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Been struggling with shoe fit all my life. Even as a little girl I used to go fit

I'm a 7 and a half sometimes a 7 sometimes 8.

I'm jot ashamed at all if I had smaller feet id fall over, from. being a lanky cow.

the onky time I have had issue was in Malaysia when I was told sorry we dont stock sizes that large, I nearly cried

I like being an 8. I don't feel embarrassed at all

In fact it's usually size 8's that are available. When I was a size 7, there was always a limited choice because they would be the first to sell out

I'm a size 9, which is a lot harder to fit than being an 8 - most ranges stop at 8. It's annoying, it means that if I want something specific then there's usually two choices and one is £££, but 'embarrassed' is a strange idea - I was a size 8 when I was 13 and my friend used to say my feet looked huge in my gym shoes, but I've never been made to feel strange about it as an adult.

Women are getting bigger - not just in terms of weight/size, but height and bone structure too. It's more normal to have large feet than it was when you were younger, just because it's more common.

Size 8 is nothing! My grandma had size 10 feet, now imagine finding those when she was young in the 50s!!

I'm a 3 and it can be embarrassing sometimes shopping in the kids sections for shoes cos the shops don't always have my size. Feeling your pain op

I feel luck if I get into an 8 - often its a 9 (also pronounced 'none' in this country). (That's a 42 if I am lucky).

Plan a holiday to Germany - big shoe sizes are more normal there. I cannot shop for shoes in Spain or Italy - they don't seem to do 42's.

I don't feel embarrassed though - nothing wrong with big feet.
Are you tall too? I'm 5'9"

Yeah, I'm a 42 too. My running shoes are 43 or 44.

When I researched on eBay to sell some shoes a while ago, I kept finding shoes in my size coming up with 'TS/TV/DRAG' in the description. Unfortunately, shoes designed for drag queens specifically, while large sized, are not great for everyday wear.

I think your lucky to be a size 8.

When the sales are on there are so many size 8s left becoz they are such a rare size. I'm a size 6-7 n finding shoes in that size is a nightmare because its so common.

You should embrace your size 8 feet and think to yourself you have the pick of the bunch in the sales! Xxx

I'm a very wide size 8 and I used to hate having huge feet as a child. Now I'm an adult, I realise I would look silly being 5'11 with a size 5/6 shoe

What gets me is that the soles of a lot of size 8 shoes are so flipping narrow that my feet hang over the soles.

Ha! I'm a 10, try getting shoes for a 10!

tbh I'm not sure it is true about 8s being easier to get hold of though, because I was told that when they get orders in, there are only a few 8s since there is less call for it.

I do find it a bit embarrassing, not so much in shops, but places like ice skating rinks, bowling alleys. I HATE having to ask for a 10.

I'm 5'10 with really long legs and size 8 feet. All shoes (except baller flats) look fabulous on me. The weirdest sky high heels look great on my feet on me and I love shoes! They would weird if I had smaller feet. Never had a problem finding beautiful shoes.
(The reality is that I wear ballet flats or biker boots as I need to run after my kid all the time. Heels not good for a muddy playground).

Try finding nice shoes left in the sale that are a size 4/5.... You don't!

Be happy you have 'larger' feet

Locket you get no sympathy for that!

The staff in the shoe shops can make you feel like you have freak feet. I'm a size 9!

Amazon have a reasonable range of size 9s.

Who in the retail world decided women only go up to size 8? Some Chinese foot binding fetishist?! It's ridiculous.

I love being a size 8 (US 10) so many bargains to be had at sale time!

I managed to get a pair of Kenneth Cole shoes yesterday for 9 dollars, and a couple of outstanding bargains in Nine West

How can you be embarrassed about something you have no control over and is totally normal?

Yours

Another size 8

I rarely see size 8's in the sale. Always 3/4/5 as there's more of them produced.

DD (13) is already a size 8 1/2. We really struggle with riding boots as they are all too long and too wide for her legs.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that they have stopped growing, but reading that some of you are a size 10 I suppose they could just carry on.

