FastFreddy2

I got a "100 free listings" offer this weekend, that I need to use. Not that it saves a lot of money, but I guess it adds up over time. So busy at home at the moment though .... New Look used to be my favourite shop for shoes. I don't see so many styles I want to these days. I suppose it's because I already have so many similar styles to those they sell? Better than buying off an auction site though, as they've a good returns policy. I've taken other bits back in the past too, and usually get a 'no questions' refund. Sure I haven't mentioned it already, so ..... Was in a Blue Inc store a couple of weeks ago. Bought some heels having tried one on (discreetly) in store. Was a 'Truffle' branded PU court. Nice shoe. I went to the sales counter to buy, and I suppose I may have been spotted trying a shoe on (or not) but I'd been quite brazen about the returns policy (store credit - no refund). So the chap I'd spoken to, who had put the shoes behind the counter was still there, as were the two girls who had been serving another customer as I arrived - money in hand. The 'senior' girl says to me; "These a nice present for someone?" which I took to be a direct enquiry as to; were they for me? Tempted as I was to say "Yes, for me." I settled for; "They're going straight onto Ebay" which seemed to take the wind out of her sails a little.... While I love to perform to an audience, I thought it a bit weird practically every member of staff was watching me buy .... I also tried a high heel sandal in a 'barely there' style with ankle strap. Fitted well, but where to wear? So that pair stayed in the shop. As it turns out, I swapped over the Truffle courts for a pair of shoes with another high heel wearing man. They were nice shoes though. Came up a little tight for a proper UK8 but I try to wear a 7 when I can, as they tend to stay on where an 8 won't, (in a court style). In fact I recently got a pair of faux suede courts from Primarni, with a size 7 fitting better (more comfortable) than an 8. Strange but true. The upper on the 8's actually cut into the top of my left (smaller) foot. At the moment, I haven't worked out if I'll keep the Primarni shoes. I don't really have a lot of use for courts - though these look nice with shiny leggings or 'faux' leather trousers. Which I seem to buy and also don't wear .....

Great thread! Thanks for including your collection. For those who (like me) don't have a Facebook presence in any meaningful sense, nor an Instagram or Twitter account .... Internet link >> here << Lots of lovely/amusing pictures of shoes and heels. Sadly for me, I have fallen deeply in love with one of the contributors. She is easy to spot ....

In another life, I used to be a welder. Soldering holds no fears for me. I've even done a little Classic Car restoration and used lead around repaired wheel arches. (That had complimentary/joking comments made about how little lead ended up on the floor.) I only ever use end feed joints and have yet to use plastic anywhere, despite assurances it has a 20 year life ..... The wheeled pipecutters I use, all cause the bore of the copper pipe to be reduced. I have priced up some swages on an auction site, with a view to using these to return the bores to their original size. I want to avoid noise in the 15mm (mains) bore, and blockages/resistance in the 22/28mm. At this stage, I expect to replace almost every bit of copper pipework in the house, barring a couple of 'final' runs to 3 radiators. Everything else - going to be new, including replacement or every rad, and complete re-positioning of at least 4. Any wonder the two tradesmen I'm in dialogue with, both say they haven't got time for such a large job?

Reading up on the 'technical' blurb, gas molecules cause friction against the interior of the pipes. High volume demand can be impeded by long runs in smaller bores. (It says here ....) If I'm honest I was slightly aware of a similar problem with water. I had thought that where I had to separate CH supplies to front/back of the house, I would uses 28mm "T's" to keep turbulence/noise on the otherwise 22mm pipe runs, to a minimum. I will use long curves on water mains supply where possible, for the same reason. The only place I will use cheap/easy to use pre-formed soldered bends will be where I've no other choice. I kind of got this as an idea, from some of the current pipework. There is 22mm pipe from the current boiler, but where it changes direction and splits into the two CH pipe loops (front/back of the house) the pipework is 28mm. Originally the boiler was in the middle of the house, hence the back/front split. Since I don't want to cut any more of the joists, I may well use most of the old established route for radiator supply. That front/back split will still have to exist somewhere. At the moment - and possibly for the previous 40+ years of systems existence in this house, we have known when the heating becomes active. It sounds like, and unusually I am not exaggerating here, - like someone is hitting a floor somewhere with a pin hammer (or stamping a foot on the floor). It only lasts for about 10 seconds or so, but is obviously some pipework expanding as the warm water goes through it for the first time. I think the technical term for it is; 'banging'. Apparently many causes ..... Pump working too quickly, rads partially blocked .... but I think I have found the source, and it's a pipe run with zero clearance on the joists. Nothing unusual here about that. If fact there are still 3 places I know of, where walking on floorboards includes walking on water pipes snug up against the boards above them. The new system will completely ensure these pipes are redundant and will be removed. A job I look forward to, with relish! I tend to let pipework float, or rest with plenty of clearance for movement. The plumber has advised me too much clearance can be bad as it can create vibration, especially with main pressure being turned on and off. The gas man has told me pipework resting on joists should be made quiet by liberal use of felt. Not a bad idea, if I can find some .... I have been using thicker gauge plastic from things like detergent bottles. Credit card shaped plastic card, now used for all sorts of things like membership cards, have been of great use too. Felt has likely greater sound deadening qualities though. I have few fears of the installation, other than that I might have with cutting pipe to the right length, the monotony of deburring and possibly swaging back to full size any copper pipework crimped by the cutting process.... My big problem is motivation really. I always work better when I've someone around to 'compete' with. (Or 'show off' to. )

