Searching for the holy grail of knee high boots, coupled with high fashion and incredible comfort can at most times elude us curvy fashionistas. So what can we do, when we find the most comfortable leather boots, the most stylish of them all, the most scrumptious buttery leather, and the only thing that is wrong is that:
They.
Won’t.
Zip.
Up.
So what do you do?
Go to a cobbler.
A who? A what? No. not the delectable dessert, but a cobbler, someone who re-soles boots and shoes!
You see, last weekend, while I was at the Blog Her holiday party, I saw the most ingenious thing ever! A curvy diva, who sports a nicely shaped wide calf, took her boots to a cobbler and had them ADD a V of leather to her boots! They were black leather and it was amazing!
You heard me!
Doing some research, I found out that this is quite common! Focus on Style interviewed a cobbler who specializes in boots stretching and tailoring, You Look Fab tackled shoe alterations, and Fatshionista (the LJ community) discusses options for widening boots!
Now, I know there has to be someone out there who has done this, and if you did, please share!
My inbetweenie calves usually let me just stretch boots to fit, but my cobbler has mentioned adding a panel, too, which is such a fabulous idea! He also takes in boots for ladies with very thin calves.
I know! I was so inspried!!! I had to take a picture of it!!!
I wonder how they’d solve suede slouch knee high boots. I should call a shoe repairman to see.
I’ve done this 🙂 It was a pair of vinyl lace-up kneehigh platform heels from Pleaser and I added a strip of vinyl onto the back of the boots for my sister. It was a gigantic pain in the @$$ for me and my sewing machine (vinyl has sticky stuff inside) but they looked great! You can do this yourself if you’re relatively experienced with sewing and fitting.
That is such a fabulous idea! I always look longingly at them every fall, but the cute ones never zip. Okay, the not-so-cute wide calf ones I’ve found also didn’t zip all the way. I’m short too, so the widest part of my calf is lower than it is on most women. I am so going to try this! Thanks!
when you do, send me a pic!!! 🙂 I want to see!!!
That is FREAKING brilliant. I am so doing it!
@suzanne I need pics
Hmm…I actually bought a dress on ebay, and while everything else fits perfectly, the sleeves are much too tight on my arms. I was considering just giving it away, but you’ve made me realise I could take it to a tailor!
Why do we not seem to think of these things ourselves? Thankyou!
a few years back I tried this.Bought a pair of boots and took them to a recommended cobbler who said he couldn’t do this. I may have to give this a second chance.
Depending on where you live, you may want to check out yelp or google it! Good Luck and let me know!!!
Yes, Girl I do it all the time. Back home I had a fabulous guy that took care of all my shoes needs, adding leather so that they would fit my calves, keeping my heels in tip top shape so I never stumbled, keeping my leather looking shiny and new. Ladies, I implore you do a search for your local cobbler or shoe repair store, it affords you an endless array of options for your footwear needs.
I’m thinking of dying these boots I have an electric yellow…they do that too. 🙂
Yes! I have a pair of riding boots that I’m in love with, but my big calves were not allowing me to fit into them. My local cobbler at first stretched the leather, but that still didn’t work, and then he suggested adding leather. I still haven’t taken them to have the leather added, but I am happy that I have another alternative rather than throwing them away. Great post!
Let me know how it works for you! I really would love to know!!!!!
you can also order boots online. I always use http://www.widewidths.com/
They measure the width of all of the boots so there are no surprises when they arrive. However, the selection is limited- good for basics but not for trendy styles really. As a boot lover, I think I need a combination of the site and a cobbler.
A while back I asked around here to have boots modified but it was too expensive. Then a few years ago I discovered http://www.widewiths.com I am not affiliated with them I swear LOL but they seriously have the best selection of boots for larger calf (up to 21 inches I think). They have a gorgeous pair of knee high ones but unfortunately they are sold out in my size right now.
A while back I asked around here to have boots modified but it was too expensive. Then a few years ago I discovered http://www.widewiths.com I am not affiliated with them I swear LOL but they seriously have the best selection of boots for larger calf (up to 21 inches I think). They have a gorgeous pair of knee high ones but unfortunately they are sold out in my size right now.
I know a lady has come up with this http://www.bootband.com/ haven’t tried it myself but sounds good… when I asked cobblers here in Italy many told me they could not do the job…