I'm trying to improve my shoe collection. I am timid about shoes. They have to be comfortable and I get scared when they have wild colors or basically when they are any color but black. I bought some new shoes - black slides, open-toed, with a bit of a heel at Ann Taylor and wore them last week. I walked to the bank and dry-cleaners and had blisters on both feet. So the next day I switched to some black flats and walked downtown and felt like I was getting a blister on the bottom of my foot. You can see why I like the Birks so much -- they're ugly but comfortable. What I want to know is, is there a secret to breaking in shoes or does everyone go through this?