Articles of Local Interest

Cinderella may have worn glass slippers to the ball, but she probably had blisters by the second dance. Today, with bridal slippers ranging from four-inch heels to traditional soft slippers, what you slip your tootsies into can be much more interesting - and comfortable - than glass slippers. But with the rush to choose a dress, pick the perfect bouquet and sample wedding cakes, it's easy to forget to give those wedding slippers the consideration they deserve.

Despite the vanity that we all feel standing in a gorgeous wedding gown, comfort is the most important element of your shoes. After all, you don't want to spoil your wedding day by limping down the aisle or rubbing your feet between dances.

"Brides should look for comfort first," said Melissa Cortez, manager of Fitos, a San Antonio store that specializes in bridal shoes. "They're going to be on their feet all day long and their feet will probably swell by the end of the day. Pick something that fits."

"The first thing she needs to look for is comfort because she's in the shoes a long time," said Judy Schlillick, bridesmaids specialist for Bridal Galleria of Texas.

To make sure your shoes are a good match, choose a style or fit that you're used to. If you always wear flats, don't try four-inch heels on your wedding day. And if you're accustomed to slippers with wide, square heels, don't attempt a stiletto for the first time.

But sticking with something you're familiar with doesn't mean you can't be creative. There are dozens of styles to choose from, whether you want to show off your personality in the toe, heel, color or decoration of the slippers. Wedding shoes are wonderfully diverse, and you can find them made from everything from brocade to leather or silk. Some are perfectly simple with no adornment; others are encrusted with lace, pearls or jewels. You can also choose almost any style, from simple ballet-style slippers to ravishing high heels.

At Fitos, Cortez sells wedding tennis shoes, which are basic Keds-style tennis shoes decorated with lace and beads. At the other extreme, she also sells Victorian lace-up boots. Linda Gilcrease, owner of Puttin' on the Ritz, has even sold eight-inch platform shoes for brides who didn't want to hem their dress and wanted to seem tall.

But what's most popular varies by season. "We're selling a lot of sandals right now for summer and spring weddings," said Cortez. "People like the open toe."

"A lot of the brides will want a sandal in the summertime, and a pump in the winter," Gilcrease said. Year-round, a basic two-inch pump is the most popular. Even these simple shoes can be made to be a good match for any gown.

Naturally, any bride will need to have chosen her dress before she shops for the slippers. But it's important to start looking for your shoes once you've ordered your gown.

"Just as soon as she orders the dress or buys it, she should look for shoes," said Gilcrease. "When she starts the alterations, she needs to have the shoes she's going to wear, because of the hem. If she doesn't get the correct height of the heel, she takes a chance on the hem being too long or too short."

She also suggests that if you haven't bought your shoes by the time of alterations, you should pick a pair you already own of the right height. Even if they're not identical, if the heel is the same height as the pair you're planning to wear, your alterations will be correct.

For many brides, choosing the gown is a major project: once it's done, it's normal to want to relax and enjoy your decision. Fortunately, picking out your shoes should be much simpler, now that your have your gown as a reference.

"Even though for most brides, you can't even see the shoe, you want something that makes you feel good and complements the dress," Schlillick said. For a light, spring-like dress, many brides will choose sandals. And depending on the fabric of your gown, you can probably find shoes made from the same fabric. Now that many gowns aren't a traditional white, it's much easier to find shoes the same color, even for off-white or silk dresses.

"A lot of times, even if the dress is white, it may not be 'white-white.' It may be diamond or off-white," said Cortez. "The shoes just need to complement the dress, to blend in."

Fitos, which sells dyeable shoes, asks that its customers try to bring a good color photograph of the gown or, better yet, a swatch of the fabric. Brides who have gowns that are an unusual tint or a natural fabric find that dying shoes is the best way to get a good match. "We try to get as close as possible," Cortez said. "Some dresses now have different colors, even taupe colors. Usually if that's at the bottom, we try to blend it."

"If they need the shoes dyed, they definitely need to have a swatch of material," Gilcrease said. "We mix the dyes in-house, so we need a sample to go by."

If your dress is a standard color or you're not planning to have your slippers dyed, shopping is even easier. "The only thing she needs to take with her is stockings, unless she's going to go without a stocking," Schlillick said. "Sometimes it can also throw off the fit."

Though panty hose may make the difference in how a shoe fits and feels, the shoe sellers disagree on whether you should take the time to break in slippers after you've purchased them.

"Normally, it just depends on how it feels on them," Cortez said. "You really don't have time to break it in."

Gilcrease, however, recommends trying to break them in, but not going to extremes. "The thing about most bridal shoes is they're not going to break in if they're made out of a fabric. But leather will stretch and mold to your foot. You might want to try them on and walk around. A lot of people have never put on a heel except for the wedding."

Schlillick suggests a regular "breaking in" routine. "They need to wear them at least 45 minutes a day everyday until the time of the wedding."

But they all do agree on one fact: "If a shoe is not comfortable in the store, don't buy it," says Schlillick. "It's not going to be comfortable."