Proper leather shoes

No problems to report. Wore them for a long walk yesterday, and another today. I reckon by the end of tomorrow's walk, they'll be there. They are 'roomier' than a standard size, and I wear thick-ish socks with them.

If you’ve got heal rub on the inside of the shoe, this is usually caused by the shoe not following your foot as you go through the normal walking motion. Your foot moves but the sole is too stiff to follow and thus there’s rubbing as the sole resists the movement. Goodyear welted, and well any decently shoes are incredibly stiff when they’re new and take a long time to bed in and get enough flex to follow your foot. I can’t remember where I saw it, but there was an exploded picture of a pair of Goodyear welted shoes, and there’s something like 5 layers of leather and cork on the sole. The final outside layer, whether it be rubber or leather is properly thick and solid. These materials don’t flex well at all, let alone altogether.

For breaking in a pair of new shoes, last time I was in C&J, the guy there was explaining to bend the shoes in half 5 times (or more) each time before you wear them as the soles are just too stiff and won't follow your heel movement. You need to keep doing this before each wear until they become supple enough. The amount he flexed a pair of £450 shoes I was trying on made my eyes water! But following his advice has really worked, and heel rub is a thing of the past! You can be quite forceful, as the movement from walking along doesn’t seem to be enough by itself.

I find with Loakes you have to "break their backs" it is the lack of flex in the leather sole that does the damage. I also have some Loake boots, but they are rubber soled and cause me less bother.