March 15 - can these shoes be saved?

What:  size 7.5 dark brown peeptoes with gold buckle
From:  Etienne Aigner (bought online)
Purchased:  '06
Cost:  $40

Oh, these shoes annoy me.  Once again I tried a 7.5, and they were tight, but worked fine.  I really really coveted these and bought a far higher price point because I thought they'd get so much wear.  So I had brown slingbacks, but for some reason I did not love the brown slingbacks.  And then I fell in love with these and knew they were the answer to my problem and I constructed whole outfits around them.

But can you tell what the problem is?  Is it subtle enough that it's not noticeable? 

See the gold buckle?  Apparently my stupid feet are so wide they busted open the gold buckle across the front!!!  ARGH.  I've had them in storage under my bed for a while now, and I bring them out every once in a while and wonder if they can be saved.  I don't see how, but then again I am not a clever cobbler, so I need to get these to a GOOD shoe repair place and learn for sure one way or another so I can move on.  And then I also wonder if it's really just subtle and no one would notice but come on, it's pretty obvious once you spot it.  But maybe that means a fix could happen that would just trick the eye enough that it would work.  Grrr.  These really are good shoes. 

Bottom line:  Cobbler?