If I had my way, I might pay someone else to be doing the work, there are funds for it. However, my experience suggests for every conscientious tradesman providing a good good at realistic money, there's 50-100 who don't want to do anything bigger than change a tap or 'cowboys' who do less than they should knowing the customer won't know. The chap who installed our current boiler, put it in the garage, and his performance is typical. The 22mm hot water circuit that runs the length of the garage (a cold place in winter, obviously) was not lagged. Nor were any of the soldered joints cleaned. I'm 99% sure the internal water stop-cock was as 'frozen' when the new boiler was installed, as it was when we arrived 9 months later. It broke before it would turn. That takes some doing, and I'm sure it takes more than 9 months of non-use to achieve that 'welded' status. Although he is familiar with the building and the set up here, he's not a contender. The people I had lined up, are just too busy with work queued unless I can wait 3-4 months. I have quite a small window of time when Mrs Freddy is having some time off and we can live without hot water if we need to. The changes here are so significant, I would need at least 2 tradesmen booked for the same period, and they would HAVE to be here at pretty much the same time. I struggle to get people here just to quote.... For example: I had a plumber lined up to change the frozen stop-cock shortly after we moved in. On the phone, he sounded ideal, and a date was booked. I emailed a picture to show him what to expect to make sure he had all the equipment necessary to complete the job. Once he saw the installation the boiler installer had done, I got black-balled. Plumber wouldn't pick up the phone, nor answer text nor emails. When the 'new' gas man saw the house plumbing the other day, his term was "it looks like it was thrown together". I don't doubt it. If I've learned one thing, it's that 'good' tradesmen, are ALWAYS busy. Correction. The pipework looks to be iron. The joints look to be 'sand cast' iron. The pipework I refer to is unlikely to be drawn steel. I have tried to confirm either way, and so far been unsuccessful in finding out conclusively what the material might be.. I have used the term Black Iron to describe what might (technically) be ductile or malleable iron. I and some others refer to this as black iron because of the appearance. Any rust that forms, is not orange/red, but tends to be black? (In fact seems a bit sooty? And maybe why I wouldn't have immediately disassociated it from cast.) Black Iron is also a reference to mild steel coated in a black bitumen type paint. I had thought steel corroded faster than iron because of the carbon content, and you don't want gas pipes corroding... But again, I'm not finding that easy to resolve either way.

