The shoe curse

Mr has S very neat, perfect, medium size feet with a good instep and toes that are laid out in a neat, straight line at almost 90° to his feet.
He says they are perfect, and they probably are, especially when compared to mine!
The curse of it is that he can't just choose any old shoe because they are  usually to narrow which means he usually  buys Timberland, Clarkes or some other brand that make a wide fitting.
Whichever brand he chooses, it seems that they all end up the same way, that is by cracking and slpitting open and this usually happens at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Is it his feet that are doing it? Who knows. This is the latest pair which conked out yesterday.