Shoe stretching

Shoe stretching uses a last and controlled moisture to open up a shoe that is too tight — across the width, over the instep, or in one specific spot.

What it can realistically do

Stretching gains width and volume. It does not gain length, and no cobbler can make a shoe a size longer, whatever a website tells you. If a shoe is short, the answer is a different shoe.

Spot stretching is the more useful trick: a cobbler can push out a single point over a bunion, a hammertoe or a bony joint without altering the rest of the fit.

A note on materials

Leather stretches well and holds the new shape. Synthetics largely do not — they give a little under heat and then return. If you are buying shoes intending to have them stretched later, buy leather.

Only a few shops list this, so call ahead.