My mistake, I should have checked ...... I remembered it being a re-badged quality boiler, and for some reason I had it in mind it was a "Main". Duh! It looks like I bought the right one, anyway, so not all bad. I bought the 30kw version because it was pennies more expensive than the recommended 24kw version, but the DHW output was notably higher if you have the mains flowrate/pressure, and we have. While I'm more of a bath person, Mrs Freddy is very much a shower person. If a boiler change is being justified somewhat on the strength of a good shower, I decided to get what I could out of the budget. That said, ANY mains shower will be more powerful than the trickle she has to manage with at the moment. Only little niggle about the 30kw version (gas fitter has told me today) is the pipework leading away from the gas meter needs to be 28mm because of the draw from a 30kw over (say) a 24kw boiler. While new supply pipework was always going to be the order of the day due to an 'executive' decision being made to re-site the boiler, "the budget" is less happy that 28mm has to be used. What is more weird about it, is that I have seen modern gas supplies fitted to homes using 15mm copper pipe running along exterior brickwork. Don't yet understand why 28mm might be needed the other side of the meter? There was some mention of gas/air pre-mixing prior to the burner, but time didn't allow for a full explanation.... The current boiler is a Worcester/Bosch Greenstar 18Ri system boiler around 6 years old come October. I think it has an 18/19kw output. Our home needs less than 10kw to heat, so plenty big enough for us. It's supposed to heat a three bed house with one bathroom. I'm probably tempting fate by saying it hasn't skipped a beat while we've used it. In the very unlikely event I might time it right, a prospective buyer could see the boiler working before they removed it. Obviously, I'd have the payment for it before it was touched. The plumber (who introduced me to his mate the gas fella) has had a look and said it's worth something, though no money was mentioned. It, and the pump, could be had for £100 (in my mind) as I have no use for it at all. That said, even as spare parts I would hope it's worth £100, but I have no idea. I did have a little look on the auction site some time ago at what sort of money used boiler can go for, but it was no use really. Location and demand in the sellers location seemed to make an enormous difference in bids and bidding. Selling in a large city got better money than the middle of no-where as travelling/transportation costs are a barrier. Bottom line is, any money for the old one, is going to be a bonus. If it wasn't for the fact we have rotten pipework in difficult to replace locations, or the distance the current HW tank is from the new kitchen sink location, the boiler wouldn't be getting replaced. But pipework (some rotten), storage tank condition (old), storage tank location (as far away from the new kitchen sink as it's possible to get and still be in the house) all make for a fairly troublesome situation. It would (on balance) be more expensive to keep the old system and make it safe (eg water leak free) than completely replacement it with a brand new combi, given I will be doing the great bulk of the work (I now know ). Even paying a plumber, it would still be cheaper to replace rather than refurb the old system pipework and storage tank. The REALLY attractive thing about the combi (other than saving money as we'll only heat water we need to use) is the lack of a cold water storage tank. I have been in at least 3 houses like ours (possibly four), and every one has the same cracked ceiling in the same place for the same reason. The cold water storage tank is directly above the bathroom. The emptying/refilling cycle seems to have put (or does put) a lot a creep stress on the ceiling plasterwork. I have yet to see a bathroom ceiling in this house style, without a crack or cracks in it. I have a solution, but that tank being absent will not only remove the cause, but make the permanent remedy significantly easier. It'll also make installing the new bathroom extractor, significantly easier too. As an aside, the light tube I want to install at some stage (that Mrs Freddy DOESN'T want at some stage) will be easier to install if there is no water tank blocking the tube pathway.

Weeeellllll....... I bought a combi boiler, but not the Main one as suggested. Not sure why I started looking at them, (possibly looking at boiler related threads on DIY type forums) but settled for an Ideal Logic Plus 30kw. version. My heating engineer mate said I didn't need a 30kw, and a 24kw would suffice, but the 30kw gave a marginally better heated water flow on the domestic HW side. The difference between the Logic and the Logic + is that the "Plus" comes with a seven year warranty, where the standard boiler comes with a 2 year makers warranty. The price difference wasn't great, about £120 which I think is good value for an additional 5 years of parts and labour peace-of-mind. The price with flue should have been £800, but I got a voucher for 10% discount making the 'buy' price £720 delivered with flue. The flue is the kicker and can sometimes cost stupid money (IMO) like £80 .... I might get a couple of quid for my old system boiler when it comes off the wall, as it looks brand new. All I need now, is to get it fitted!

