Ok you size 8/9 shoewearers, tell me all your secrets! :-)

[SnoopyLovesYou]

I've been wearing a 42 for a long time but have only recently decided that I need to start investing in nicer shoes! I'm a reasonably narrow foot and I think one foot is slightly bigger than the other, which makes for even more shopping fun! Do please tell me your online places to browse for modern and gorgeous shoes or your real life shoe shop secrets! :-D

At the moment I have a pair of dressy Jones Bootmakers shoes and all my other shoes are casual (and boring!)

Yes they're very LK Bennett!

Wow just tried them on with various skirts and dresses and they look lovely. Ok not 100% comfortable. Maybe 95% comfortable. Bit squishy in the toes but are court shoes ever 100% comfortable??

Now I just need some nice flats...

Ok there has been a twist to this tale. Wore shoes tonight. Massively squashy and uncomfortable. Probably the wrong side of 42. Sigh! Back to the drawing board!!!
Help!

I'm an 8 and have to get a 9 in Topshop
New Look come up way too small so stopped buying them there
Office is true to size for me
Irregular Choice i love, but come up soooo small usually

I wear Fly London the most...true to size, super comfortable, and last well. boots, sandals, wedges.. you name it

I find that Fly London are far too small for me. Every winter I try on their boots, every winter I.go home dissapointed. I find the shoes smler tbs..the boots.

I love irregular choice shoes, they are gorgeous, but alltoomuch if you say an 8 comes up small then I think the chance of me ever squeezing my size 9s into them is a pipe dream. Unless I chop a few toes off...

I love fly London and rocket dog and once owned a pair of rocket dogs that I adored in a 42 but haven't seen any since that fit. Are irreg choice comfy?

I think I'm a 42 in about a C width. I have a high arch.

Try Joseph Siebel for sandals. I'm a very wide 41 with a post injury need for soft leather and padded soles. They fit the bill nicely

Try French Sole for ballet flats - they go up to a 10 (44) from what I recall. Also Barefoot Tess in the States have an amazing range and often deal with international customers so give plenty of info on measurements etc.

I'm a 9.5/43 and get so frustrated at shops labelling a 42 as a 9. Jones Bootmaker are guilty of this and Topshop too.

Ages ago I put together a blog with big shoe sites, nowadays am skint so rarely update it and some links may be wrong but there are a few Italian, Spanish and German sites on there.

www.sizeninefeet.blogspot.co.uk

I find shoe shopping utterly soul destroying but hey ho. Nothing I can do.

Ooh thanks for that!

Well those Clarks ones were a disaster so I have just bought a pair of DonnaKaren high heel sandals in a style I love on eBay. Totally random but have sometimes got very lucky on eBay.

Do French sole really go up to 44?!

I imagined that their 42s would be squishy. Anyone any experience of French Sole?

Crispins do a huge range of French Sole...I know, I have tried on every style and they do not fit me! Either too wide or very tight across the toes.

And the French Sole shop in the Kings Road are very snooty...prancing around in their size 5s.

I am waiting to get back in my comfy Duo boots.

I haven't tried them myself (can't afford 'em!) but noticed they had 44s on their website.

My fave shoes at the moment are my Converses but obviously no good for smart wear. A friend bought some beautiful electric blue suede peep-toe sandals from M&S and I loved them but guess what - only up to an 8.

It's so bloody depressing!

You think a C fitting is reasonably narrow?

This is my list of large sizes:
Crispins
Special Feetures (mostly fugly)
James Inglis (super fug)
Stuart Weitzman for the very high end option
Next
Nordstrom website - delivery from the US
M&S has just started doing 8.5 and 9s again, online only.
Possibly LK Bennett?
I have had some success with open toed shoes from Accessorise and have also got some Boden boots that fit OK.

Resign yourself to a lifetime of paying top dollar for shoes that fit (No, you can never wait until the sales - they will all be gone), and seizing the opportunity of buying any shoe that fits no matter whether you need it or not. I have a pair of future wedding shoes quietly stashed away because of this problem.

I never find any that fit! Hence when clearing out my shoes a few years back and keeping the ones that fit well, I was left with three or four pairs. The rest all went on Ebay.

It does mean top dollar, meh. Mind you the Nordstrom site makes me live in hope. So much choice and not all of it high end!

Special Feetures is a circle of hell.
I have been to their showroom where I was the youngest customer by about 30 years, and I am in my 50s.

Revolting American orthapoedic type shoes which take the word sensible to a whole new level.

I am hopeful that Zappos and Amazon Fashion (which does a lot of shoes) will start shipping to the UK, or set up a UK business, because they had so much choice for big/narrow sizes.

I recall going to a Special Feetures roadshow-type-thing many years back. I think that may have been the time when I seriously considered binding my feet or chopping my toes off.

There do seem to be new companies popping up from time to time but only Amber & Jade have had anything approaching stylish shoes at reasonable-ish prices. Tall Girls are OK but a lot of their stuff isn't leather and I'd rather pay a bit more for leather stuff.

Sagone in Paris has by far the best choice I've seen in Europe. Plus it means going to Paris, though they do do mail order.

Thanks Kernow.

Well I've got 3 pairs of eBay shoes (sandals, ballets and court shoes) winging their way to me. Varying between 15-40 £. I tend to sell them on if they're no good for me. Will let you all know if I'm selling any size 8/9s! :-)