Another size 9-10 here.

It's shit, but not embarrassing. And it's only shit because shoe shopping is a freakin nightmare. I wear men's walking shoes (merrel type).

Another one with no sympathy for locket!

I was that shoe size at you dds age exit. Hopefully shoe and boot people will start cottoning on by the time she is older, if she ends up a 10.

yes, I also wonder at the choice of 'embarrassed'. How odd.

I also wonder at those who say that there are always size 8s left in the sale; I've never seen anything except 4 or 5 so assumed that those are the sizes that nobody wears!

I've long since learned to buy shoes by asking for what is in my size (41/42) rather than looking at what is on display. That said, I can only really wear trainers or boots now so at least being this size means that I can also wear mens' shoes. Generally a better choice anyway - cheaper, made more sturdily and with no silly pink bits.

I do understand how you feel. Another size 8 here too. It definitely has its benefits as you can get some right bargains.

I have been looking for brown boots for ages and finally got some Nine West ones in the sale from House of Fraser (£49 instead of £150!!) Still expensive but I know they will last me aggggggeeees (the last pair of Nine West shoes I had lasted me years, and I wore them to death), so it is a good purchase for me. They only had size 8 and 9's left.

I'm also tall (5'11) and would look very silly with size 5 feet and long skinny legs not to say I didn't dream of having size 5 feet in my early twenties or pretending to be a size 7 for many years squeezing my big feet in to the wrong size shoes

I once asked for a size 40 (UK7) in a shop in Italy and still remember the horrified gasp from the two shop assistants - 'Quaranta???!' '40?' 'QUARANTA!!!!!!!!'

Did make me feel like a huge foreign oaf, so I understand how you feel.

I take a 41 now since having kids my feet have grown.

How odd, it's not like size 8 isn't readily available.

Embarrased? Size 8 is a very standard shoe size! I'm an 8 and have never struggled. I do sometimes wish I was a bit daintier, but at 5ft 8, I don't feel dramatically out of proportion (and fall over quite easily enough as it is)

At uni I lived with 5 girls, 4 of which were a size 8, so maybe that's why I don't think it's unusual now.

I love being a size 8 shoe!

I have always had big feet and i remember when I was about 11, my friend cried cos my feet were bigger than hers!!!

I am an 8 (as I said earlier) dd is 2" taller than me and a size 6... She looks like she'll blow over in a gale...

I can understand you being embarrassed - as DD gets upset when schoolfriends can place their shod feet inside her shoes, her footwear has been described as canal barges (whoops, that may have been me) and when she goes into New Look and such places and asks for size 8 or 9 and the assistants look at her disdainfully and say "We only go up to a 7".

She is on target to be 5' 10" so hopefully will be in proportion, but she is very conscious of her height and foot length.

Another 42 here - I generally wear mens' shoes and style them out. Loafers, boat shoes, desert boots, brogues...

And I don't know where I'm going wrong but there is generally very little choice of large shoes in the sales. Racks and racks of sizes 4 - 7 (oh, and 'one-size' socks only fit sizes 4 - 7) and sod all size 8s. Pisses me off when people with size 5/6 feet complain. I was in TK Maxx yesterday and there were acres of smaller shoes and about 6 pairs in size 8.

I know, the sock thing really annoys me - for DD - all her school socks have gone through at the toe as they are just not big enough.

I end up buying men's socks too. I am basically a bloke from the knees down.

In feel your pain as I'm an 8 or 9 depending on where they are from. All my life shoes shopping has been hideous. I now shoe shop at the very start of each season as most companies do make 8s and 9s just not so many. eg today I bought 2 pairs of summer pumps(M&S) My whole wardrobe for each season is dictated by my shoes.... I buy toeless 8's for summer so that my long thin toes have space...If you can face cheap throw away shoes, ASDA (hides head in shame) normally have a good summer selection...if you have wide feet (mine are very narrow) Evans go up to a 10 or so...good luck!

I bought DD a pair of men's trainers, but shushed the shop assistant so that she did not hear or realise. But then as I simply cannot hold water, ended up telling her.

