Are They Making Shoes Bigger Now

[Guest]

I have been putting on some of my old shoes that use to fit but now they are much smaller. No my feet did not get bigger. The thing is I have not gone up in size when buying new shoes. I have been buying size 9 forever now. What gets me is how good the shoes fit me as a man and that makes me wonder how in the world do the fit a woman.

I do even have some that are 8.5.

I tried on a pair of pumps in size 9 and they were fine. I use to have to go up to 9.5 when I could find them or a 10 but only in a pump.

That brings on another question. Why no 9.5?

Do woman's feet just skip that size or what.

I think the 9.5 may be a little more common now but there was a time you could never find that size.

[SF]

The only "common denominator" in shoe sizing that I have noticed over the years is that there is NONE. Sizing for me varies tremendously, even within the same manufacturer. I am a ladies size 11, have been for years. In some makes and styles I can wear anything from a size 10 up to a 12, and rarely even a 13. Go figure. Fortunately most manufacturers are making larger sizes (for us guys?), nice - 'cause in the "old days" gals shoes NEVER went beyond a size 10.

Which reminds me of a story, back in the '70's, when I was a teen, I saw a pair of Bernardo sandals that I really liked. I mustered up all the courage I could and went into the store to hopefully purchase the shoes. A real nice lady about my moms age waited on me. I told her that I would like to see the sandals. I nervously waited while she got them from the back. When she returned, she was holding one shoe in her hand, commented on how nice the sandal looked and handed it to me, then asked me to have a seat and try them on.

I was absolutely petrified, I had not expected this. With her watching, I tried the sandals on, but unfortunately they were just a bit to small. The sales "mom" commented that the shoes were to small, and that was the largest size they carried. She make a comment that she was "very sorry, " and "I know you are disappointed" (I was). Her comments and demeanor seemed to be very sincere, and I appreciated her compassion. She did say that some shoes come larger than indicated and that maybe some day gals shoes will be made in larger sizes. She was right, about 5 years later I found a very similar pair of Bernardo's in size 11 that lasted many years.

If I could find that sales gal now I would give her a big hug for her kindness and understanding.

Take care all...... SF

[Steve63130]

Great story, SF. Thanks for sharing it. My wife used to wear an 11N, and if you think 11 was hard to find back in the 70s and 80s, 11 Narrow was next to impossible. It has become easier over the years, though. But with age, now she wears 11M and today that's pretty easy to find online. Manufacturers are slowly realizing that some gals are bigger. It's still easier to find bigger sizes online than in stores where you can try them on.

 

Steve

[Guest]

I was talking to a shoes sales guy and he was telling me that in general people's feet are bigger these days due to all the steroids in the food.

I can believe that. Look how young girls are getting boobs. 15 yrs ago it was rare to see kids or anyone with a size 14 or bigger. Now most boys are that in hi school.

Look at my daughter. Me and my wife both have small feet but hers are bigger than her moms.

I met a girl the other day that wears a size 3. Just to go the other direction.

Look at a lot of the famous people. Size 8 and up is the norm. I see a lot of size 9 and higher

Oh. My original point was it seems like a size 9 now is more like what a 9.5 or even a 10 was yrs ago.it has to be. I am putting on old size 9s that don't fit

[Shyheels]

That's certainly true. I take a 14 mens's and when I was growing up it was nearly impossible to find shoes. It's dead easy now.

[jetheelsfan]

I wish I had had the nerve to do what you did in the mid '70s of actually trying them.  I really enjoyed going to Bakers when the summer clearance sale each year.  Back then, I barely could but did fit into a size 10 in some styles.  Every so often, they would have a size 11. Many of their SAs were male and that terrorfied me.  I did call once and was met by a male SA showing me a "frumpy" white sandle with maybe a 2" heel when I was looking for something more.  Bakers had great styles with the Qualicraft brand and I sure wish I had had the nerve to "try before buy" to avoid the many that just did not fit then and really can't today.

[mlroseplant]

I have had the same experience, but in my case, I think my feet have actually gotten smaller in some way, though probably not shorter.

One of the things that was pretty cool about being married to my ex-wife was that we could share shoes. Ok, actually it wasn't that cool because it was basically one way sharing--she would never allow me to wear her heels, but on the other hand, she got me wearing clogs, having spent some time in Sweden, so clogs were ok with her. Later, after we got divorced, this led to mid-heeled clogs, and later unquestionably feminine high-heeled clogs, and then to where I am today. So I guess I can sort of thank her for something--having biggish feet!

