Hate having big feet

I'm glad you've started this thread OP. I'm 5'4 with extra-wide, big feet of size 8 now. I was shamed as a child and had to wear ugly, clumpy shoes that did me no favours. As a teenager, I squeezed into high-heeled shoes and loved that they made my feet look smaller but of course have paid the price with bunions. I hated skinny jeans being in fashion for years and years because they highlighted my big feet. I'm so glad that bootcut jeans are back in fashion because the little bit of material flatters an oversized foot.

I have mesh black trainers (never coloured!) with arch support which I bought through Amazon and they look okay, in fact I have a stock in case they go out of stock: they are that rare thing, immediately comfortable from the first wear.

I also have shoes, bought on Amazon, which have a bit of an arch support and round toes with a good toe box and they make my feet look not quite so enormous. I wish I could find flattering boots but so far am unsuccessful

I love shoes and if my feet were proportionate, I know I'd have loads of pretty styles but alas, I can't do anything to bring attention to them and now I can only wear supportive flats.

Do you mean thumb?

Me too. I don't mind them but it's annoying that shops don't carry much size 8 stock. I also need a wide toe box so even harder.

5ft 5 and size 8. I have to say, no one has ever commented on their size, not once. I do wear sandals etc in summer. I mean if I stare at them for a while I suppose they do look quite long but day to day I don’t think they stand out. But if yours are quite wide as well perhaps it makes it more obvious? As people have mentioned though, probably a good idea to model self acceptance of them around your daughter, even if neither of you like your feet.

I have size 8 feet. I don't think they look particularly big. I don't have a problem finding shoes either.

Size 9 here and I'm 5ft 8. My daughter is 14 and a size 8. It sucks. I get so fed up with my sis in law who thinks it's funny to joke about our feet. Grrrr

Guessing you don’t mean your son!

Yeah there’s plenty I don’t like about me, but I don’t want to pass on any insecurities needlessly to my kids. It’s not inevitable that big feet are a thing you hate and think are ugly - it’s annoying enough finding shoes to fit them without an added side helping of shame and embarrassment. I take a lot of care to not talk badly about them to my kids who have the same thing, and I actively try to say stuff like “stupid shops for not catering to us, but our feet are great for walking with” and daft stuff like that. I’ve got a big nose too and so have lots of my family but my mum would always call it a “fine proper nose” so I don’t have any hang ups about it.

shows that it's a standard size!

I dont' know where you shop, but many women shoes are suitable for kids? Just more expensive, that's true.

It's ironic, many women wear flats and comfy but feminine shoes, when you see some very young girls with ridiculous little heels they can't walk with.

You are not BU to have an opinion and feelings,

but I wouldn't call a size 8 "big feet". I am not surrounded by giants and it's a pretty standard size? I can buy any shoe I like, where do people shop that size 8 is missing in women section?

Only downsize is that you can't buy kids shoes so you pay full adult price for adult trainers instead of the exact same version for half the price in the kids department.

My running trainers are 1 or 2 sizes up, and I have no problem finding them either.

I have not read the full thread, but it has brought back a stinging memory from 1967 of being aged 18 in a Milanese shoe shop. My shoe size was then 6.5. Shop ladies gathered together to look and exclaim that my feet were 'troppo grandi' for anything they had to sell.

58 years on, they keep me upright and give me stability. They've been size 8/42 since my first pregnancy. This year I decided to wear Wide fittings henceforward.

But if you don't send back the message thst you want particular styles in particular sizes, send back the message! If you are disappointed by the offerings of a brand or retailer, send an email of complaint to Customer Services for that brand or retailer.

Customer pressure works, though it takes time. (You only have to compose the email once. Save and reuse. Perhaps contributors to the thread could work on one together?)

I had size 6 until i bought my own shoes as my mother couldn't /wouldn't believe the measure in the shoe shop. Sadly my feet are quite deformed but i fit 81/2 AA. I swear by James Inglis and buy as many pairs as i dare on line. They are not cheap but ive never had to send a pair back once touve sent your measurements.

