big feet

wow...I got two boxes from Zappos. They do indeed ship in one day - amazing! And, right on time - I am tired after a long day, and, as I read somewhere, the right time to try new shoes is exactly when you are tired after a long day, because the feet are at their most swollen then. Let us see...

I caved in and went to Nordstrom's shoe sale.

Well... I am not 11 - I am 11 1/2 - a guy measured my feet using that contraption they have for measuring. The clerk was a lovely young man who is Sudanese - I took his card and will call him if I ever want to shop there again, because he already knows all my issues. I said: "Bigger with each child, and the third - last - baby was a 9 pounder and boy was my belly huge with her! But how come such a big difference? 20+ years ago I was 9 1/2." He responded with: "It happens with women all the time." I am not sure if it is true or he just tried to comfort me.

I spent a long time and bought a few pairs. One - in 12. You know how sizing differs between brands?

The clerk took a long time in the back, looking for these unusually big sizes, and I wandered around the floor, looking at shoes on display. I looked at their sizes. On display, you have shoes that are 5-7 American or 35-37 European. They do not put bigger shoes on display. At first, I thought that it is because they are catering to the thick of the bell curve. then I realized that there is more to that...

...unfortunately, the shoes I got, even though they are well made and not cheap (I mean - not Ross-level cheap - they are on sale at Nordstrom)...

... are still ugly by themselves. Say, I bought this wonderful pair of closed toe leather shoes in several different but closely matching shades of dark raspberry color. The shoe on display... looks like an objet d'art. I mean, really! It looks perfectly proportioned and it is pleasant to look simply admire it. The same shoe, but size 11 1/2 and not 5 or 7 - absolutely the same shoe!!! - looks ugly to me. Looks like a behemoth. Out of proportion. Bulky. Wrong.

Whatever - I cannot help having such big feet.

And, actually, on me, the big shoes do not look so bad. They do not look great, but at least they look normal. I guess this is because putting the huge shoe next to it smaller sister underscored just how huge it was, and on my foot, outside of the comparison with a size 5-7 shoe, it looks decent.

I hope they fit! if not, Nordstrom has a good return policy. Or, and they are also shipping a pair to me for free, because one of the sandals was not available in a big size at the store today.

I know what you mean, with socks. the VERY BEST source for colorful socks, a New York city-based company called LITTLEMISSMATCHED

does not carry socks bigger than size 10:

Sweet Thing Smelly Anklet Socks | LittleMissMatched

OMG they have socks that SMELL.

At times I have thought, maybe I could have my feet surgically shortened. Which is ridiculous on many levels, lol. Then I have to ponder how fortunate I am to have two healthy feet. And I guess I've saved a lot of money by not buying shoes. It's still crummy though!

Yes, we have two healthy feet each.

My consolation - my late mother had way more trouble so I should not complain. I got the genes of big feet from her, but she also had huge bunions on both feet, while I am lucky enough to have well shaped feet. Imagine finding shoes in size 12-13+ with huge bunions!

But still crummy though!!

I got my big feet from my dad (my toes look just like his). Wish I would have gotten his ability to get along well with people instead!

the wonderful joseph siebel shoes (it was the first time I purchased such a brand) are going back to nordstrom.

they are so well made

they are not tight

they are great

BUT they rubbed into my smallest toe enough to cause the skin to come off

I now walk barefoot in the office

Maybe I just need to see a podiatrist. Maybe there is something wrong. It should not be that difficult.

It shouldn't be that difficult, but it sure is for me too. Find shoes, think they're good, then before too long, something hurts. Have you tried Keens? They might be too casual for your work, but I have a black pair I can use if I dress up in nice pants. They don't hurt anywhere which is unusual for woman's shoes.

I work with geeks (one of whom is a cross-dresser who wears colorful PUMPS for REAL!! A lovely, sweet, cool bearded guy, btw). So Keens would not be too casual, but I tried them at REI several years ago - those hurt me. I will try more models, though.

I gave up even looking in the womens section fifteen years ago, my feet are not long but are very wide, and because my feet swell during the day I have little choice of decent looking shoes. it is summer here and as I am unable to walk I rarely wear shoes, only had shoes on twice in the past 6 weeks and they were mens sandals!

My feet are 9-10 but they are also wide (sometimes) depending on the shoe so I feel some of your pain.

Rainbow flip flops! I swear by them and they last for-ev-er! Love em!!! LOL really though, I wear them until the bottom wears out and I get a new pair. Best $50.00 you will ever spend I promise! I buy the men's because I have wide feet, but you can try them on before you buy them.

My feet are kinda big. I wear size 9. That doesn't seem bad but I'm pigeon-toed so it is very cumbersome.
I have weird feet in general. I have a high instep and narrow heel that sometimes slips out of my shoes.

Unfortunately most shoes from Zappo's are going back. Some just hurt me for no reason. Others are too small at 11 and I will exchange for 12. I ordered them before I was measured at Nordstrom, so I thought that I needed 11 whereas I need 11.5.

This one sandal from Nordstrom fits me though: Amazon.com: Munro American Women's Darian Sandal: Shoes and is available on Amazon in really big sizes, above 12. I bought it on sale at Nordstrom. I will wait for another week or so, and if I am still happy with them, I will get an extra pair. Otherwise by the time this one is too old, the company will have phased out this model - they always try to come up with new new new improved and then you cannot find the thing you need.

I thought I lucked out on the brand, but no - other shoes by Munro hurt me.

Ladies,

Thanks again for the advice. I got a divine pair of Walking Cradles closed toe shoes which I used on my recent trip to a hilly country. They did a superb job. I ordered more from this brand from zappos

On the other hand, what seemed like a perfect pair of light brown leather boots from a sale at Nordstrom had to go back because one boot rubbed my little toe. The other fit great.

I have figured that for whatever reason that is not visible to an untrained eye, my feet are weird, so I end up returning about 80 if not 90 % of what I buy, so I will limit myself to stores with very good return policies.

Oh, and those Munro sandals described in my last post got a compliment from a young gentleman. I literally could not believe him because before him nobody would ever, EVER call my sandalled feet "sexy". A large grin . But I mean really, the gentleman did surprise me.

So thanks to everyone for feedback .

I know what you mean about having to return shoes frequently.

It's funny, my pastor is short and I see his shoes and wish my feet were that small, lol.

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Oh well! The pastor just might be posting in the Men's forum about his wish to be taller. And why not?