How to Prevent Overhanging Toes in Open Toed Shoes

Summer weather is a great time of year to free your feet from closed in shoes and allows you the opportunity to wear sandals and open-toe shoes. Whilst the right size of sandal can make your feet long great the wrong shoes can lead to the dreaded problem of your toes hanging over the edge. Learning how to prevent overhanging toes in open-toed shoes isn’t difficult when you know-how. This is why we thought we would create a guide on what to do to prevent the problem.

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Eliminate Toe Overhang By Buying The Right Shoe Size

Let’s start with the most obvious solution when you are dealing with overhanging toes and that is to buy the right sized shoes in the first place.

Remember that how your feet look in shoes depends not just on your shoe size but the manufacturer, shoe style and even shoe material. Choosing the right shoe size means doesn’t just mean picking your typical size from a store or an online shop and hoping it will fit. Instead, you need to spend time trying on a number of different pairs of shoes and walking in them to see what works.

Whether your sandals have a toe box section or are completely open like flip flops the only way to really prevent toe overhang is to walk and stand in the footwear to assess your needs. In some cases, this may mean picking a smaller size than normal or a larger pair depending on their shape and style.

Trying on your shoes and taking time to look at the toe styles is going to be one of the best solutions to preventing the ugly hanging toe look.

Should You Size Up in Open-Toe Heels? Think About Shoe Width

When people are thinking about how to prevent overhanging toes in open-toed shoes the first thing they automatically want to do is size up to a larger shoe size. Their presumption is that if I find shoes that are larger the toe overhang problem will be eliminated.

The problem is overhanging toes aren’t just about the length of the shoes but also about the width and style of the sandals you are buying.

Heels for example are more likely to cause toes to slide over the edge of the shoes simply because of gravity. The width of a sandal is also important, especially at the front part of the shoe.

Narrow or pointed shoes mean that you have significantly less room for your foot particularly if you have toes that have a tendency to splay outwards. There simply won’t be enough space for your toes to sit comfortably so they will start to hang over the edge.

Choosing the right shoes or sandals to prevent toes from sticking out of shoes means concentrating on finding the right footwear to suit your feet. This means assessing shoe size, sandal height, the width of the shoe and also whether the footwear has straps.

These mid-height Vionic Papaya Isadora Heels with straps are a good example of a pair of sandals with arch support that can help support the foot and prevent the problem. Vionics have a large range of sandals that often come in wide widths as well as regular if you need some extra room.

Toes Hanging Over Slides – Be Careful of High Heels

We mentioned previously that wearing high heels is more likely to cause toe overhang because of the fact that gravity has an impact. The higher the heels the more likely it is that your feed will move forward and the less grip you are likely to have in your shoes.

To prevent toe overhang it makes sense to choose a heel height that is less likely to cause a problem. In addition, make sure that if you are wearing heels your toes have enough space at the front of the sandal to be able to stretch out. Narrow-fronted high heels are not going to be great shoes if your feet tend to experience toe overhang. Whilst flats are less likely to cause the problem.

If you want to know how to stop feet sliding forward in heels our post on the topic has a number of different ways to help with the problem.

Toes Hanging Over Sandals – Stop Perspiration and Sweaty Feet

Of course, not everyone chooses the right sandals from the start which is why we also have other solutions that may help prevent overhanging toes if you have already bought your footwear.

One of the first things to look at is whether you have sweaty feet that are causing perspiration. If you do have this problem then inevitably you have slippery feet which are going to be sliding forward in your sandals. The sweat from your skin means that the moisture allows your feet to move around more in your shoes and will have a tendency to bring the foot forward.

Obviously wearing high heels can make this problem worse as gravity combined with sweat will cause toe overhang. It can also mean that you are more prone to blisters on the skin of your foot which are painful and unsightly.

Our favorite product to help stop the problem of sweaty feet is Carpe Antiperspirant Foot Lotion. It only needs a small pea-size amount to work to help prevent foot slip and keep your feet dry.

Toes Hanging Over Shoe Edge – Choose Tights Carefully

Many women despite the warm spring and summer months also choose to wear tights or nylons in their sandals or heels. Whilst the tights may even out leg tone and look more professional in a work environment they are going to make your feet slide forward in your shoes.

Most tights don’t have grips on the bottom of them which means that they are relatively smooth and soft. If the insole of your shoe is also smooth then it is inevitable your foot may end up sliding forward causing toe overhangs.

If you are wearing sandals in a casual setting then you can of course ditch the tights completely to stop the problem. Alternatively, Hue Sheer Tights With Grippers have been designed with silicone grips on the pad of your foot to help your feet from sliding forwards.

If Your Feet Slide Down Sandals Wear Open Toe Friendly Adhesive Grips

Once you have conquered the problem of sweaty feet and have chosen the right tights the next thing you can use are open-toe friendly adhesive grips inside your shoes or sandals.

Dr Scholl’s Ball of Foot Cushions are clear gel pads that you place on the inside of your sandals and which should be invisible when you are wearing them.

Whilst gel cushions are designed primarily to stop foot pain, particularly in the ball of the foot they are also great at preventing toe overhang.

The cushions stay in place as you walk and can help to keep your feet from sliding forward as they eliminate slippiness in the shoe. This product is hugely popular and can be a really cheap and quick solution to your problem.

Wear Insoles to Prevent Toes Poking Out of Sandals

Whilst the previous cushions only dealt with the ball of the foot there are of course insoles that you can buy that are designed to cover more of the inside of your sandals.

Sandal grip insoles are usually 3/4 length and narrower than typical insoles or orthotics. This is because they need to be invisible when you are wearing those open-toe shoes.

Just slip them inside your shoes and that longer fit can help you in cases where a call of a foot cushion is not enough.

Use Silicone Metatarsal Pads to Help Your Toes Grip

Finally, when we are talking about insoles there is one overlooked type that might help with toe grip to prevent the overhanging problem.

Silicone Metatarsal Pads can be placed in your shoes to prevent your feet from sliding forward. They are significantly smaller than insoles or ball of foot cushions which means they really are invisible when they are worn.

Place them in your shoes to increase toe grip and to help your foot stay in place.

Use Hairspray To Keep Feet In Place

Finally, if you want to know how to prevent overhanging toes in open-toed shoes the last product that might be helpful for stopping toe splay is the common beauty product hairspray.

Whilst obviously hairspray is designed for use on your hair it can have other useful applications. When it is sprayed inside a shoe it can make the inside of the shoe slightly tacky. This means that when you place your foot inside the shoe it is more likely to stay in place rather than move forward.

The only issue with hairspray is that it is unlikely to last for more than one use. Plus if you do have sweaty feet then the hairspray tackiness may not even last the night. Hairspray, therefore, is a product to really use in emergencies when you have nothing else at your disposal.