Why don’t more clothes shops do size 9 ladies shoes

[Auburngal]

I’m a size 8 but sometimes need a 9 as wide footed. Sometimes I better with a bigger shoe with an insole than being cramped with a smaller shoe.

Find it difficult to find shoes which fit me, are comfortable and not heavy as it is. Can’t be doing with heavy shoes as I have weak ankles.

Have tried size 8s and tight and they are the biggest shoe size that shop/brand do.

With some trainer lines, they stop at size 7 for women and love the colours.

Surely the average size of shoes that women has increased over time but some brands/shops have not caught up with the times.

I wear Skechers size 8 and know that they fit so able to buy them online without issues

I’m a 9 (43) but 5’10 so quite tall. Makes me 😒 however when women taller than me have size 6 feet. I actually know about 5 women with size 9s, so though unusual, it’s not that rare where I live. I usually get men’s trainers and sandals/boots from Next or occasionally New Look. Pain though and I fill sympathise with people with bigger feet than me.

It's SOOOO frustrating. Size 9 isn't that rare. And 8 is very common. I'm an 8.5, narrow, and DSis 9.5 or 10.
Classic conversation with a shop assistant in Freeman Hardy Willis in about 1984:
"Do you have this in an 8?"
"Not any more - the demand is so great and we get so few pairs in..."
FFS. It's not a new problem. I'm not living in the UK at the moment & there's a shop here that starts at 8 and goes up from there - fabulous, but pricey.
I wear boots, trainers and sandals!!

Supply and demand. I was a 2 until I had DS, so wore shoes 1-2 sizes bigger my entire adult life. I am now a 3, which makes it easier but so many styles don’t start until a 4. It not a problem for things that come in junior boys’ or unisex styles, such as Timberlands, but it’s a massive pain for anything else.

because its uncommon. I wear a eu 35 shoe. uncommon - so I expect to struggle finding shoes.

I used to wear a 35 but at least it’s better to have to buy a size bigger and put an insole in it that it is for the OP to have to fit her feet into a smaller size.

Was an 8 after having children I'm a 9. I find it helps looking at euro size as 43 is 9 and 42 is 8.5. I'm slim footed though so wide shoes no good here. I think more places do 9 now than when I was younger. Though they get relatively few in so we are all fighting each other for them!

Because size 9 is massive for a woman. My husband has the opposite problem as a man with size 7 feet.

I'm a 9, sometimes a 10. I have so many shoes it's ridiculous.

Birkenstocks and Saltwaters for summer.
Trainers from Nike, New Balance, Converse, Onitsuka Tiger, Adidas.
Winter boots from Columbia and Merrell.

That takes care of my everyday needs, for everything else (i.e more trend driven and going out shoes) - ASOS, M&S, Next.

Why is this a problem out of interest? Men's sizes start at 7?

@MagicLemon I think some shops start at 8 in the men’s or only stock a few 7s so run out

I know a few 9s, not as rare judging by this thread

It's not that rare now

I hate reading that a size 9 is massive, like people don't already know that. But women are getting taller
I'm broad (no matter what weight) and already feel like a lumbering elephant next to smaller women without people commenting that I'm huge/massive feet/tall

Size 8 eee width here try Yours or even River Island ( online) have a big size and width selection but feel your pain. Since Evans closed their online shoes are not the same eee fit which is a great shame as they were my 'go to' if I needed shoes.

Size 9 is not massive - I'm a 9 and my feet don't even look that big, they are in proportion to my height. But yes, finding anything other than trainers is a nightmare.

It's supply and demand. Not that many women have size 9 feet.

The OP asked a question and that's the answer. No ones trying to hurt you feelings.

It's not.

There's an odd thing on MN about having 'massive feet'.

Mine are a 41 and I've never had problems buying shoes or though that I have weirdly large feet.

Thank you for this thread op!

i have had big feet my whole life, I’m 46. Was already in a size 5 when I was 7 years old and my mum tells me she was panicking. I stopped growing aged 10 and have remained 5ft 5 inches and a size 9 shoe but wore an 8 for most of my life as that’s all was pretty much available back then. I’ve had so many blisters and cuts over the years and my right foot is definitely bigger than the left which I think is more an 8/8.5.

i buy a lot of shoes/boots from River Island as
lots go up to 9 and also TK Max have some great finds as do Primark. I love summer as I live in sandals and Birkenstocks and am another one who buys men’s socks as my feet literally don’t fit in women’s.

my ds is 21 and a size 13 and occasionally has bought a size 14. He stopped growing feet wise aged 14 and goes mad sometimes as loads of trainers stop at a size 12.
my dd is 13 and her feet stopped growing last year and she’s a size 6 and im so pleased about that. Shoe shopping for me has always been an ordeal but I think shops are much better now then when I was a teenager in the 90’s.

Yeah but at a 41 you’ve always fitted into “average sizes” as a 42 it was much harder though normal nowadays. I suppose the comparison would be with clothes back when many ranges stopped at a 16. There’s not a massive difference between 16 and 18 however if you’re just a wee bit too big to fit in everything it can make you feel massive

I buy men’s socks for work as they are about 1.5-2 inches longer in length (ankle) than ladies. Plus thicker too.

Never had an issue with ladies’ socks being 3-7.

I used to work in footwear/clothing retail and the simple answer is - they just don't sell very well at all. At the end of every sale we'd be left with size 7 men's and size 9 women's - and they'd sit there and sit there for years sometimes.

Chain shops have to buy in a minimum number of each size shoe they want to stock - which is fine if you're talking size 6/7 but when you have to buy in (say) 1000 pairs of size 9 shoes knowing you'll only sell half of them - it's not worth it financially so you end up reducing the range.

Online shops don't have to worry so much as they operate out of massive warehouses, so there's no retail space being wasted with stock that never makes any money.

Try being a size 10! When I was growing up in the 90s (I had size 10s by age 12!) My dad resorted going to a transvestite shop in Newcastle called transformations. Needless to say, there were no suitable school shoes there 🙄😁.
Thee are a lot more retailers selling large sizes now, especially in size 9!

This. 42 was an 8 until a few years ago, it seems. Now it’s a 9. I have loads of 42s from years back in my wardrobe and now 42s are really tight. It’s maddening.

I'm at least a size 9, and have narrow feet. I can find size 9 shoes but they always assume your feet must be wide too, so they're no good.

Birkenstock for trainers. Their Bend design is so comfy, lots of space in the toebox