She steals all her father's socks.

Tis sad though, there are loads of tall elegant women with large feet who clearly are not catered for - let's hope manufacturers will start to take note and realise there is an untapped market.

My feet are bigger, no chance of finding anything decent in high street shops.
My biggest fear was growing a size bigger during pregnancy!

I am 5 ft 2 and a size 8 in shoes (9 in runners . I do look silly in lots of shoes as I resemble a set square, however can't say I am embarrassed and have plenty of beautiful shoes.

Only time I had trouble was when I lived in Malaysia and had to show shop in the cross dressing outlets. That was hard as a 17 yr old!

I'm a 9 too (a 43 in European sizing) and not embarrassed at all.... I'm very handy in a strong wind

For those saying size 8 are everywhere it depends on what you deem a size 8, eg Dune calls size 8 41 whereas I am a big size 42.
Thank goodness for new look and next wide fitting. However you can only get them online so I have rarely had the experience of going in a shoe shop and having a CHOICE!

I can totally empathise with the poster who went in the Italian shoe shop- have had the very same experience

8 is easy! - I have 9AA and it is a fecking nightmare. At least lots of high street places have 8s. You should be able to get decent looking shoes in Next or similar.

My personal view on it is that my feet are what feet are meant to look like and everybody else's feet are extremely weird and disturbing.

Don't feel embarrassed about your feet! They are a functional part of your body - nobody should be buying into Daily Mail feet shaming about something nobody can change.

Holy crap your feet can grow in pregnancy?!? Is that true? <faints> I can't afford for that to happen!

Being embarrassed about being a size 8 is akin to me being embarrassed about being a EEE fitting. The choice of shoes is pretty limited, but I'm not embarrassed about it.

Well it's a pain in the arse being a 5 when they're the first to go in the sales!

My body grew to 5ft 8in and left my feet behind so for a few years I had size 5 feet on a 5ft 8 body and it looked ridiculous and I hate small stubby looking feet, I now fit a more elegant size 7 ...I like elongated toes, shoes that make my feet look small don't appeal to me at all - you get that hoof look. Those ash wedge trainers made my feet disappear, they were truly awful. Be proud of you feet!

FairPhyllis yes, sorry to confirm that feet often grow in pregnancy, and whilst the rest of you goes back (more or less) to normal, feet tend to stay bigger. The hormones cause your ligaments to soften (all over your body) and the extra weight on your feet pushes them out. It isn't visibly noticible but it can affect your shoe size. There was a thread on the pregnancy board moaning about this the other day.

Good news - for me this only happened with my first pregnancy (now expecting DC4) - I went from 40 to 41.

More good news - doesn't seem to happen as noticibly to everyone so if you're ttc / contemplating getting pg one day, don't let it worry you .

I am tall but have size 3 feet.

People say things like 'how do you stand up?'

I am a size 8. 5ft 9" tall. Size 8 is pretty standard now I think.
Nothing to be embarrassed about. If anyone calls me a Hobbit or sashquat I just kick em.

Try being a ten

I am a size 8 sometimes, but mostly a 9. And I have quite wide feet.

Shoe shopping is my most loathed pastime, I tend to buy one pair and wear them to death, although I was pretty pleased to find some fit flop trainers in the sale this year.

Don't be embarrassed OP, you are among some pretty good company judging by this thread!

I'm a size 8 but only 5' 5" with big chunky calves and ankles so I've always told people that of my legs had carried on growing properly, not only would my legs have been the proper length (and width!) for my then taller height, my feet'd be more in proportion!

Not embarrassed at all of my size feet, but then again I've always been a Converse and Dr Martens sort of person.

Well I am 5ft 10.5 and a shoe size 5-6. I've learnt from several posters on this thread that I should be embarrassed of my disproportionately small feet which clearly look ridiculous with my long legs

Actually, nobody has mentioned your feet on this thread. Oh, no wait, I stand corrected. You have mysteryfairy.

I don't understand Mary, size 8 is pretty much available everywhere these days from what i can see.. Why are you embarrassed?
(from a size 10 footed female btw)

Oh to be a size 8.

Try being a 9.

I want choice......not be limited to a handful of expensive shops.

That's true Julia but several people have said tall women look odd if they don't have big feet. Bit disappointing that the only way people can think of to reassure OP about her proportions is to say others look wrong.

Oh noo please don't spoil this by being touchy. I'm sure nobody meant any offence, just trying to cheer up the op.

I'm an 8 and would probably ideally like to be a size smaller as it gives me the option to still size up when sizes run small.

I really don't think anyone but me gives a flying toss about my shoe size now, but my mum and i did used to worry slightly about it when I had size 7 feet aged 11

They are saying they would look wrong, not you or other people, or the OP.

I was just asking the children if my feet look like trotters! DS is a size 8 at 6ft 1 so has just realised he can blame me for his poor genes. Making the best of telling him he has girly feet after this thread. I don't think it's going to worry me for long so sorry for whinging - was just a shock to realise I had another defect hitherto unnoticed!

mysteryfairy - it's a defence mechanism, self-deprecating humour, as those of us with HUGE feet (size 10 here) can be quite touchy about it!

I can furnish any of you with large-footed DDs with a list of online shops, if you haven't already discovered them.

Oh bloody hell, no one said everyone would look silly with smaller feet we are talking about ourselves. My big feet are part of me, if they shrunk I would look

I don't judge people on their shoe size, no one else here has. This is S&B not AIBU.

Furnish me lastnight! Pleeeeease!

I'm a size 8 and have always felt a little embarrassed. Really struggled with it in my twenties, it is easier now, in my forties. Would love to be size 6...

I'm 5'11" and have size 9's... can sometimes manage to squeeze into an 8 but it's rare. It can be tough to find shoes that aren't hulking great clodhoppers or mens, so I tend to rely on DMs, Asda ballet flats ( ) or generic mens/unisex trainers. I'd love a pair of "proper grown up" ladylike heels, but I'm so self-conscious about my height that adding another three inches to it would be a nightmare. That said, I think my shoe size is one of the few things about my body that I haven't agonised over...!

www.longtallsally.co.uk
www.tallgirls.co.uk
www.cinderellashoes.co.uk
www.pricelessshoes.co.uk
www.katielongshoes.co.uk
www.soles4u.co.uk
www.totallylargeshoes.co.uk
www.bigshoeboutique.co.uk
www.vivaladiva.co.uk
www.duoboots.co.uk

Sorry for lack of links! Will keep thinking.....

sorry it's www.cinderellashoes.ie

I think that's normal now. my friend was teling me she was in small town shoe shop recently and the boxes were stacked up and stored on a mezzanine. The assistant was shouting up the stairs "do we have these in an eight?, yeah, an EIGHT!!!". Everybody for miles around could hear. sHE was embarrassed. but I think it's just that the manufacturers are slow to catch up. my dd is ten and her friend's feet are size 7.

i am size 10

I have always hated having big feet, it is a nightmare

I buy: mens shoes, a few from Brantano who have some size 10, and Evans who have quite a lot up to 10, but tend to be wide.

Got truly fab boot sin their sale.

My ds is 10. I just bought him size 8 trainers and football boots. Nightmare, I dread to think what size he will end up. He ws fed up because all the funky brightly coloured shoes were up to size 6.

dd2 is the same age 5 and size 13.

and I cannot buy online, for me all kids, just have to try them on.

I am 5'11" and size 9 (42/43 depending on thr shop), but my feet are very narrow. I don't think I've had a pair of shoes (rather than boots) that fit properly since I was about 15.

If my feet grow in pregnancy., I'm screwed!

I'm 6ft and a size 10

the only place on the high street I can buy shoes from is Evans -and yes I do wear heels

it's only actually a problem if I'm going to a wedding or something where I get the shoes first and then have to get the outfit to match the shoes, rather than the other way round

but from age 11 to when I finished school I had men's shoes for school and either DMs or converse for casual -I never went anywhere posh!

dd is 9 and a size 5 so she has it all to come!