ANYWAY, back on point, I always thought I was a 9 1/2, just like my ex-wife. So that's what I bought at first. 9 1/2 worked for a while, but there was always something a little bit funny about them. They were perfect in the toes, but almost always loose around the heel. I figured I just had narrow heels, and could never wear a slip-on shoe, such as a pump. Even with those heel gripper things, I could not make it work. So I tried size 9 instead.

The first pair of size 9 I bought were a kind of loafer style pump, with enormous heels, and only slightly less enormous platforms. I could barely squeeze into them, and no matter what I tried, I could not make them stretch out enough to be at all comfortable. So, I went back to 9 1/2, but only bought lace-up Oxford styles or boots to solve my heel slippage problem.

As an aside, I am only talking about full coverage shoes or boots. Sandal fitment is a whole different ball of wax!

So I went on somewhat unhappily with 9 1/2, until one day I found some very plain, cap toe oxfords on eBay, which is exactly what I had been looking for to wear with my men's suits (I was not a full-time public heeler at the time). These oxfords had 4 1/4 inch stiletto heels with no platform. I always wanted to see if I could be comfortable wearing stilettos. These shoes were so plain looking and conservative other than the heels, I just had to have them! Size 40. Perfect! Except for one thing--they were Aldos. I did not know at the time that older Aldos run quite small. I could barely cram my foot into my new (to me) shoes. And once I did get them on, oh, they were SO high! Significantly steeper than anything I had worn before. I could walk about half a mile in them, maybe, before I needed to rest. I was afraid that I had made a mistake buying them, but they didn't actually hurt my feet, as in give me blisters or squashed toes or anything. They were just a bitch to get on and off. Especially on. So I didn't give up on them, I just kept wearing them occasionally in the house, very occasionally venturing outside to practice late at night. Eventually, it was easier to get them on, and eventually they passed my 2 mile walking test. After that, I wore them to church, and they are a staple shoe for me. I will be sad when they eventually become unrepairable.

The point of this whole very much longer than I intended story is that after I mastered the Aldos, that's when I started realizing I am size 9, not 9 1/2. I mean, taking into account variations in sizing. Of course, I don't wear a 9 in everything. But, my feet are in fact smaller than I thought. I proved this when I was looking at a pair of Tahari oxfords in patent leather (to wear with my orchestra performing tuxedo). Am I size 9 now or not? I was feeding my ex-wife's cats while she was out of town for a week on business (we still get along just fine when we don't have to live with each other), and I spied a brand new pair of shoes in the shoe cabinet near the front door when I came in. Hmmmm, what has she bought? Ahhhhhh, some Tahari pumps. Size 9 1/2. Help me out here, K, I need to see if I'm a 9 now. Suuuure, Melrose! No problem! Try these on to see if they fit! With a somewhat guilty conscience, I did try them on and walked a few steps. Yep, just a little bit too big. Thank you K, you've been a big help. I promise I'll never do this again without telling you first. Which means I'll never do it again. I won my Tahari patent leather oxfords on EBay, and size 9 fit perfectly.

Size 9 is now reasonably reliable for me in shoes. So how did I go from a size 9 1/2 to a 9? It seems impossible that my foot has actually gotten smaller. I have a theory. I think it's my toes that have gotten more flexible. I think I've always been size 9, but when I got into the higher/steeper heels, my toes weren't flexible enough to accommodate the bend in the shoes, so I thought I needed a bigger size. Now they are. I also can now wear slip-on type shoes without walking out of them. Plus, I'm much happier being a size 9, because everything you ever wanted comes in size 9. Not so much true with 9 1/2.

[Guest]

Mine have not gotten smaller they just conform to woman's shoes now.

I consider them broken much like you would break a horse.

Shoes stretch. I have a hard time convincing my wife. She buys shoes that fit perfect in the store and expecting them to fit like that in a year.

[robbiehhw]

My feet are shrinking i believe because of hormones. I'm finding some 9s/9.5s that fit me for the first time in my recollection. You don't see a lot of women's half sizes for some reason. I was shopping yesterday and i saw them in things like converses etc but not as much as in heels. 

 

One thing i have noticed is that younger women's feet seem to be larger. I believe this has been backed up with some research, and the evolution theory is that athletics before childbearing is preparing the future generation for more athletes I've noticed that stores that cater to younger women such as Rue 21 have lots of 10s and 11s in their cheaply made but cute shoes.

[Guest]

It's steroids in the food kids eat