalogue at all), and choose something that wasn’t too hideous. If I had been an EEEE I would have found a grand total of four pairs of shoes to choose from in the entire catalogue, all of them very “scone” and I might have had to find a cave to live in. But as it is, I discover I have lots and lots of shoes I can now order from varying manufacturers: names include Hush Puppies, Brevitt, Comfitts, Equity, Adidas, Kickers, Ecco and Clarks. Admittedly, most of them are still ugly, there’s no point in lying to you. But there ARE stilettos. There ARE knee-length leather boots. There ARE strappy sandals, and some of them are even pretty. My shoe-fiend friends would probably curl their noses up at all of them, but then again they all have nice small slim feet that they can squeeze into pretty shoes: I have hobbit feet that hurt in everything, and am just glad to have found some shoes, any shoes, that aren’t totally hideous and that are comfortable.

I ordered some red trainers, at £29.99 and some black leather ankle boots – with heels! - at £49.99 and both are almost passable as “normal” looking. They’re also extremely comfortable. You might not think that a simple quarter-of-an-inch would make a difference (that’s the size between each width fitting) but it really does. The Shoe Tailor people say that 2 in 3 women actually wear the wrong fitting for their feet, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Most women will put up with some discomfort in order to be able to wear their favourite pointy shoes. Comfortable yet pretty shoes are virtually unheard of. The Shoe Tailor isn’t a total solution, by any stretch of the imagination, as the range just simply isn’t big enough to satisfy the needs of most women, but it does at least offer some sort of compromise. A bit less pretty, but a lot less foot-ache.

You can order by post using the form provided in the catalogue, by phone or online: delivery takes up to 15 days and all goods can be returned free of charge within 28 days. Irritatingly, you have to wait for a statement to arrive before you can pay for your goods (I would prefer to pay online as and when I order). You can opt to only pay the minimum on your account rather than pay for your goods in full, which is a sure-fire way to discover your account costs mounting up.

All in all I would recommend the Shoe Tailor if you struggle to find comfortable shoes in high-street shops. Just don't expect them to be very glamourous!

Summary: