Years ago, someone casually mentioned to me that women (not sure how many) were getting pinky toes removed so they could fit into Jimmy Choo boots. I know little about women’s fashion or elective surgery, and I had no reason to doubt it at the time: I wasn’t online yet and the SDMB was unavailable to me, so it went unquestioned for decades and I seldom thought about it. I mentioned the Jimmy Choo toe-ectomies in a conversation recently, assuming it was common knowledge, but apparently it is not. I can’t find any mention of this online. Has anyone ever heard this bizarre claim, and is there anything to it?
There was an article in the New York Times about women who sought cosmetic surgery to fit into shoes. One doctor said he got a request to remove a pinky toe to fit into her shoes (did not mention the shoe brand) and he declined.
I could not find a case where the pinky toes were actually removed. I am guessing that if one woman requested it, there are more out there, and if one doctor refuses, another will agree. I have seen photos of some pretty bizarre body mods done by doctors. But for now it’s still a rumor.
Title edited to better indicate subject.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Jimmy Choos only come in one size? 
There’s some really bizarre cosmetic surgeries out there, but this one seems particularly impractical. It would require physical therapy and a complete renewal of that woman’s complete shoe rack. Those Jimmy Choos better do come with their own prince and their own medical team.
Nah, the women who cut off parts of their feet to fit into the shoe are the ones who don’t get the prince.
Google Cinderella surgery. Very bizarre. No reports of little toes being amputated, but people do all sorts of weird things.
But, but…what about cute strappy sandals in the spring?
Cute sparkly pedicures aren’t possible, no pinky toe is ugly.
It is not so much the size per se but the cut. To pull it off, you have to have dainty feet. For the woman whose foot is a little to wide to cram all the toes into the front of those oh-so-fabulous shoes, you might need to lose one.
This sounds like the factoid about Cher getting her lowest ribs removed to shrink her waist.
I read, somewhere, Joan Crawford had molars removed to get better cheekbone curvature. I wouldn’t doubt someone, somewhere ask for pinky toe removal. People do the weirdest shit in the name of beauty. Watch one episode of ‘Botched’
Besides Cinderella, this bit of urban folklore sounds inspired by the practice of foot binding to fit into shoes, which was a real thing (“up to 100% among upper-class Chinese women”).
Nothing on Snopes. Perhaps you should submit it!
Many fashion items cut off at small sizes. Levi’s 501 Jeans stop dead at 44 W. I haven’t been able to buy pants or suit jackets off the rack in years, and this is truer since I moved to Korea. I know bupkis about women’s shoes, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some trendy brand limited its sizes to something freakishly petite and narrow.
I heard this story about a famous actress from a friend of hers…which means FOAFOAF. I don’t think it’s true, at least about this particular actress; my friend backed off the story later, though I was willing to believe it when I heard it, because Hollywood.
Speaking as a woman who in the US needs to shop in the children’s aisle… what you find “freakishly petite and narrow” might be what I consider “man’s sizes”.
as someone who was shoe salesman, I can confirm that women lie about their real shoe size, no matter how painful to their feet, so I would not be surprised
44" waist is not a small size.
I don’t dispute the anecdote, but I’ve shopped for shoes with a lot of women, and recall nobody lying about their foot size.
Originally Posted by Horatio Hellpop View Post
Many fashion items cut off at small sizes. Levi’s 501 Jeans stop dead at 44 W.
And Levi’s are not fashion items.
I think it is a generational thing. My mother told me about she and her friends squeezing into shoes a size too small, but they were born in the 1930s.