Thanks for the shoe sites lastnight.

Alma have you come across Medissa or Special Feetures - they have narrow fittings for us longer footed ladies!

Don't think anyone has mentioned my favorite site - Pretty Big Feet

I have been a size nine since I was 12 or 13. I dont mind it normally just when I need to go shoe shopping. I don't have the balance for heels so the fact that I can't buy any nice ones doesn't bother me.
Unfortuanately though when i was pregnant with DS(3.5) my feet got a bit bigger and they have stayed that way since. Not all size 9s will fit me now so I have even less choice.

I tried to buy size 8s (would have even crammed into a 7, given the chance) in Thailand last year. The shop assistants looked at me in horror and told me they don't go above a 5.

I used to be embarrassed as a teenager, but back then I didn't know anyone with bigger feet - mine were the biggest in the class. Now, lots of women seem to have larger feet (although the shoe manufacturers appear unaware of this), but I wonder where all these women were when I was younger

exit your dd will be conscious about her foot size if you call her shoes canal barges. My sister is only a size 6, my mum once said it to her and he has had foot issues ever since. Shushing a shop assistant will also make her feel she should be ashamed, it is mostly the way you are with her that will determine if she is self conscious which of course she shouldn't be.

I used to be a 7 I'm now an 8 after having dcs. I have found new look to be brilliant, I fit into their size 7's as they do wide fit which is what I seem to need. A lot of retailers don't stock the higher sizes in shops but do sell on their Internet sites. I would say I used to care about my shoe size, I don't know if it's getting a bit older or having dc but I'm just taking my body for what it is now and I'm quite pleased with it.

im size 8 shoe .

Embarrassed?

That's a little odd.

I'm a 42/43 - have been large-footed since I was about 11 and was told by everyone that I'd grow to six foot! Never got past 5'7" .

I don't find it embarrassing unless I'm actually shoe shopping and they don't have anything large enough.

I'm also fairly wide-footed and grew slightly when pg with DC1, and my most comfortable shoe is my vivobarefoot boot. They flare slightly towards the toe and allow your foot to move/rest in a natural position. Bliss after years of shoes so small I gave myself a Morton's Neuroma trying to squeeze my boats into.

Think of it this way - size 6 are always the ones to sell out first.

I'm a size 10 too. I struggle to find shoes I like but my brother is a size 15 - my problems are nothing compared to his

I know what you mean OP, I feel like a freak (size 9) when I try to buy shoes. The shoes I like never come in a 9 and I have given up going to shops because of the reaction from shop assistants with their one revolting size 9 shoe. I don't dress in a conservative way so anything you can buy online just doesn't suit me and makes me feel like my mother.

I get mine from green shoes in Totnes, they are handmade and beautiful but expensive.

Procrastinating where are they in Totnes?

I'm an 8 (41) too. I have very often found that the style I wanted is not in stock in my size, or only goes up to a size 7. Yes, there are often many size 8s in the sales, but minging ones that I would never BUY.

I had a friend at school who was 5 foot high and had size 7s. I always thought she looked like a capital L in her white plimpsols for PE.

wewerehere not sure of street names, but at the top of the hill on the main shopping street last time I went.
I'm in the midlands so I order online, you have to send measurements and draw around your feet. Then they send you the half-made shoes to check the fitting. It is a great service and mine always fit perfectly.

Ooh fab thank you, I'll have to have a look!

new look go up to a size 9, they are fab for cheap shoes and perfect for those with teenagers in an 8 or 9.

i'm an 8 (42) and the new look 8 fit perfectly (even though i think labelled as an 8/41).

another high street brand that go up to a 43/9 is next, they have standard fit as well as wide and extra wide.

I was a 9 until very recently but lost weight and my shoe size i now smaller

also duo go up to a 43 in their shoes and have variety of width fittings.

StrawberrytallCake I do not refer to my DD's shoes as canal barges to her face, nor did I shush the shop assistant in front of DD.

Sheesh! What do you take me for?

Although to be fair, we do josh around a lot about such stuff.

