I use to be a woman’s shoe salesman and had quite a few different experiences. Ladies, when is the last time that you went into a shoe store and had your feet measured professionally ? And I don’t mean the self service kind of shoe store. Seemed to me that many women resented measuring, and years ago this was a routine procedure. This shoe store tried to make it a policy to measure all customers before trying on shoes. Also, if you went shoe shopping in the near future, how would you react if the shoe salesman offered to measure your feet to find a better fit ?
Me, too!
Last time I shopped for shoes at Nordstrom I let the guy measure my foot. But considering I worked my way through college selling nice shoes, I know my way around a Bannock device. I measure my feet and my son’s feet regularly. Feet change!
I found this to be true. I think the reason is that they don’t want to find out they should be wearing a larger size. Some women are vain about their shoe size. I remember one women who insisted she was a size 6 and “always have been”. I brought her a size 7 because I could tell by looking at her feet and the what her old shoes were worn that she was not a 6. She loved the shoes raved about the fit and comfort. When I told her they were a size 7, she suddenly went on about how loose and sloppy they fit. I sold her the size 6, but wrote “self-fit” on the receipt. I wasn’t taking the chance of her returning them saying I sold her the wrong shoes.
I don’t think you should force your customers to be measured, but I think offering to measure and explaining how feet change is good salesmanship. If they don’t want to be measured and they insist on buying a size you don’t recommend, make a note on the sale. If they offer, I generally let the salesperson measure me.
The last time I had my feet measured was about a year ago for some walking shoes (most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned). I’d increased half a shoe size since about 20 years ago, and my width had increased. If I live long enough, I figure I’m going to have feet like Donald Duck.
I find a shoe that I like, and start with my lowest-ever shoe size (7) and work my way up to the largest size (9). If one of those in-between sizes feels good on my feet, then that’s the one I buy. If they have narrow or wide options, I try those as well, but that happens rarely, as I’m broke and feel that I’m too hard on my footwear to buy really expensive shoes. I’m satisfied with my method, because sometimes shoes don’t fit perfectly regardless, and I can choose which “not quite” fit I prefer on that particular shoe. I don’t feel that measuring my feet would make any difference one way or the other based on how I prefer to shoe shop.
(If it makes a difference, I also never shop for shoes at places where a person has to go and get all of my wants from the back and “help” me shop - that makes me really uncomfortable to have someone fetching and carrying for me.)
I have a hard time understanding how people say that they always wear only one size in shoes or clothes. It doesn’t matter what the number is, no one can see that. Lie about it if it makes you feel better, or cut the tag out. It only matters how the item fits on your particular body, and different items fit differently and need to be taken on their own merits.
Women’s shoes are like women’s pants— one size in one brand is not the same size in another. Widths vary, too. So, certainly, if I’m in a store only selling one brand, measure away. If I’m in Nordstrom or something, where there are 100 brands, well, I’m going to have to try on each any way. I might be an 8.5 in one shoe and a 10 in another brand.
My usual course of action is to get a 9.5 (or similar conversion if we’re talking about European shoes), then work up or down as necessary.
Totally agree. I don’t find there’s any benefit from measuring in a store that sells multiple brands. I know I’m going to have to try on 3 sizes at least, because shoe sizing isn’t consistent across brands. Also some materials stretch, and the fit at purchase should be tight to allow for some room to stretch without your foot sloshing around in it; some materials don’t stretch, and should fit perfectly at purchase.
I would think dude had a foot fetish, because I’ve never bought a single pair of shoes without trying 2 or 3 sizes. Fitting shoes just isn’t a task that requires professional assistance.
Also, I worked at a shoe store in college with a male coworker with an admitted fetish, and between him and all the lurkers and foot peepers, I learned to be plenty suspicious of people who want to touch my feet.
It wouldn’t bother me at all to have my feet measured. I don’t buy cheap shoes so I don’t want to pay a lot for shoes that aren’t going to fit me right. Still, I find it’s a lot of trial and error since different designers/brands seem to have different fits even among their own styles so I often have to try on different sizes to find the right fit.
I can’t imagine getting upset because I need a different sized shoe, but I know there are women who do.
The worst job I ever had was a summer job in college: selling women’s shoes in a department store. I don’t know how many women claimed to wear a size 6, but actually needed a size 12. Then they’d force their feet into every size 6 in the store, ruining them for feet that actually were a 6.
But the worst thing was plopping down on the seat after spending hours in places that weren’t all air-conditioned . . . and spreading their legs to cool off . . . while the poor salesperson was down there, doing his job . . . having to smell not only their feet, but . . . .
It was about four months ago I had my feet measured in the store. It is a shoe store, not a section of a larger department store.
Why are ladies so vain about their shoe size? Is this a generational thing? I can understand being vain about your dress size, but shoes are just… don’t you want to get something that fits right? I’ve never heard women my age complain about this.
But, I might not be an ideal example - I broke my ankle when I was 19 (And had two surgeries on it, and then went and sprained it a few years ago), and can’t wear anything higher than a kitten heal for pumps (I can do an inch or two in more stable wedges). I rarely wear anything other than running shoes or more stable boots. Protecting my ankle from injury has always been much more important to me than looking a certain way.
I think the first sentence is explained by second. I wouldn’t mind at all if someone approached me asking if I wanted to be measured. But if I tried to grab a shoe off the shelf to try on, and a salesperson stopped me and said I wasn’t allowed to touch the shoes until I had been measured, then I would act rather resentful.
The store did not make the sales people forceably measure everyone. And YES, feet change over the course of time. Everyone has one foot larger than the other, the length of your arch is even more size indicator than heel to toe length. Shoes ARE like pants … not everyone’s size 8 runs the same. Shoes are manufactured all over the world and everyone’s size standards are different and width is a factor as well. Did you know that say a size 8 can have five variations ? If it runs large, could be half size or whole size lower, if it runs small, could be half size or whole size higher and true to size is just that. The measurement is only a starting point, not etched in stone. And to the person who suggested that I have a foot fetish … ha ! I have measured many pairs of feet WITHOUT even touching the ladies feet. Nice to see that some people have experienced the same things that I have. Thank you for your responses.
I think it is a generational thing. I don’t know any woman my own age (41) or younger who is vain about her foot size. In college, shoe size was in the top 10 things you told your friend/roommate, because if you were close enough in size, you could borrow each others’ shoes.
I think it’s from back in the day when women wouldn’t reveal their age and they still worried about that season’s hemline.
I have small feet and it bothers me. I wear either a 5 or 5.5. They are hard to find, some manufacturers don’t even bother with making those sizes. Most shoe salesmen ask me to try the 6 and when I do, it never fits. I would love to have larger feet, just so I could get a better selection of shoes. I haven’t been measured since I was a kid.
Macy’s rarely has my size. Nordstrom carries it, but I have a limited selection. Cole Haan almost always has them and will order them and ship free to my house if not in the store. Baker’s at the mall sometimes carries my size. Zappos is fricking awesome. Merrell carries 5.5 and I can usually find sneakers at Foot Locker.
I’m not vain about my shoe size, but I certainly understand why people might be. Like I mentioned before, my shoe size averages out be a 9 or 9 and a half. On more than one occasion, I’ve received what are probably just poorly phrased comments from sales people-- things like, “Sorry, we are out of anything that big.” One time, in the garment district in LA, I asked for a 9.5 in a shoe and the little foreign shop lady screamed back, “WE NO CARRY SUCH BIG SIZE. BIG FEET GO TO ANOTHER STORE.”
Growing up, my grandmother- with her size 5 foot- used to constantly make snarky comments about my “fat feet.”
Now, I am well aware that while my feet certainly aren’t small, they are on the big side of the normal scale. Most every place sells up to at least a 10, if not higher, so it’s incredibly rare that I’ve ever encountered somewhere I can’t buy shoes (in fact, I think that little hole in the wall was the only place). If anything, my shoe size is so common that they are often sold out of it. Still, if I were already feeling insecure, thinking I had big feet, then received comments like that. . . I could see where it would mind fuck someone. Personally, I find it hilarious, but yeah.
Do what? Thinking hard, I reckon there is a store in Pamplona where they do offer to measure your feet if you give two sizes (“oh, a 35-36”) or mention having problems finding the correct size. I know they told my mother she’s a 36 wide (that is, length is a 36, but they have to be wider than usual) and that both of us have high insteps. I was in high school at the time, so it’s been about 30 years.
I work in a shoe store (Payless, not a hoity toity department store :D).
I have actually not measured my feet recently. I spend a very large part of my time trying on shoes (I try out all our shoes so I can give an honest assessment to my customers - I actually have recommended people not buy a particular pair of horribly uncomfortable flip flops) so I know exactly what I fit into, in my store. I also know I wear a 36 in Dansko. If I ever shop anywhere but Dansko or Payless, I’ll gladly let the salesperson measure my feet.
