Inquiring Minds Want to Know -- Who are those large sizes for (Designer Heels/Boots)?

[inquisitor]

After perusing Net-A-Porter and similar sites, a question has been buzzing in back of my mind for a while.

Who are they making those large sizes of heels for? For example, many (if not all) of Christian Louboutin's styles run up to 42 IT (or about a 12 US). The same is true for Casadei, Jimmy Choo, YSL, etc.

Certainly women aren't the purchasers of these styles. Take for example this story that DNAinfo.com in NYC ran during fashion week: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120215/manhattan/men-feminine-clothing-rock-fashion-week

I'm certain, if their wearing heels, they aren't wearing the smaller sizes of designer heels. And women, even in this age don't normally wear 11s and 12s.

I'm just wondering if they are doing backdoor marketing toward men by selling the Pigalle in size 12.

Pardon if this a retread of a topic I've not seen. Am I onto something, or has my mind gotten ahead of itself? What do you think?

[yozz]

When you are talking size 42, this is in principle still for women. My wife has size 42 and in the past she had a very tough time finding shoes. It depends where you are though. If you come in Germany and you go to a shoe shop in Berlin, you may find shoes to size 43, but a shop of the same chain in Karlsruhe (more in the south west) has its shoes only up to size 41. Of course, quite a few of the 40+ sizes are probably bought by men, but I do not think this is a hidden market strategy. The shops that intentionally cater to men usually carry sizes up to 46. Most of those are on the internet (see for instance hogehakken.nl). In Amsterdam we have ashop (Straver) that sells shoes in nonstandard sizes (like mens shoes to size 52) and many years ago I was there with my wife, and I asked who were buying the very large size women shoes and the answer was indeed: "mainly transvestites". This was 17 years ago and at that moment free style fashion was less known than now. Hence, anybody with some cloths from the other side of the shop was called TV. I do not think there is a strategy. It is just that women are getting bigger feet and the industry is slowly catching up. Y.

[Shafted]

I heard quite some time back that the average runway model has sixe US11 feet.

[Foxyheels]

Most women who are 5'10" and taller have size 41 and mor feet. In general women are getting taller just like men and as a consequence their shoe size gets bigger so retailers are just providing for the taller girls who ar not afraid to add further to their height with killer heels. Just look at mst famous women and models they often stand taller than. Lot of 6' tall men due to their heels.

[Pumped]

I don't see that size 42/12 is extreme for woman. Probably getting close to the upper end but not out of line. If you look through the common retail stores that generally cater to woman and check stock for sizes you will see that 10 US is very popular. It does taper off from there as the size goes up. I certainly would not think that a 12US was specifically for any gender bending male to wear but it is possibly entering that gray area of who it is intended for. Now if you were asking about 14-16US and larger I would question it. The lady that lives next door to me is a larger gal and her feet are bigger than mine and I wear a woman's 10-10 1/2. When I think about it I am pretty sure my sister has bigger feet than me, but then she is 6' tall!

[HappyinHeels]

inquisitor, I think your question is a good one but you have drawn the incorrect conclusion. Whilst it is true that these designers, many of whom are men living alternative lifestyles, are certainly aware of men wearing women's styles in footwear, pants, shirts, etc. I don't think it is their intended goal to make designer heels in size 12 to cater to this group. As yozz stated, women are getting taller too and so is their foot size. The devil is in the details. While many heels are available up to size 12 they are rarely available in the store rather by special order. This could be a function of available storage space. There are retailers like Nordstrom stock nearly all their styles ON SITE up to size 12. I don't have reason to believe they are doing it to capture the slice of the market that is men who buy women's shoes but they are certainly aware that they are getting it. I think a more important measure of how we men affect the market is how we are treated in the stores we shop. The more men that wander into stores selling heels, and buy them, the more accustomed the staffs of those store become. I think the key component is tolerance of others AS THEY ARE. Think about it, the article about the NYC Fashion Week showed that men were welcomed to participate with their unique tastes in fashion. This is all any of us here wants. I don't think the industry has to change for us but I think it is certainly aware OF us. Thanks for keeping the dialogue going. HappyinHeels

[ilikekicks]

Time for another post that will sound self-defeating in some ways, but its not at all. My sister wears a size 10/11 US womans. My live in lady.. she wears a 10, 10.5 or 11 US depending on the brand/style. They are both taller then me ( not by much ) and Im 5'9". Most of the women I know have either the same or larger feet then I do. I wear a US Womans 9.5 or 10 ( depending on the brand/style ). When I go into DSW or other stores of such kind, in my area, the 10's and 11's are the FIRST size sold out. I dont think that is from all the guys horkin/hording the cool kicks.

