Summer Shoes - How to buy ladies summer shoes that fit perfectly

Summer is a chance to free your feet from the constraints of boots and closed toe shoes and give them a chance to breathe in open toed sandals. This season's pretty fabrics and stylish designs are a reflection of the catwalk's obsession with combining the old with the new. Wedge heels are back in and printed, floral designs are making a seasonal appearance once again alongside cutting edge leather designs.

Sandals and summer shoes still have to fit properly to be comfortable. There's nothing quite as uncomfortable as a pair of summer shoes that squeeze your toes together and rub on the heels, making that stroll on the beach or along a street a less than pleasurable experience. Most high street shops are now offering standard and wide fit shoes in their winter collections, but summer shoes tend to get overlooked. Peoples' feet don't all fit into a generic size and shape, which is why it's important for your personal comfort to pick a pair that does fit properly. Thankfully, some more forward thinking retailers are now offering a range of width fittings, giving the consumer more choice.

In times past, wide fitting shoes were confined to the ‘sensible' shoe design - comfortable, certainly, but not exactly fashionable. Now designers are realising that form and function can work symbiotically, hence the expansion of wider fitting summer shoes and sandals available to the public, particularly online.

If floral prints and ‘girlie' designs aren't your thing, there are still plenty of traditional leather summer shoes and sandals to choose from. When you're shopping for shoes that fit properly you should be looking for a shoe that fits your foot without crowding or squeezing your toes together. If the sandal has an ankle strap design, make sure that it won't constrict any movement in your foot. A strap that has to be done up tight to keep the shoe in place will become uncomfortable very quickly.

Pump style summer shoes are an alternative to the traditional sandal design but because they sit low on the foot they can sometimes rub the heel, causing painful blisters. A good summer shoe should feel as light as air from the moment you put it on, with no tightness around the heel or chafing of the delicate skin that covers the Achilles tendon. Fabric summer shoes may have less ‘give' in them than leather, so consider this when selecting your style.

Summer shoes tend to get a great deal of wear in a short time, so selecting a pair that will be comfortable from the outset will prevent costly mistakes and a collection of shoes that spends its life in the back of a wardrobe! Also remember that the summer doesn't always mean endless days of sunshine, so a pair of summer shoes that can withstand wet weather without any effects on the material is a worthwhile consideration. Leather bounces back from a soaking quickly, but fabric designs can be damaged by a drenching unless they have been treated. You may also decide to wear your summer shoes to the beach, so consider the effects of sand and salt water on the material.

The first days of summer can be a welcome relief for feet that have been confined to closed toed shoes and boots all winter, so treating your feet to a well fitting pair of summer shoes can quickly put a spring back in your step.