Shoes sizes and shopping (rather long I fear)

[coolshoes]

I used to post on the old board and have been reading the new board for a long time without bothering to register until now. I am one of those block heel guys and have relied mostly on buying boots/shoes on the internet and at Payless until this weekend. Having tired of shoes and boots that are not leather from Payless, and having tired of the hassle of buying boots/shoes on ebay and from commercial sites, this weekend I decided to just go try on boots and shoes. [if nothing else, I wanted to check sizes on various shoemakers. I usually take a 12 or 13 US womans (I am a 10 1/2 to 11 US mans) and have stuck to that. Often my internet 13s were a bit large, so I settled on 12s (some of which were a bit small, while others were fine.] I went to several shoe stores at the largest local outlet mall, a "Mills" mall if you know them. The adventure begins--first to Rackroom Shoes where after dithering for a while in the womens boots and declining the help of two male clerks, I found a 4 inch block heeled knee boot that I really liked in an 11 (Capezio is the brand). I pulled the right boot out of the box and walked to the end of display to sit down next to a woman and try them on. Eureka--its an 11 and it fits--not too small. I bought them. This is easy. On to Off-Broadway Shoes, I tried on several 11s, some of which were too small and others fit (about four or five different shoes) in the middle of a crowded store. Just me and the girls trying on shoes (except for the bored boyfriends). But nothing worth buying. On to Nine West, I almost did not go in--they usually don't go above a ten--but my mission was to check sizes so I went in and checked out the rack of 10s. Some of them were really large looking and some smaller--the larger ones fit. What a shock! Nothing I wanted to buy though. On to Naturalizer, Hush Puppies ( I know mostly ugly), Aigner, Bass, Off 5th and at least one more. I tried on shoes in all of them, even if I did not find them attractive. Remember the goal was to check shoe sizes and try on shoes in public. In the end I bought two more pairs of ankle boots at Bass (11s)--it was a sale how could I refuse. Conclusion--in a conservative part of the US I tried on shoes at will in some stores--had male and female clerks offer to help me--only had the infrequent odd look from a customer--most of them were too busy with their own purchases to care--we just shared space while looking and trying on boots/shoes. Secondly, sizes vary alot inside of brands and between brands. Depending on the shoe or boot--I can potentially wear anything from a 10 to a 12 (except for some brands, where everything is too small and Steve Madden where it takes a 13 for sure). End of adventure. What a great day and goodnight from the US.

[Arctic]

Hi Coolshoes great you did what you did. The experience you had is 100% the same as mine. There is really nothing to it and it's even possible to get some fun out of the interaction between you and the sales people. We are starting to see this kind of happenings more and more, and eventually we will reach that point that it becomes "normal". I live in a city of about a million people, and I visit every shoe store that I know of and is worth visiting about once every 10 weeks or so. I try on ALL boots that I like and that may fit. I have seen only once another guy trying on heeled shoes, and despite that, I get nothing but helpful reactions lately. About two years ago, I got an occasional odd look, but nowadays it gets harder and harder to spot anyone giving even a second look. If you look on eBay, both the US version and the ones of the larger EU contries (Germany, France, UK, ..), you can see that there are MASSIVE amounts of thigh highs sold in size 11, 12 and 13. That, to me, must mean that there are many guys who are into heels but only dare to wear them in their bedrooms. I think if we could pull those over into public use of heels, we probably already have the critical mass to start a trend. And that can only be done by acting like you did! Bert

[Dr. Shoe]

Well done!! Trying on is by far the best way of finding footwear that fit, (Duh! What a stupid statement!). There are a host of other benefits, you may inspire others to follow your example and in rare cases find a like minded person which has happened to me on at least one occasion.

[Sway]

Way to go I just wish there was a store that had my size on the shelf I would be in there all the time! Some of the Payless boots in 13W will do in a "pinch" buy you have to order that size on line and go through trial and error. Keep up the good work!

[hoverfly]

Good going!!!!!!!!!!! Gets easiear after that dose it? I went shoe shoping with my GF over the weekend. I tired a few pairs on, but bought nothing. GF bought a pair of boots at Payless for her self that were simmular at more expencive palces at half the price!!

[B-booted]

Great shopping experience. I found the same here and once was caught out when I hadn't intended to try on a pair of 3 inch heels. I took them to the checkout intending to risk buying them and try them on at home when the assistant asked me if I wanted to try them on. How could I refuse?

[loveheel]

Great experience. Trust me, as soon as you start browsing the women's shoes, most store assistants know exactly who you are buying for. Almost all of the store people I asked have had wome come in before to try on women's shoes. This is why they sometimes offer you to try them on. Sometimes even when just browsing I get the question whether i would like to try something on. Just this week I had a great conversation with a young sales girl at a Baker store. She told me she had 250 pairs of shoes ! When people are this much into shows, they appreciate a guy's interest in them.

[Francis]

sounds like a prospective girlfriend there

[Nikk]

Sounds just like my experience. To begin with I spent endless hours skulking around trying to pretend I was shopping for someone else, and of course always ended up with something that didn't fit or didn't look good. And, of course, behaving suspiciously so that the store staff probably thought I was a shoplifter. Nowadays I couldn't care less what shop assistants think, and have generally had a lot of good help mixed with mild surprise in some places. Especially while travelling in the US, I've found that shop staff are very helpful & open minded, but have also noticed a lot more variation in sizing than I've found in the UK.