To think it's not unusual for a woman to have size 42+ feet ...

[bricka]

... and yet so many shoe ranges only go up to a size 41! Why is that? I've had problems buying shoes ever since my early teens. I rarely own more than 2 pairs at any one time, because finding shoes that I like, and which fit, is so difficult. If size 42 (or more) isn't unusual, then there must be a big untapped market out there.

I think its kind of normal to know family shoe sizes, like mum and sisters. Don't recall having specific conversations but it's just something I know about them (e.g. might buy them nice shoes or something for presents).

And in my younger days I lived in a few shared houses with my girl friends and we also used to share shoes on nights out (too poor in our student/early career days to keep buying new heels!) so I guess that's how I know their sizing!

I think it is either usual or unusual depending on your generation. DH and I in our 50's, my feet 4 his 8 (and he is 6ft). My Mum, Dad, brothers, all had those sizes. My DD's are both size 4, but both quite small in stature!

However, an awful lot of their friends do have size 6++. I would think that as that generation grows out, more will become available, it's a demand thing.

Well, there's always outliers in every generation, butt mum would have been 100 this year and her feet were always a narrow size 8. My sister and I are in our 60s and are size 7 and 8 respectively. My daughters are both size 7.

Just call us "Family Bigfoot". But it's not a new thing!

"butt mum"....what the hell is that??? 😁

Size 42 always used to be an eight... it's only more recently that 41 is being (incorrectly!) labelled as that. I'm old, so I know!

I was always a 7 from age 12-40, but age/children/weight have meant I'm an 8 now - sometimes a 41, usually a 42.

Would you believe... one of the reasons I was spurred on to lose weight was so my feet wouldn't get any bigger! I want to have nice WOMEN'S shoes!

Not an unheard of size, but probably not that common numbers wise.

Average size is between 38 and 39 I think, so not going to be the most common, just as having size 35 feet is unusual.

The bad thing about being a 38 (which I am) is that you can never get shoes in the sale, as people have already bought them. With it being such a common size. Whereas you always see size 36, 40-42 in the sale. I’ve never seen a size 35 pair of shoes sold for women, come to think of it, but they must exist!

@PoxyAndIKnowIt I find it difficult to understand how size 40 is a 7, and then size 42 is an 8!

Something weird going on in the size equivalence

I offered a pair of brand new knee boots for free to several colleagues ( couldn't get them up my chunky calves!) and was surprised that 3 of them (all tallish and slim) said their feet were too big. The boots were a 7. In middle age my feet have 'grown' to an 8 too..

I agree with you OP!

I used to be 42 size 8 am now a Eur 43 size 9 after 3rd DC

No an 8 isn't Eur 41!!

Next do 42 Eur 8s
I have to buy my shoes online

My son is a size 12 so has to shop online too
One of my DDs is a 41 size 7 so we check Eur on it. Won't be long before she has to shop online only too as she's a teen and 5 foot 11 already

The problem is that the gap between 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 is smaller than between 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 so if a shop insists on sticking to whole numbers, they don't exactly line up and different ones do it differently.

M&S are better because the do half sizes so I think mark a 7 as a 40, 41 as a 7.5 and an 8 as a 42, or similar, in any case, it is usually clear what you're ordering in both EU and UK sizing.

Most annoying are the shops that sell a range of brands and you don't know whether the sizing they are referring to is the brand size or the shop size and the information on the website often contradicts itself and you order what you think best and what turns up different to the website anyway.

Or you have anomalies in sizing even in the same brand - I have two pairs of Converse and the 7 in one style is bigger than the 8 in another one.

You'd think shops would try harder to get this sort of stuff right, because if they did, it would cut down enormously on returns.

I guess it's just because they're completely different systems that were established quite separately from one another, which only relatively recently had had to be mapped together and equivalence worked out.

It makes sense if you think of 40 as 7, 41 as a 7.5, 42 as 8, maybe.

Btw having long feet means we also are tall and have long hands & fingers and there are benefits to that

For dancing 💃 my rise and fall is beautiful

Piano - hands can stretch well over an octave so we've a couple piano players in family

Swimming We all power through the water with our flipperfeet and hands ...

We're exceptionally good at long jump and leaping , putting a Spin on cricket balls and basket ball and netball because long fingers means more ball control

Maybe but a UK 6 definitely was not equivalent to a 39. A true UK 6 fits me but a 39 is too small.

I've noticed recently (as DS and I are currently both a 40) that a women's 40 is labelled a UK 7, but a UK 7 in mens is labelled 41. I've bought us both a few pairs of shoes recently and have had to double check the size chart depending on if they are for me or DS.

This! Although I'm a country type so wear Chatham deck shoes or Fairfax and Favor loafers on a daily basis, but 20 years ago I was buying heels at LK Bennett. All readily available up to a 9. I've also got shoes quite easily from Boden, Next, Primark, River Island, New look etc and the only ones masquerading as an 8 when really a 7 have been from Ralph Lauren and Daniel Footwear so maybe 3 pairs out of more than I wish to disclose 😁

Are you having a laugh?! Size 8 has been a very common size since the 1950s! 🤣

Oh give your head a shake and stop being so nasty! Size 8 for women have been around since the 1950s!!!!

@SNAFU247 you dismissed everyone else's experiences as "unusual" simply because of your own.

And now you have extrapolated a whole irrational response as to why you should never post on MN again. With a "you do you".

Perhaps simply don't assume that your experience is the only relevant one out there.

That's all.

"massive heifer" lovely. I can't fit most high street 9s (New Look, Asda, DP, Primark) my fault for having cow genes.

DH’s late nan was a size 8. She would have been 100 this year. My late grandmother was a size 7, born in 1923. More unusual for their generation, yes, but this is not a new problem. It sucks that shoe retailers are so slow to catch up.

When I was lamenting the lack of fun shoes for my large feet in the 90s, my Dad told me about the transvestite shoe shop he’d spotted in the next town. I was curious enough to window shop. I did not want 6in heels in red or black patent, spikes or chains on my shoes or knee high PVC stiletto boots, so no dice.

I’d love to have more choice in unfusty styles with sensible heel heights I can walk in. In some ways the pandemic WFH and subsequent hybrid working has been a blessing. I’ve spent much of the last 2.5 years in trainers.

Another 42 here! Find it amazing that people are so unaware of women with larger feet. I am tall at 5ft 11, so would say mine are in proportion to my height. Most of my close friends and family wear 7s and 8s, so it is definitely not uncommon for me! Clarity around sizing (8 should be a 42), and the EU to UK sizing chart would save a lot of time, money and effort when it comes to online shopping and returns. I wear Birkenstocks in summer, Merrel sandals and trainers, womens Nike trainers, boots from EMU, Fly and also Dubarry. They are out there, you just have to find them. Long Tall Sally and M&S also good for heels.

To demonstrate the woeful non-standardisation of EU/UK size conversion:
Clarks size guide: UK8 = EU42,
FitFlop size guide: UK8 = EU42,
Skechers size guide: UK8 = EU41,
ASOS sells all 3 of these brands, but have their own size guide in which UK8 = EU41. 😠

So if your feet are size EU42, and you order Clarks size UK8 directly from Clarks they will probably fit, but if you order the same style and size from Asos they probably won't.

But does that not have a knock on effect so all the other sizes are inaccurate as well?

Yabu opm of course size 42 isnt a normal womens size. The avarage is 39. Im a size 36. Which is tiny. I buy kids shoes sometimes hahaha

Try drag queens stores.

It's so annoying
I need a 41
If it's labelled 7 or 8 it's a guessing game but 41 always fits