Shoe trees are important for your dress shoes. That is if you are wearing quality shoes and like to care for them. They help to maintain the shape of your dress shoes, particularly in the vamp area, pushing out the creases as best as they can so that they do not ‘set’ into your leather too deeply. Deep creases that form create weak points in the leather that can crack if not properly maintained. Shoe trees help to prevent that.
The issue with cheap shoe trees is that they are not well-designed and do the bare minimum, at best. Sometimes, they even go so far as to deform your shoes with too much spring-loaded force constantly pushing outward on a smaller size. The shoe trees in the image above have literally deformed dress shoes before. I saw this with my own eyes.
When I shined shoes professionally, I had several large, repeat clients who would give me 10-20 pairs at a time. These were always top-quality shoes, and sometimes with these cheap shoe trees inside. These trees would not only deform the heel counter’s shape but also the entire shoe’s shape, making it look like the ‘upward cat’ pose from Yoga.
Everything is relative in shoes. This post/video is aimed at those who buy shoes as an investment into their wardrobe and want to maximize the lifespan of their shoes. If your shoes are cheap, then by all means, please also buy cheap shoe trees. But if your shoes are of good quality, having a good-quality shoe tree makes sense to take care of your investment.
Many people mistakenly believe that the shape of a generic shoe tree might not fit into their shoes. Rarely is this the case though. A well-shaped generic tree will fit the majority of the last shapes out there. Most good welted shoe brands offer generic trees that will fit other brands’ shoes without issue. Will they be a perfect fit? No. But no shoe tree is a perfect fit unless it is made from a copy of the last.
Don’t buy cheap shoe trees if you want to care for your shoes. Invest in a good pair that has a well-balanced shape, both in the forefoot and in the heel.
Read more here on where to find those: https://theshoesnobblog.com/a-guide-to-shoe-trees/
—Justin FitzPatrick, The Shoe Snob