Keep the shape of the shoes you love

Every pair of shoes starts to lose its shape the first evening you take it off. The leather is warm and damp from the day, and it dries in whatever shape it is left in. A ballerina flat has almost nothing to hold it up, so it suffers first: the toe curls, the sides cave in and the crease across the top hardens into a crack. A shoe tree is the simplest way to stop that.

The collection

The Ballerina Tree

Flat heel height, sizes 34 to 42

SGD 120

Cut for the classic two-tone ballerina and flats of the same build. A low, long shape that fills the toe without stretching the sides, split at the front to hold the width, and left unfinished so the wood can draw out the moisture before it dries into a fold.

Heel height

Size

Out of stock for the moment. Leave an address and you will hear the day it is back.

Tell me when it is ready

Made

Unfinished wood. No lacquer, wax or varnish, so it can take moisture out of the lining.
A flat profile made for ballerinas, not a men's tree with the heel cut down.
Split toe with a spring, so it holds the width without forcing the side seams.
Smooths the crease across the toes while the shoe dries.
Sold as a pair, left and right, marked with the size.

The material

Shoe trees and your shoes

A good pair of shoes can last for decades. What decides it is mostly what happens between wears, in the hours after you take them off.

Why shoes lose their shape

Feet give off moisture all day, and the lining soaks it up. Leather dries in whatever shape it is left in, so a shoe kicked off at the door dries with its toe curled up and its sides slumped. Do that every evening and the creases set, the leather cracks along them and the shoe never quite fits the same way again.

What a shoe tree does

It puts the shoe back to the shape it was made in while it dries. The toe is held flat, the width is held out, the crease across the top is pressed smooth, and the heel keeps its line. Put in every time, it is the difference between a pair that looks worn after one season and a pair that still looks new after ten.

Why an unfinished tree

A bare wooden tree does two jobs at once: it smooths the shoe and it draws the damp out of the lining into the wood, where it leaves overnight. Lacquer a tree to make it handsome and it can only do the first half. That is why ours are left plain.

Choosing the right tree

A tree should fill the shoe without stretching it. A men's tree pushed into a flat stretches the sides and lifts the toe; a loose one does nothing at all. Choose your usual shoe size, and choose by heel height, because a flat, a slingback and a court shoe are three different shapes. We start with the flat; medium and high heel trees are on the way.

Using it

How to use one

Put the tree in while the shoe is still warm. That is when the leather is softest and the moisture is still in the lining.
Leave it in. A tree is not a travel accessory, it is where the shoe lives between wears.
Take it out dry. If the wood ever feels damp to the touch, stand it somewhere airy for a day before it goes back.
Never oil, wax or varnish it. Sand it lightly with fine paper if it glazes over after a few years.

Getting it to you

Collection and delivery

Orders are packed and held for you, and you arrange the carrier — anywhere in the world. Send us your courier and we will have the parcel labelled, weighed and waiting, or tell us a collection time and come to the door. We do not mark up freight.