I've been trying to think of a way to demonstrate/illustrate the difference in walking between a traditional heel, and a set back heel, and haven't come up with a solution. Ahhh! Eureka! It's not the angle, (as "Heels" suggests), because the 'angle of approach' is determined by the wearer. How far you (any of us) step forward when we walk is determined by our natural gait. True a heel will change that, but on like-for-like shoe heights, our step length will be all but uniform. (I'm sure). So lets agree the (leg+ankle+foot) approach angle is the same, for any given shoe height. Both styles of heels shoes land on the heel, followed by the foot. What is the difference? The length of the radius! (Length of the shoe.) Which in turn gives us the length of the arc travelled by the toe to sit on the floor. The greater the arc, the more work (harder) it is for the ankle to cope. [For example, the landing angle on a size 5 shoe might be 30 degrees. Some person same shoe style but a size 10, when the show lands at 30 degrees still, the toe of the size 10 has to travel further because the arc is longer.] Alternatively, (turning this concept on its head a bit), the shoe approach angle - governed by our physical capabilities, will have the shoe angle of descent being quite similar if not same. BUT the shoe with a set back heel will touch the floor first because the longer shoe must land first before the shorter shoe. (The inclined heel allowing the heel to come down at an ever-so-slightly less acute angle. this might be 50 degrees with a traditional heel, but 45 degrees with a set back heel). The "felt" difference in the two styles could be as much as ⅜ of an inch with this 5 inch model. What I'm suggesting is the set-back heel, not only looks higher, but in striding forward it feels higher too? Add to that "felt" additional height (as it can only be 'felt' since both heel types are actually the same height), the increase in the arc length required to land the toe on the shoe with the set back heel, and the difficulty in walking in the newer style heel is compounded. So conclusion to the "theory" .... A set-back heel will land earlier than a traditional heel. (Looked at in profile the heel will seem a tad lower on landing.) A set-back heel demands a longer arc to land the toe of the shoe. I'll try to demonstrate this in some photo's over the weekend. Having re-read the text, I'm now having third thoughts. Why? In the text above, I added (when re-reading), the example of the size 5 vs size 10 shoe. It's the part that is shown in grey rather than black. I used it, intending to indicate the length of the shoe matters. But does it matter? To an ankle - the rotating bit that has to accommodate the heel-to-toe landing operation - it understands only angles, not length. I suppose that overall there must be some difference (affect) somewhere, because that longer arc needs time to happen. I'm tired. It's 2 a.m. I'll have to 'over think' this again, perhaps over the weekend when I've done some photo's. As an aide-memoire to myself ..... Ankle is a hinge. (Ball of foot is a hinge.) High heels are levers or hinges? Set back heel is worse lever? Set back heel increases leg length directly, but traditional heel removes some of that disadvantage Does the suggested 5 degree change/advantage of a traditional heel, affect/change the toe landing arc significantly enough to greatly improve the shoe "walkability"? Inclined heel would have been developed during the time when a stiletto heel was at its most popular. Surely the makers knew a thing or two about the benefits to the owner. Who would want to buy a shoe that was difficult to walk in? Back in the day, the wearer might be wearing this style of shoe all day.....

Any excuse. I'm flattered you refer to it as research. In some ways it might be just that. Let me explain ..... I can't be sure why "we" wear high heels, but I know I enjoy wearing them, a lot. The consequence of that is I have quite a few. Too many actually, but them I've always been something of a collector - when finances have allowed. So I have a range of heels, different heights, different styles .... 30 years ago I could wear a 5½ inch heeled shoe all evening, with no complaint from my feet. The court shoes were made by what we know as The Little Shoe Box. I'm pretty certain the lasts, and the construction of the shoe always had men in line to be the wearer. I got the shoes I could wear all evening from a shop called Covergirl in Islington London. They were a "theatrical" shop primarily, for showgirls officially, and TV's I found out after a few visits. My age, and an increase in shoe size (my body weight is up 30% from back then) means I have larger feet, and those very wearable shoes were sold last year. I believe the 6" Pleaser 420's were modelled on the "5 inch" version of the LSB courts. Both had/have 5½" heels. I can walk (ish) in the 420's though not as elegantly as I used to 30 years ago. Conclusion: I have/can walk in a heel up to 5½ inches without looking like someone wearing heels for the first time...... As long as I don't try to run. Historically, I'd struggled to walk in some shoes I'd bought from Schuh, with a 5 inch heel. A similar design from ALDO had always been really easy to walk in. As far as I could tell, the big difference was the angle of the rise to the heel. Two shoes for the same length foot, but one with a gentle slope, verses one with a steep or curvy slope? Possibly the 'gentle slope' shoe is longer, meaning the foot is not so arched? This arching making the bones in the foot feel like they are in a shoe with 6" heels, not 5? Anyway, when I owned them, this was the thinking. Even now, many of my high heeled shoes are only fractions of an inch under 5 inches, and the ones in my avatar ARE 5 inches high. I have walked miles in them, spent hours in them. The 5" Schuh courts were always an enigma. Bit disappointing as they were lovely shoes. Here is a comparison, Schuh verses ALDO. Height difference is almost indiscernible. Note the stronger (deeper) curve on the arch of the Schuh pair. But was there more to it than the arch profile? Early last year, I got to buy some heel-less shoes from Primarni. While the heel is obviously high thanks to a platform, the rise is deceptively high too. They are really quite pleasant to wear .... If only I could keep them on my feet ... The really surprising thing though, is despite the heel height and rise, they are easy to walk in. I started to wonder if the position of a heel tip (first point of contact) in relation to the back of the heel of my foot while I strode forward, might affect how easy or difficult a heel might be to walk in? To help decide, I started to take note of the respective positions of heel tips/most rearward point of the heels on my shoes. While hard to quantify, it does seem to make a difference. More pictures; I've tried to identify a median on the rise, and show the distance of the heel tip from the back of the shoe. Believe me, the ALDO shoes were so easy to walk in, even the female shop assistant who watched me walk up and down the store in them, couldn't understand why I didn't buy them. (Went back in the sales ~ another story already told.) The difference was really significant. Both pairs shown, now long gone, but I have since bought some of these: Kurt Geiger "Cilla". The heels are a tad over 5 inches, maybe 5¼ inches. Impossible for me to walk in ..... But notice the position of the heel tip in relation the the back of the heel. Since the new(er) Pleaser 20's are virtual copy of this shoe, I can be fairly confident I won't be able to walk in the 20's either. These have quite a gentle rise, with a shallow arch, so why so hard to walk in? Surely it must be the position of the heel tip when I stride forward.... In my mind's eye, I can see how the more vertical heel (KG Cilla and Pleaser 20's) might need more ankle rotation to get my toes landed, but how to demonstrate this .... Thoughts anyone?

