I have a new respect for shoe stores after reading this thread. Lot’s of women with my shoe size, and I rarely have a problem finding shoes that fit. I guess it makes up for the trouble I go through finding pants that do.
My feet are probably actually 11.5 and really wide. But I’m a huge clutz about kicking into table legs and corners, so I usually get 12.5-13 medium wide which gives a little extra crumple zone to protect my poor little toesies which are pretty sensitive due to multiple breaks and ingrown toenails. Plus shoes over size 12 are really cheap
I just scavange the freak shoe bins. When a shoe style is dropped or replaced they quickly sell out all of the normal human sized shoes (8-12). Then they don’t want to take up a display rack slot with a style they only have size 12.5 + so they take the rest mark them way down, and throw them in a bin or a pile in the corner. My current shoes are a $109 pair of 12.5 Nike Airs that I got from the freak shoe bin at Garts for 12 bucks. I also have a pair of really good 150 dollar hiking boots from the leftovers pile at Sierra Trading post for 5 bucks, and good winter hiking boots from Cabella’s for 10 bucks.
You don’t have a whole lot of choice in style for an emergency, but I just check pretty often.
If you live near a Cabella’s check them out in person(they don’t bother putting the ‘stuff we just want to get rid of’ on the web site). Their leftover shoes and other stuff are really good deals. I even got infrared night binoculars for 10 bucks when I got the boots.
I would say I can find shoes in my size about 25-50% of the time. However, apparently no stores stock dress shoes in sizes larger than a men’s 12, so for those, and other more unusual shoes, I have to shop online.
I wear a US 6.5Wide. That’s a b*tch of a size to find, not to mention all of the “gee, your shoes would fit nicely around my rearview mirror” comments. Thank God I usually wear either lace up oxfords or tennis shoes.
Watch those pointy toe shoes that are coming back into style; make sure they aren’t too tight in the toe area. I had to have surgery on my feet due to the too narrow pointy toe dress shoes I wore when I was a teenager (my toes rubbed together causing soft corns in between my 4th and baby toes on each foot). Now, I can’t wear anything with a really pointy toe. I had to get married in decorated white canvas shoes 'cause the ballerina slippers were too pointy!
I wish my husband luck at finding me cowboy boots…
I have the ugliest collection of shoes you’vbe ever seen. There’s not much of a selection in my size, so I can’t be that choosey. Was lucky enough to find 3 pairs of New Balance walking shoes that I use for work.
Size 6 1/2 , Male, height 5’6". It’s getting harder and harder for me to find shoes in my size. I usually end up special ordering them because the stores don’t carry my size.
What is the first thing my Mother-in-Law said to my wife when she heard about my shoe size?
“I’m sorry.”
Eh, good thing the MIL is on the other side of the world and my wife grew up on the metric system. She (Mrs. MeanJoe!) is not so good on the centimeter to inch conversion so…
I find shoes easily however pants are a different story. I find them long enough and in small sizes from long elegant legs, they have a web site. They also have really cute women’s shoes in large sizes, I think the smallest size they carry is a 10. My mom who is 6’ and wears an 11 shoes orders from them also.