My thoughts on my customers:
***I am a woman. I do not have a foot fetish. My customers nearly always seem to be at ease around me. I have no idea what a male salesperson would experience in my store because we don’t have any. ***
We are required to offer to measure every child’s feet. Only about half the parents take us up on it. Those that don’t spend 2-3x as long trying to find shoes that fit their kids and they make a huge mess, which I then have to clean up. I very frequently get kids demanding that their parents let me measure their feet. I can’t help but wonder if it’s because it’s a new experience or because they hate shopping with their parents and want it to be over faster.
I offer measure an adult woman’s feet only for specific reasons. One lady was buying her first pair of heels (she insisted she wore a 5 in sneakers. I could see easily that she was closer to an 8.5. She ended up getting a pair of 8.5W). A couple ladies had recent problems with their feet which caused their feet to get bigger. I will offer to measure a pregnant woman’s feet if she mentions that she needs “fat shoes” (they all seem to call them that). Any woman who seems frustrated or confused will get an offer for a measure. A couple have even asked me to measure them.
I will always offer to measure a woman’s feet if I think something from the girl’s side would fit her requirements, and if her feet are size 8 or smaller (our extended sizes go up to 6 for kids, which is about a 7.5-8 in woman’s). The same goes for girls with bigger feet. To make them feet better about being younger and having big feet, I let them know that they now have twice as many choices for shoes! They love when their parents let them buy an adult pair. A lot of women are able to find kid shoes they like too and are especially happy to have twice as many sneakers or flats to choose from.
I have offered to measure many men’s feet and many take me up on it, including teenagers. Men’s shoes can vary just as badly as women’s and we sell dress shoes, work shoes, work boots, and various kinds of sneakers. The extended size thing goes both ways for men and boys as well. I recently sold a pair of size 6 boy’s sandals to a grown man because all the adult sandals were not his style. He thought it was hilarious that he could fit into boy’s shoes and wasn’t at all embarrassed about fitting into them. I’ve also sold men’s shoes to an 8 year old boy with massive feet. His parents were horrified, he was so proud to own his first pair of adult shoes.
I have never had a male customer be embarrassed about his shoe size. I ALWAYS get it with women though. They refuse to accept that their feet are different sizes (someone with fat feet must have stretched one of the shoes!) or that they’re bigger than a 6.5. I have very often convinced a female customer to try on a larger size by telling them that even I have to wear a 7.5 in a lot of Payless styles even though I’m a 6.5 (I really am a 6.5 in left foot, 7 in my right and I don’t wear a 7.5 but they don’t know that). I had a woman insist she wore a 7 regular (what I normally wear) when it was obvious her foot was at least a half length longer than mine and almost twice as wide. I think I tell customers that a particular shoe runs small almost as often as I explain our current promo.
I learned very quickly that you don’t tell a woman if she measures into the wide fit. I just have them try on a wide with a comment that “these shoes are really narrow, no one fits into them!” (we do have one pair of shoes that are incredibly narrow and I’ve only had one customer get her feet into them).
I’ve never been secretive about my shoe size, unlike my mother who remained a 5.5 until her death. She acted almost insulted when I needed a 7.5 at age 13.
Occasionally, I’ve had my feet measured when going into a shop that I don’t usually frequent. The results were sort of useless.
Nowadays, most of my shoes are the same brand. They have a wide variety of styles. Though we are talking one designer and one brand, sizes vary from one model to another. I have shoes from size 8 through 9 from that store.
I notice on sales racks that very few shoes in sizes 7.5 through 9.5 are available, so one can conclude that those are the biggest sellers, not sizes 5 through 7.
My mother-in-law lived with us for 10 years and she swore she wore a size 36 (size 6 US) and made snarky comments about my bigger feet. I was kinder when I saw her in the bathroom more than once running cold water over her feet so that she could fit them in her shoes. BTW, I don’t know if that helped, but she would have died trying to squeeze her feet into “her size”. That probably explained her rather dour moods.
A few years ago I was shopping for a pair of “tap” shoes. My usual shoe size is (men’s) 10.5-EEEE. I don’t know how many men’s shoes I tried on, and nothing fit. Finally the salesperson brought out a pair that fit perfectly. They were a women’s size 12. Go figure.