I am a wide size 8. My walking boots are a size 9 because I wear thick socks with them. Yes it is hard to get shoes but now that I know where to get them from, it ok. I am 5’4” and 9st. I love my feet but I have never wanted ‘pretty shoes’. They are so good for my walking hobby and great for balance. I couldn’t cope with little dainty feet.
I do remember going to Ravel ( does anyone else remember Ravel shoes?) in Oxford Street (London) and told that I would not find a size 8 in any of the shoe shops there.

Hate it too and styles quite frumpy. Im a 9. Some wide fit primarks fit me. But feel its quite limited. I do like vans in black got those in 9

Im a petite 5'2 with size 6, long bony feet and toes. Hate them, have even wondered if foot surgery is a thing. The women in my family have beautifully shaped size 4.5 feet.

I'm almost 60.

My feet have been size 8 since I was 12, and it was impossible to buy decent shoes in my size back then. I'm only 5'5" so they are totally out of proportion, as are my hands which are huge.

DH is 6'1" and has Size 10 feet. Our sons have taken after me. They are in their 20s and one has size 12 feet and the other one is size 13.

At least there's a good range of size 8 shoes now, and also quite a lot of size 9.

I have size 8/9 feet - been an 8 since I was 10 so shopping for kids shoes was a nightmare; literally one pair, no choice, take it or leave it or go to the women’s department. I actually hate shoe shopping as so seldom get to try anything on instore, but equally fed up having to buy something before I can try them on at home only to find they’re too small anyway.

My feet have actually grown in last couple of years as my arches have dropped, so now definitely a 9 - didn’t think it could get any worse although am grateful they’re no bigger. Trainers, Birkenstocks, Tevas and Timberland boots are my go to’s - none of which are really suitable for when I have to go to the office. I can’t really say things have improved much in the past 40-odd years - I used to buy men’s shoes as a teenager in the 80s; I’m still basically doing the same now.

I’m 5ft4 and a size 7. I haven’t ever really thought anything of it, and nobody has ever said my feet look out of proportion to my height. But then I’ve never stared at anyone else’s feet myself so I’ve never thought someone’s else’s feet look big either.

Im 5'9 with mens size 8/9 feet.

Doesnt bother me in the slightest as i buy mens boots/sneakers and have never been interested in "feminine" footwear.

Having big feet is awesome because there are always lots of 9’s in the sale!

Oh, me too! I've resigned myself to long boots being wide-fitting on me. At least I can wear very chunky long socks with them.

I get you OP, its a bit insecurity of mine too. I have size 7 feet and I'm only 5'4 with a petite frame. All the women in my family have lovely size 4 or 5 feet! I also have long toes and have had bunions since my 20s due to hypermobility syndrome, so they are very ugly as well. I hide them the best I can in trainers or boots in winter, and avoid sandals as much as I can!

Size 8/9 here: I love it, I do very well in sales.

The only thing that annoys me is that I sometimes struggle to find well-fitting long boots, because retailers assume that if you have big feet, you have fat calves: I have narrow feet and very slender ankles and calves.

Clarks have patent girls school shoes in her size

Welcome to my world. I am 60 and have had size 9 / 43 feet since I was a teenager. Size 8 is not big, because most manufacturers make their shoes up to size 8/42. The real problems start when you get bigger than that because it is nigh on impossible to buy shoes on the High Street (Saxone Tall and Small were a thing when I was in my 20s,but） I don't live in the UK and here women's sizes are 41/42 maximum.
I am actually glad that I have sons not daughters, because one of them has inherited the "big feet" gene and is into size 13 men's shoes which is ruinously expensive when he can find them.
I saw a story in the news about a teenage girl in the UK who was 6'5 and wearing size 11 shoes and it seems to me that she is where I was 40 years ago. These shoes are only made by specialists and cost the earth.
So @PoppiCan , I really don't think that your situation is exceptional in 2026 - but I feel for the girl who wears size 11s.