A problem at the other end of the scale

[Calv]

One of the enduring moans on the boards is that shoe styles dont go up to the larger sizes to suit us. A little story now which happened today to show that these problems are not unique to us. I went to Solihull today with my mum, sister and her 2 children, to do some shopping, and try out my sisters new BMW car. my sister needed to get some new sandals for her 5 year old daughter. No problem you might think, except that she has very narrow feet (Like me, my brother and sister). From bitter experience we know that the mainstream shops are useless so went to a specialist shop and after waiting to get her feet measured we found the shop had only 3 pairs which might fit her. Two pairs didn't fit well enough so we had a choice of one pair! This pair cost £33 - I only paid £35 for my last pair of boots in the Faith sale. I hope you don't think this is off topic - but I wanted to illustrate the problems faced by a little girl sho is just starting on the long climb to those 5 inch heels (I hope so anyway )

[ShockQueen]

Yes, the problem does extend to both ends of the spectrum and I think the 'mainstream' shoe manufacturers have forgotten the ones with very small feet as well as those with larger tootsies. We need to E-X-P-A-N-D size selection, not CoNtRaCt it down to nothing.

[Calv]

And the retailers need to stock those shoes as well. It is no good trying to buy those shoes by mail order. The personal touch is definitely reguired, or a lifetime of damaged toes awaits.

[Highluc]

Last friday I was shoe shopping in Antwerp and while browsing at a window overheard the conversation between a mother and the saleslady pointing at styles while the little boy was seated inside on his socks. While looking at all the available sandal styles the lady pointed out there were hardly any (good looking) styles for boys his age (he looked like 4 or 5) with small feet. At the end they started selecting models from the girls side that were rather unisex and available in dark uniform colors. I carried on while they entered the store again. I still wonder how his first "girl" sandals looked. To make things clear this was a huge shoestore caring only for children and having hundreds of styles for the girls and only those ugly monk type sandals for boys. There is a market out there that could be exploited by the manufacterers and untill then we'll see more boys in "girl" sandals. At that age nobody cares anyway, lots of styles are rather unisex but only marketed for the girls.

[ShockQueen]

There you go! Educate them while they're young, and they'll grow up with a wider selection to choose from later on in life!

[Calv]

I noticed in the shoe shop yesterday that the styles ran about 75%/25% female/male. Conditioning starts at a young age unfortunately.

[Highluc]

During the London meet I also saw that in the UK there are much more styles with heels available in the youth sizes. In the Benelux these are almost non existant.