There's more than a full size difference between my feet, caused by an injury as a child, and they are very different shapes, so getting skates which fit both is a bit of challenge. I usually fit the larger foot then pad the other with insoles etc.
Someone suggested that I could order different sized boots, or go down the custom route (which would also mean different sized boots), however if I do does that mean I will need to get different sized blades, and if so is that likely to affect my skating?
it really depends on the difference in the length of the soles between the two sizes - more than about 3/8" difference and you might have to consider different size blades. A blade that is slightly too long for the boot *can* still be mounted as long as the front is properly aligned (so any overhang by the blade is at the heel, and only about 1/8" or less - you see this more often in kids where the blades are purchased to last through the next pair of boots, often just a little long for the current pair) and it's generally recommended not to have blades more than 1/4" shorter than your boots.
Sometimes though, when working with customs, the boot maker can shape the heel a little differently to accommodate the blade length required by the bigger boot. Essentially it accomplishes what I described above, but without any visible overhang by the blade on the smaller boot.
The difference between the two feet is over 1/2 inch :o
I think I'd need to ask the boot maker if they could provide extra padding in one boot, although that would probably defeat the object of getting customs.....
That big of a difference you probably would need different size blades - I don't know what the easiest route would for getting a mixed-size pair though, or what possible downfalls there might be in doing so.
My feet are about 1/2" different in length and I have always worn the same size boot and blade for each. I go with the slightly smaller size boot and with heat modeling and stretching, have always been able to get a comfortable fit on my bigger foot. FWIW, I've always worn heat model-able Riedells. I do purchase different size ballet slippers.
Have you had your feet measured by a skate fitter? They might have some suggestions. I know my skate guy is always willing to glue in extra padding when needed.
My current skates fit the larger foot, with lots of padding to take up the space left by my smaller foot, however I feel like my foot isn't positioned properly in the boot / sitting over the blade as it should, and therefore I don't have the control I would with a smaller boot.
I was worried about getting a smaller boot stretched because I thought it would cause blisters, and I've read that the stretching may not be permanent.
Anybody know Elaine Zayak and can ask what her solution was?
She lost part of one foot and had to skate with a block in the boot to fill the empty space. She's still coaching.
Zayak used to wear custom Klingbeils. I remember reading an article about it that featured Bill Klingbeil. (Founder)
I've had skates fitted for my larger foot and it wasn't a good thing for me. My larger foot is my spin foot, so my landing foot was always padded. It just didn't feel right. For my newish SP-Teri's, I had them fitted to my smaller landing foot and stretched the spin foot. I'm not going to outgrow skates, so it works for me, although I ink these are a little too snug on both feet. (The size difference is around 1/3" if that helps.)
I'm the other way round - my spin foot is the smaller one with the padding and I think I've adapted how I spin because of it. Not sure how I would cope with 'properly fitting' boots on the smaller foot!
I'm thinking that because most moves take place on a single foot at a time there may not be too much of an issue if the blades are slightly different sizes, apart from the cost ;)