There was a company selling Pleaser shoes on the auction site at ridiculously low prices. I know because I bought about 4 pairs off them. All but 1 pair have been re-sold (a pair Mrs Freddy 'owns' but has only ever worn once - to my recollection). They were typically £20-£29 for shoes and boots respectively. Company might have been called SkyHigh or something similar. These were even cheaper than American imports. At the time Pleaser boots advertised with a 5 inch heel, didn't have a 5 inch heel, but a little over 4½ inches. Same with the 6 inch heels, something a little over 5½ inches. The pair retained by Mrs Freddy are some patent ankle boots with 5½ inch heels. Very attractive, but not really going out shoes, which is why I sold my pair on. The seller was very busy. There was at least two versions of the company, one starting after the other folded. I suspect they didn't pay VAT or taxes on any profits, disappearing when it came time to 'settle up'. I've experienced the same "unfair" competition myself, where someone sold the same product as my (then) company. They didn't pay any import duty/VAT, nor company tax on profits. Consequently they could sell the product for the same money it cost me to get them in the building. Fortunately for me, I had significantly better cash-flow so I was never out of stock, where he was nearly always 'waiting for new stock'. Pleaser now do a range of shoes I think are a lot more stylish, though I suspect harder to walk in. The older style (420's) had the heel tip closer to the toe than the current styles. The further away from the toe the heel tip is, the harder I find it to land my heel and then rotate my ankle. With the heel tip landing position slightly forward of the heel, the landing/rotation is noticeably easier. Taken to it's ultimate position, I have found "heel-less" shoes to be very easy to walk in The 420 vs the new 20: I hope to own a version of the 20's at some stage, but given the position of the heel, I know I won't be able to walk in them.

Do you mean "Pleaser" shoes?

The shoes arrived from Debenhams. Oddly, in a Debenhams box, rather than a box inside a bag. And once again, despite security tape ensuring the box was sealed, the box had been damaged or tampered with. I'm starting to think the delivery lady is the nosey one ..... I'm going to order up some more stuff soon. If it arrives damaged, I'm going to photograph it and then refuse delivery. That'll spook someone......

We had some warmish weather on the weekend including Saturday 27th June. Went to Westfield in London as I am desperate to find a pair of the Faith mules shown further up the thread. No luck with those, but did find some others at very little money. It was a worthwhile trip. Faced with going home at 10.30pm or going deeper into London for a stroll along the river, I foolishly decided I wanted to give some other (higher) shoes a run out during the hours of darkness, so we went to Waterloo Bridge. What should have been a 20 minute drive, took well past an hour. By the time we arrived Mrs Freddy was on her 'last legs' with her feet not liking the warmer weather. While doing so under protest, she joined me for a walk along The Strand and into Covent Garden before returning to the car and the hour journey home. Even that was fraught because of the unusually high amount of traffic. The were two big gigs going on in London during Saturday, and the 'clever money' would have been on avoiding anywhere in London's West End. Some days I get an idea in my head that won't go away. A bit of warm weather, long days ..... Just can't stop myself. Just to keep readers up to speed -again- June did warm up a bit, but not much. Windy, with largely unpredictable weather, though mostly cool and dry. As above, the end of June saw temperatures rising .... July arrived with a 'bang' and Wednesday the 1st achieving the highest recorded temperature for the month ever, at 37 degrees Centigrade. That's 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. So hot and humid that even at 10pm the outside temperature/humidity was unpleasant. Sleep was difficult. I've been asked if I want to go out for a 'play' on Friday .... Not likely unless we get cooler weather. My car has some basic air-con, but once the interior furniture gets hot, the air-con struggles to cool the air adequately while travelling. It makes driving unpleasant. I much prefer the dry moderate weather we had in June. Mrs Freddy loves the heat, but them expects to lying down (on a lounger) with someone bringing her the occasional iced drink.....