[roniheels]

I agree with what all of you have said about larger women's foot sizes. A woman I dated in college was shorter in height than me but she had a larger foot size. As those have said, the larger sizes in women's shoes are for the women. But, in the back of their minds, they've got to be thinking that men who want to wear women's shoes will have them available in the larger sizes.

[Dr. Shoe]

Who says that women don't wear size 12? I know about six or seven natal women who wear this size, some have even larger feet.

[barney15c]

I get confused with sizing i thought a us12 was a Eu 44 or uk 10 but with designer shoes a us12 is a Eu42 or a uk 8 , what gives???

[CRabbit]

I think those shoe sizes are just to cater for the vast differences that can be found throughout the market. I'm around 5'11 and take a EU41(UK 7). My wife is 5'9 and takes a EU42 or 43 depending on brand. My Mother-in-law is 5'10 and takes EU39/40, while my wife's best friend is somewhere near 5'4 and needs an EU44/45 (UK10!) For added irony, her husband is 5'3 and has UK4 (EU36) feet. Genetics has this wonderful way of just having fun with standards! Chris

[yozz]

I think those shoe sizes are just to cater for the vast differences that can be found throughout the market.

I'm around 5'11 and take a EU41(UK 7). My wife is 5'9 and takes a EU42 or 43 depending on brand. My Mother-in-law is 5'10 and takes EU39/40, while my wife's best friend is somewhere near 5'4 and needs an EU44/45 (UK10!) For added irony, her husband is 5'3 and has UK4 (EU36) feet.

Genetics has this wonderful way of just having fun with standards!

Chris

As a man you are really in trouble with a size 36. Unless of course you shop in the woman side of the store. I think it is kind of degrading to have to go to the children section. My problem is not quite as bad. I have a size 39 (at 1.80m) and my wife has 42 (at 1.75m). Since I switched to the other part of the shop, I do not have any problems, even though there I often need size 40. My wife though shares with me the dislike for mans shoes, so she has a harder time finding nice shoes. Fortunately there are more and more women with big feet, so things are becoming easier with time.

When a shop is really targeting to men, they also have size 44, 45, 46. But those shops are mainly on the internet. (or fetish shops). Probably it sells much better by internet, because the vast majority of men that wants to buy them, does not dare to buy them in a store, and definitely not try whether they fit.

Y.

[Gudulitooo]

I can add that recently a number of shoes run very small so the stores have added extra sizes. In the same store, I have seen size 42 shoes being smaller and narrower than size 41 of another model (with max size 41). To me in the women section of european "regular" stores, size 42 or 43 are only there to replace the old size 41 in small sized shoes.

[Shafted]

Anthropological records show that as a species we have been getting physically larger over time. In many cases there are startling size increases over just a few generations. As time goes on if they want to keep up with just women's sizes they will have to add larger sizes while dropping the smaller ones.

[chris100575]

I get confused with sizing i thought a us12 was a Eu 44 or uk 10 but with designer shoes a us12 is a Eu42 or a uk 8 , what gives???

Shoe sizes don't convert exactly, and sizes can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and sometimes even style to style. I'm a UK8 in heels, which is probably about 41.5 as I can be a 41 or 42 depending on the shoe. The only US-sized shoes I've tried are Pleasers, and with them a 10 is too small but an 11 is too big.

[antha]

Although Shafted said something similar: Some years ago i had a conversation with Steve from 'Divine', the kinky boot factory, he was telling me that many models bought shoes from him as he was told 'good quality leather UK10+ stilletos were, impossible to get on the high street' Apparently UK11 is not uncommon in these circles.

[shrimper]

I have several female friends who wear US13 and one who wears US16. I've noticed that young girls are growing larger sooner so that by age 13 they are wearing size US11 or better. Manufacturers are starting to respond to this growth trend with the added benefit of having more attractive styles available for men.

[inquisitor]

I found myself really impressed with the larger sizes at Nordstrom Rack earlier today. I found styles of shoes in 12 and 13 I didn't know were even made. I'll go back on Sunday to take a closer look. I was tempted to try on several pairs in 10 and 11/12, but there was a lot of women looking at the smaller sizes. Didn't want to arouse too much attention.