How to deal with shoes that are a bit too large (and are ordered without trying them on)

I wrote three years ago about buying shoes via the Internet, where I noted that "as my shoe size varies between 42 and 43, I decided to play safe and ordered them in size 43". The type of summer shoe that I like lasts only for one year so in 2019 I bought a new pair of shoes size 43 in a shop (obviously I had forgotten that I had an extra pair waiting at home). That same day I discovered that those shoes were a bit too big, so my wife returned to the shop the following day and bought a pair size 42. I wore these from April 2019 until the "end of the season", probably October, by which time there was a hole in the fabric of one shoe and the other wasn't in too good a shape. I wore these shoes whilst in Greece and very much liked them.

Strangely enough, I don't remember what shoes I wore last year*, assuming that I wore shoes - I had problems with bloated legs and feet as well as working from home - but at the beginning of this year I knew that I would have to order shoes via the Internet (shoe shops opened only a few weeks ago). I should have read my blog where I would have discovered that I had an extra pair of shoes from 2018 that probably would fit my feet. Had I known this, I probably wouldn't have ordered, but fool that I am, I ordered two pairs of shoes size 42. Oops: when they came, I discovered that they were slightly too small and had no option but to give them away (I tried wearing one pair for a day but it was clear that they would not be suitable; they would be impossible to wear should my feet swell, as they did at the beginning of this week when we had a heat wave/sharav with temperatures approaching 40°C).

I then checked my shoe cupboard and discovered a few pairs of shoes that might be suitable candidates for wearing this year, only they are size 43; shoes too big are even worse than shoes too small. It was then that inspiration struck: why not search the Internet with the question "How to deal with shoes that are a bit too large"? This led me to an article that talked about "heel grips" that effectively reduce the size of the shoe. 

Googling "heel grips" led me to this page; I promptly ordered one set of six heel grips. As this is via Amazon and there was a delivery charge, the grips arrived yesterday, two weeks after ordering. Much better than a slow boat from China. I took from the shoe cupboard the size 43 shoes from 2019, transferred to them the thick, rubber, inner soles from the size 42 shoes from 2019, and tried them on for size. Too big. My wife added one heel grip to the left shoe and one to the right; the right hand shoe fit well but the left was still a bit loose so she added another grip to this one. Now both shoes fit well, although they feel a bit strange as there is a wire running through the middle of the heel grip that I can feel. I'll probably get used to this in time.

Moral of this story: if I am going to order shoes via the Internet, then order them size 43 and add heel grips until the shoes fit. Secondary moral: read this blog first! Then check the shoe cupboard to see what's in stock.

* I remember now what I wore: a pair of cheap 42s probably also from China, with  thin soles that used to get stuck to my feet and ride up when I would take them off.  Quite possibly the spare thick soles wouldn't fit. There were times when I couldn't wear them last year because of my feet swelling. A few weeks ago when the weather got warmer, I asked my wife to glue the soles so at least they wouldn't ride up. These shoes are ok as a reserve pair but I wouldn't like to wear them all the time. Of course, working from home means that I put on shoes for only an hour or two a day and so these shoes are good enough.