I've double-checked the photo's, and as much as I look, the larger format pictures don't reveal any labelling at all. The photo-set is in a directory called "Pleaser", if that reduces the options at all? I did find a distinguishing mark on the back of the left heel cover though. I'm hoping it'll be unique and still there.

I vividly remember buying a pair of shoes from a local Barratts .... I'm pretty sure the lady there knew they were for me, but I eluded to them being for someone else .... Still not sure why I bothered, other than I quite fancied her and she was roughly my age.... (Vanity then?) Funny about 'shopping' times. I was back in Debenhams in Westfield last night. Nothing really there for me, but for devilment I decided to try on some courts. Place wasn't that busy, but got busy ..... I was actually trying on the courts when it became obvious a young-ish black girl (mentioned only because she likely won't have had much exposure to men wearing girls shoes) looked at me trying on the shoes, twice, as she walked past. I looked back, with a "what?" look on my face like me trying on ladies courts was the most natural thing in the world. As I later told Mrs Freddy (when discussing whether to travel further into London on one of the busiest nights of the year there) I could be dead in a week/month. No time for putting stuff off. "Do and be damned" someone once said? Anyway, the West End was very very very busy. Parts were literally gridlocked. But we went. Getting out was pretty bad too. Life is too short ....

I'll be able to confirm in a couple of days, but I believe anything from Debenhams comes in a sealed black and gold Debenhams bag. The two boxes that were opened (actually three out of 4 boxes delivered I now remember) were from House of Fraser and clearly marked with their branding. One of those packages went to a next door neighbour. The box wasn't damaged, but there was tape closing the box that was marked "security sealed" with the HoF markings, indicating the box had been effectively closed off by the retailer. When I got the box from my neighbour, the top had been pressed open enough so the dispatch note could be pulled out and read. The two items listed were women's size 8 shoes ..... The fourth item I only just remembered, was some shrink-wrap I had sent to a commercial address, and clearly marked for an employee there. Despite this, the box had been tampered with enough so there was an opportunity for smaller items to be removed if someone chose to. Nothing taken nor damaged, but it is slightly annoying that some people out there think my business, is their business.....

Yeah, their 'click and collect' service seems odd. I put some shoes in "my basket" and an offer came up to say I could get a £5 voucher if I topped up my click and collect order up to £30..... So I trawled the site for a couple more items to order, which I then added to "my basket". Yay, breached the £30 barrier, I thought spending enough to effectively get some discount? Nope. The other two items were not available via collect at store so they'd have to be delivered. Nuts! Only upside is that I got free delivery on the order as I'd spent over £30. I would prefer store collection. Two of the last three deliveries had the contents checked out before I got them when respective households took them in for me. Sealed bags don't get checked, but larger cardboard boxes have been. I can't know who is looking inside, but it's not a very nice thing to do. Not sure how the driver even got a signature on one package (that should have been delivered to a family member who is seldom out) as the people who took the package in, can't speak English.......

I hope you ordered them promptly. Now 'sold out' on-line of the 9's, though the other sizes are now at £12.

