Get Yourself a SHOE HORN!

Shoe horns are necessary to keep your shoes in the best possible shape, literally. I personally never cared for them or thought I needed one. I remember being asked every time I went for a fitting if I needed a shoe horn at MAB and always declined it. My stylist, Casey mentioned that I should use one to keep my shoes' back from giving out. Well I still ignored it and kept just slipping my feet in and using my finger to bend the leather back...bad idea.

One of my favorite pairs, my vintage Florsheim loafers (pictured below, courtesy of TSB.com), the back heel on my right shoe started to bend badly and I could literally feel and hear the leather bending. When I looked at the top of the back heel I started to notice that from me just pushing my feet in, I was crushing the leather. It was then that I realized why I needed a shoe horn.

First of all this is probably the CHEAPEST thing you can invest in to keep your shoes looking good, as you can find one for under $5 at Target or eBay. OR you can head to DSW and pick one up for FREE! I never knew that they have them away for free if you simply ask. My parents actually told me, when I asked where they had gotten theirs. The best thing about the DSW one's is that they are not the short ones that are about 4 inches long, these are the harder to find longer ones. Usually I've seen these run over $10 for plastic and $25 plus for the metals one. So go and ASK!

These are Vintage Florsheim's I'm referring too, old but great!

Notice the two widths and in addition it'll save your back a little.