Daisy Do New Look go up to size 9 in store or just online?

New Look do it in most larger stores Exit I have a lovely pair of knee high boots from Next in an 8, they're lovely, wide and the calf is lengthed slightly too, which is an oft overlooked bonus!

I am an 8 (or sometimes a 9, depending on the shoe). It isn't embarrasing. It is a bit annoying when the 8 is too small and they don't come in a 9, but it is far easier to find shoes now than it was 20 years ago. I remember being mortified as a toddler when a snotty sales assistant looked down at me and told me that "Ladies shoes don't come in a size 8!".

I'm 5'6" and a size nine. Been like that since my teens. Don't really think about it.

Most stores that stock a decentbrange go up to a 9. Usually only one pair in that size whereas the 5/6 have 3 or 4 pairs.

If you're anywhere near here I know Bracknell stock a 9 and Basingstoke. The Reading stores are a bit more hit and miss tbh.

The original poster seems to have disappeared! How odd.

I posted on another thread recently with the link to my blog (*I make no money from this, it's there purely for me to keep all my links in one place!*) with links to larger size online shoe shops.

sizeninefeet.blogspot.co.uk

I'm posting it in the hope that other bigfoots might find shoe shops on it that offer the sizes they need. I should add that I'm a narrow size 9 (43) and occasionally a 9.5 or 10. Currently planning a trip to the States to visit Barefoot Tess and relieve them of all their stock.

Also Clarks online is good for size 9s - I ask them to order them in to my nearest shop and then try them on before buying. They've got some really nice styles and aren't too dear (which is the other problem with having massive feets, the shoes can be horribly expensive).

I am 5ft 8 and a size 42, get a bit pissed off when 41s are labelled as size 8 (Office I'm looking at you).

It's tiresome, limiting and expensive but not embarrassing. I was a 41, had 4 dc in 5 years and they're now 43!! I wear unisex vans, converse, clarks, fit flops, hush puppies and dr martens. Sometimes long for footwear that's less practical and more frivolous but then my feet would hurt and I'd look daft anyway. Lots of good shops listed here, some new to me so thank you!

I buy lots of mine from Demonia - they go up to at least a 10.

www.demonia.co.uk/demonia-footwear.html

& Office are brilliant.

auldspinster - that really annoys me too!

It really pisses me off too about the resizing of European/Uk sizing. Used to be a 41/7 now sometimes they are describing a 40 as a 7 and 41 as an eight - have the European sizes got bigger? Or am I now a size 8 because its not just Office that have made the change - it's across the whole industry. I'm not bothered about being a size 8/41, it's not knowing what shoe size I am anymore.

European and UK shoes have different increments. So wherever you start at some point they are going to get out of sync.

But something has changed recently all shops I've visited have referred to a size 41 as an 8

I think it's within the last two years or so, that the 7 and 8 thing has changed. It is bloody infuriating.

Yep, same with the 9s - now seeing 9s labelled as 42. I tend to go with the European size as that seems to be more accurate to my size - ie a 43, in some cases a 44. I did wonder if it was some sort of vanity sizing so that people were less embarrassed about having large feet, but that's pointless if the label still says size 9!

Apparently M&S started doing size 9s a few years back but they stopped, claiming lack of demand. Er, probably because they didn't publicise it! Next size 9s seem to vary by manufacturer - some of their 9s fit me fine, others are too small. I just wish I could order a size 9 and know it was going to fit, as I'm too far away from any big cities to be able to try stuff on.

I haven't noticed anything change since I have had grownup-sized feet. Different shops have always been variable.

I'm 5ft8, long legged, big boobed and yes, as a teenager I was embarrassed about being the huge footed one of our friends. When my average height friends were trying on each others shoes I would just watch longingly Now I'm proud of my feet. Any smaller and I'm sure my bust and height would topple me forwards! I am happy to confess that I look clown like if I'm walking off pointe in pointe shoes but I love my shoes, I can wear the highest heels and they always seem to look fabulous and it's so much easier finding 8s in the sales