Not been near any shops recently, so hadn't managed to drop off any shoes I'd planned on letting go until yesterday. (More going today.) One pair was by Nine West, and called O-Lamis. It's funny what people remember ..... My walking companion (who some of you have met) made a remark about the Nine West ankle boots I passed on. She reminded me we chased all over London and the Home Counties buying up every pair I could - at the time they were on sale. Might have been late 2008 early 2009, or thereabouts. I know for sure I owned at least four pairs at one stage, at £42 a pair..... Reason being, I thought I'd never need another pair of heeled shoes to wear out. They have a rubber wedge heel, so super discreet, with no audible tell-tale clip-clop as with other shoes with a harder plastic heel. Even now it seems not such a good idea to let them go (and she was VERY surprised I did) but I've not had them on my feet for at least 3 years .... Why keep them? Generally, I wear a heel with a 4½ inch heel (or higher) now, where before my walking heel height was 4 inches. I sold at least one brand new pair on an auction site - maybe two pairs. (I can't remember.) And thanks to a retailer briefly declaring there was no time limit on their returns, I got refunds for two more pairs ...... (One pair was easy to return, the second pair was a little more problematic, but I got credit for them anyway.) That left me with a pair I'd worn, that maybe I could have sold, but frankly to 'agg' of selling shoes that don't make much money isn't really worth it. I'll be taking two brand new pairs to the charity shop later today for the same reason. It's a better use of my time to just let them go. Plus -of course- donating them to charities (who will sell them) is good for my soul. Got some other bits to leave there too, so I'll sleep well tonight.

Given what you have in your collection already, I'd be inclined to agree. I had optimistically thought you might be an 8 wide in the hope you'd be able to access a greater range of shoes. Just about all sellers do a size 8, and many are now doing a "wide" fitting too. But if 7 out of 8 of the size 9 shoes fit, I'd say you had the right size ... If you are going shopping and haven't tried already, I would still suggest a trial with a Primark 8. Their shoes are not expensive, and despite the low price, they seem to be quite well made. Heel heights can be surprisingly high sometimes and in-store returns are easy/quick too. No downside other than finding an 8 in a style you like. P.S. While doing something I shouldn't be .... (checking shoe prices) I was reminded that Debenhams do shoes in size 9. This is significant because the own a number of brand names that had gone to the wall. like Faith. They currently have one of their many sales going on, and some of the shoes in the sale are surprisingly inexpensive. Not a Debenhams brand but .... very similar to the ALDO ones you returned. >> Here << Apparently, available in a UK9 at £17.

My experience of New Look is reasonably good. The one "fail" on the sizing was a high top 'plimsoll' wedge that I needed a marked UK9 to get my UK8 feet into. Other than that I would expect a New Look 9, to be a UK9 unlike the ALDO US11/UK9½ which doesn't seem to be an accurate conversion at all on their part. Primark come up large I find, as has several Matalan (Fiore) styles I own or have tried. My ultimate benchmark is Marks and Spencer. Their sizing seem to be pretty consistent, whatever style I've put on my feet. I've just had a look at their web site and it looks like they only go to UK8. I'm wondering what size your feet might actually be. Is there no chance you might be an 8½ wide? Certainly if New Look 9 is too big, I'm wondering if a Primark 8 (which I find quite large) could be a better fit? The notion is that one or several retailers might have a reliable sizing regime you could depend on, for buying off the auction site. Although I find their shoes poor quality, Matalan come up a bit on the large size too. I often get in their 7's. I managed to get the KG's I was after, much to my surprise. And slight embarrassment ... as Mrs Freddy was watching me bid ....

If you've learned something then it may not have been poorly used time, but it would seem you knew at the time of writing you had a £3-90 escape route .... I doubt you will ever be able to 'force' a return of shoes under "SNAD" unless you buy something advertised as blue, and they send red. The critical word is "significantly" (not as described). Anything that is subjective - meaning open to debate, surely can't qualify. ** Sizing on shoes is ALWAYS a difficult issue unless you are sold a US8 as a UK8 which I have seen in retail shops twice. Possibly a get-out route might be a shoe advertised as wide-fit, that actually comes up as slim? But then a woman's wide fit might still feel 'slim' on a man's foot, so still subjective? These days I seldom bid on shoes unless they have the "14 day returns" or UNLESS I already know the sizing. I have my eye on some KG shoes that I know will fit as I have an almost identical pair. I'm looking at some others I've never tried on before, and chances are I won't buy because I expect them to come up small. Why? Because 2 or 3 other pairs offered by the seller are a size 7, so I think it fair to assume she's a 7. While the shoes are offered as an 8, she likely would have bought the 8's having tried them on first, and found they either fitted, or almost fitted. The thing that will catch me, is that they aren't expensive by any means ... So I remain tempted. This has been the (my) route to many disappointing purchases, and the subsequent effort to then move them on with more accurate information on sizing and fit provided in a listing...... More often than not, carrying a financial penalty. As for ALDO sizing .... I have now many times, tried on styles while they are in the shops, and ascertained my size in the style I liked because their sizing regime seems to be so fluid. I then buy in the sales, or as in the case with those in my avatar, bought my third pair new and unused from an auction site knowing they would fit. Bottom line, you are older/wiser, though likely £3-90 poorer for the experience. On balance I would say a fairly inexpensive lesson. You might want to tell the seller when you return them, they come up small. Looks like they either had two pairs of these, or the previous buyer to you had the same problem? Who knows, if you are nice enough about returning the shoes, you might even "guilt" them into helping with the return costs ..... ** Closed the post and then realised a better shoe/boot example of 'significantly' would be shoes sold as leather, actually being made of PU/synthetic material. Or possibly sold as one brand, but being a clone to that or close copy to the better known brand perhaps....

