I've been getting a ton of questions on my tumblr about creepers lately, including wearing them in, caring for them, sizing etc. and as there's not that much info out there on the topic, I thought I'd make this little personal guide. I'm no expert, but I hope this provides some help! : )
Wearing in Creepers *:･ﾟ✧
Here are my first pair of
black suede Demonia creepers. After 6 months wear, they now feel like sneakers and are pretty damn worn in. When these were new, they were super stiff, felt awkward to walk in, and I had bruising on my feet where the top of the tongue is, near where the bow on the laces is tied. The heels also rubbed slightly and I had a bit of blistering on my pinky toes. This took almost a week to be completely gone and for the awkward feeling to disappear. Once everything's softened, including the sole (which makes it a bit bendier so you can walk more normally), they're completely comfy.
As for my
white leather Demonia creepers, they were SO. FREAKING. PAINFUL. I had blistering and the bruising on the top of my foot was so bad that I winced every time I took a step. However, I suffered through the pain and wore them to uni/out and about for roughly a 4-5 days, then the pain vanished.
Tips for Breaking Them In
- Wear bandaids or medical fabric tape on all pressure points BEFORE beginning to break them in to prevent possible blistering or chafing
- Wear the thickest socks that you can
- The top of the tongue area is the hardest to protect, but layers of bandaids or any kind of padding will make it slightly less painful
- Suffer through the pain, it only lasts for a few days and no longer than a week!
This is where my suedes have worn in the most, right on the inner heel. If I don't wear socks with a fair thickness to them, the peeling fabric is quite uncomfortable. This will likely be the reason for when I must ceremoniously burn this pair and adopt a new one.
More wearing in on the lace area that's pretty much unavoidable, but completely unnoticeable when they're laced up.
The inevitable wearing on the piping along the top; for some reason it's SO delicate. It's pretty much the best way to determine how old somebody's creepers are. I'm looking into finding some kind of glue or gloss that can can stop it being damaged so easily in the first place. Has anyone ever tried it?
Creeper Care*:･ﾟ✧
A few items I've used to my personal creeper protection and maintenance:
- Water & Stain protector spray for suede shoes (picked this up from a key cutter/shoe repair store)
- Gentle alcohol-free facial cleansing wipes
- Black Sharpie
I recommend applying suede protector to your creepers so you'll feel a bit safer wearing them on rainy days. For my pair, I used about two coats, waiting for the first coat to dry before spraying the next, and after testing it under a dripping tap I found the water rolled right off.
I find some of the most obvious wear on my white leather creepers is around the ankle-heel area, especially these grey scratches.
Using the facial cloth, this wear can easily be removed at the end of the day that you wear them~ voila! For the really tough scratches, use your fingernail under the layered cloth.
The Sharpie or any black permanent marker can be used to fix the wear on the piping. I personally don't use this technique much anymore, because it's not the most effective way of covering the scratches as you can see, but it's a good quick fix and not visible unless you look closely.
Sizing/Fit Tips *:･ﾟ✧
- Always use the brand's provided foot measurement size chart if they have one. Buy to fit the absolute closest match to your foot in terms of centimetres.
- TRY BEFORE YOU BUY - I almost bought a size too big, as I suspected buying one size up would be better for my foot length (this is not the case, see the above tip). Try and find stockists for your brand of creepers near where you live, or if it's not possible, do as much research as you can before you order online.
- The fit of creepers is peculiar, they feel different to any other kind of shoe because the sole is so stiff it doesn't bend with your foot. After one week of wear this feeling will be gone and your creepers should feel like regular shoes.
That about concludes my post on creeper care! If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them, and more ideas for protecting creepers would be great too. You can purchase the same black creepers I have
here and the white ones
here!
F i n a l l y. I have my brand new 2012 Moleskine planner in my hands. I spent forever (literally) running around visiting pretty much every Moleskine stockist in the city CBD and was completely unsuccessful... but I shouldn't have been surprised they were sold out mid January! But I ordered this last Friday afternoon and it arrived the following Monday morning *O* hooray! One of my resolutions is that I will USE my planner every day this year, rather than have months empty like in last year's >_<