ALDO do sell shoes they retail as 9½. I think the box belongs to the shoe, and has been advertised correctly. Note on the box the "-" (dash) after the 42 and again after the 9? This is how ALDO mark the HALF sizes on their shoes. For example: The drawing matches too: ALDO Juliette so I would tend to side on the advertiser as the shoe being as accurately described as they could be. Not what you want to hear I know, but I have many times indicated, sellers aren't always wearers, able to specifically test the sizing accuracy of retailers claims. I'm 100% sure there will be a marking on that shoe somewhere on the inside - assuming it hasn't been worn off. If they are new, the size is usually on one side down from the heel, or lower down on the inner side or side of the upper that would otherwise cover your toes. They would HAVE to be marked somewhere, and it's quite likely it won't be marked 9½ but just 9. I know this because I did once buy a style, and I needed a 9 to 9½ to get them to fit my size 8 (some styles size 7) feet. I found the style in both 9 and 9½ although ALDO assured me there were no 9's made in that style. Bottom line, the sizing on this particular style were all over the place. They were relative to each other, but not to the usual UK sizing convention. Here is a link to the full (long) story from 2011. Style is called Chupka. Only yesterday, I wrote this .... This problem came as no surprise to me, given the experience I had with a lace up boot style from them. I have two other pairs of leather boots from ALDO with very wearable heels. They are size 7 and fit me very well. I would respectfully suggest you consult the original seller about a return. If they are reluctant, ask about a receipt. ALDO will take returns for at least a year (may be longer I can't remember). Doing this may also help your claim regarding 'not as described' though I personally don't expect you to get much success. What might happen, provided nobody gets rude or angry, is that the auction house might give you a full refund on a 'no fault' basis. Meaning, the seller did nothing wrong, but the auction house will do a refund because you plainly can't use the goods. It does happen. P.S. For the record, a US11 is unlikely to be a 'proper' UK9½ whatever the box says. Pleaser for example (or UK importers at least) describe their US11 as a UK8. I would say 8½ as their US11 comes up a bit loose on me, but Pleaser advertisers will class a US11 as a UK8. I think Nine West describe a US11 as an 8½. EU42½ on a Marks and Spencer shoe, would also be UK 8½. Surely I'm not alone in knowing this? That being the case, ALDO (not the seller) are a size out, and that would usually be within 'acceptable limits' with retailers. With ALDO, I could wear anything from a 7 to a 9, which is a 2 size range.... P.P.S. I see you've had them for less than a week, and you bought them from a business seller who will take them back. You are trying to save yourself £3-90 on return carriage? I wish I had known that before writing, editing pictures, finding links. I've spent 2 hours on a discussion that has you trying to find a way to save yourself £3-90 ...... Disappointing.

Sounds like you have the same size feet as Mrs Freddy. (Not jealous, much! ) And any shoe that fits me will be too large for you. The closet thing I've had of 'mine', that might have fitted was a pair of these: They were marked as a UK8 by ALDO, but were universally criticised as coming up a size small. I can usually get into a 7, though walking in them is something else. These came up a good 7, and because of the tiny/narrow toebox, I even suggested they might suit a 6½ when I sold them. Buyer was very pleased, so I didn't have the sizing wrong .... For some reason they felt higher than they looked too. Which is saying something given the heel was over 5" high as I remember. Your shoe size, which you've mentioned before, surprises me. I tried on these: when I visited, and spent the better part of two hours photographing your collection for you. I remember they fitted like the proverbial glove, even though they didn't have a size printed on them anywhere. They MUST be too big for you?

Probably. If I remember, you are a 6 to 6½, and a 7 only on a very hot day?