If the shoe fits - in search of half sizes
Shoewawa editor Amber McNaught's new weekly column on - what else? Shoes!
Something strange has been happening to my feet lately. (It's OK, it's nothing disgusting - you can continue with your dinner, if you're eating it). For most of my life, you see, I've been a UK size 4 in shoes. Actually, that's not quite true: when I was in high school I used to wear a 5. I'm pretty sure my feet haven't shrunk, so I'm just going to blame that on the shoes themselves.
So, I've always been a size 4, and I'm a pretty much standard size four. I can walk into a shoe store and buy shoes without trying them on. I can order over the Internet with no qualms at all - if they're a size 4, they'll fit. Until recently. Because recently, I started wearing flats. And in flats? I'm no longer a size 4. In fact, I don't know what size I am, but I'm sure it's one that hasn't been invented yet. How did this happen, I wonder? And how on earth am I meant to find shoes that fit?
Even without the size issue, wearing flat shoes isn't something that comes naturally to me. For as far back as I can remember, I've been a high heels girl. It's partly because I'm short, and like the extra height that heels give me, but there's more too it than that. I walk differently in flats: they're far less elegant, and make me feel not just shorter, but somehow squatter, too. So it's no wonder that I've lived most of my life in heels.
Until recently I would no more have worn flats than I'd have adopted the "one pair of shoes for every occasion" philosophy that men have. I was a heels lover all the way. Then I bought a dog. A dog who needed to be walked every day, even when it's rainy and muddy. Now, it's not so much that I can't walk the dog in high heels: it's just that I don't want to. I can see no point in ruining all of my lovely stilettos by tramping through mud in them, and I don't want to wear down the heels any faster than I absolutely need to, so it was with some reluctance that I bought me some ballet flats. To my surprise, I loved them. Once I'd gotten past the issue of all of my jeans and trousers being way too long, because they were all cut to wear with heels, I decided I quite liked my new, cute flats. The problem with this? They didn't like me. Or rather: they didn't like mt feet.
Size four ballet flats, you see, are too tight. Oh, they seem like they're going to fit when I try them on in the shop, but once I get them home they'll be pinching like mad after twenty minutes. It doesn't matter which brand I buy: the same thing will happen. Size five? Too big. A pair of size fives will make me look like Ronald McDonald, and I'll step out of them when I try and walk. Buying insoles doesn't seem to help, so I'm left with a difficult decision: buy size fours and hope that they stretch (never try this, by the way) or buy size fives and feel like I'm wearing boats on my feet.
Well, about four pairs of flat shoes later (all from different stores, I hasten to add) I'm giving up on the "hoping they will stretch" thing. I'm not too keen on the Ronald McDonald feet either, so I'm left with one last option: hunt down some stores that stock half sizes. This is actually harder than you'd think. Here in the UK, most of the shoe stores I tend to frequent don't do half sizes. The ones in the States that do? Don't ship to the UK. What's a girl who's just discovered a love of ballet flats to do?
I will continue with my search. Until then, I'll be the one with the boat-sized shoes that fall-off every couple of steps...
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Amber McNaught is the editor of Shoewawa and a certified shoeaholic. If you see any cute ballet flats in a size 4.5, she'd love to hear about them...
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Comments
I know the feeling! I'm a size 5.5 in everything! Gotta buy 6 and superglue (yes superglue!) heelgrips in the back of them so that they stick. Otherwise they loose their stickyness within 30mins!
I feel your pain!!
Posted by: Lianne | August 8, 2007 4:34 PM
www.frenchsole.com
most of the shoes seem to come in half sizes, if you can understand the sizes table!
Good luck!
Posted by: emmao414 | August 8, 2007 5:07 PM
http://www.frenchsole.com/product_info.php?shoe_id=BWsNmE17LHsC7FNa
ok, so not all of them, but these cute ones in clearance are def available in 37.5 :)
Posted by: emmao414 | August 8, 2007 5:09 PM
Oh, French Sole are fab, Emma! I'm now coveting their green "Harriet" shoes - which, of course, aren't in the sale...
Lianne - it's awful, isn't it? So many shoes, so few that fit! l'm lucky in that heels can always be counted on to fit perfectly - it's just flats that seem to cause the problem!
Posted by: Amber | August 8, 2007 5:18 PM
I have similar problems Amber and have real trouble finding comfy flats. I'm actually wondering if there is something going on with shoe sizing as I've always been a 6 but have recently bought shoes that are falling off my feet. Vanity shoe sizing?!!!
Posted by: Jules | August 8, 2007 8:32 PM
I am on the other side...I am a 10.5 US, which is suppose to be an 8 UK, but actaully 7.5. Then in European sizes - anywhere between a 40 - 42. I've invested in a wooden stretcher so when I find a pair that is half size off.
Posted by: the muse | August 8, 2007 10:49 PM
From a physiological perspective, the feet are the only part of the human body that will actually grow in length and width throughout your lifetime. I am a former industrial designer who has recently begun designing accessories fulltime. Throughout my work making custom shoes for clients, I have found that not only does the size of your feet change, but the bone, cartilage, and lingaments also shift within one's foot making it not possible for the average adult to comfortably maintain the same foot size. By wearing flats, you have allowed your foot, especially your arch, to flatten, lengthen, and widen, therefore increasing your shoe size.
BTW--Love your writing, look forward to reading more in the future...Good luck as Editor
Posted by: Gerald Joseph | August 8, 2007 11:06 PM
Thanks to the poster above for his helpful comment! When I went up a shoe size at age 24 everyone thought I must be some sort of foot freak. Even my own doctor didnt believe me when I mentioned I thought my feet had grown. Now at 32 I am beginning to wonder if I am growing again. Like Amber I was a UK size 4, and now have exactly the same problem buying ballet flats - namely that I cant find any that fit and would dearly love to find a 4.5. Such a tragedy as there are sooo many pretty flat shoes out there, if I could only find my size...
Posted by: Kylie | August 9, 2007 8:09 AM
Thanks for the comment, Gerald - that's really interesting, and I was actually wondering if changing my footwear had perhaps changed the shape of my feet. I used to wear heels constantly, which meant that, on the rare occassions that I did wear flats, they would really hurt my legs - I think my hamstrings had shrunk from wearing heels all the time. Now that I work from home I tend to slope around in flat khussa slippers all day, or go barefoot, so I guess it would make sense that the shape of my feet would change.
Kylie - we must have been sepparated at birth! I think I'm going to splash out on a pair of the French Sole shoes Emma linked to, so I'll report back on how they fit!
Posted by: Amber | August 9, 2007 9:48 AM
Well this is all very enlightening, especially Gerald's comments. I am a size 9 (UK) or I was when I used to get measured for school shoes (and ended up in the same style for 3 years running as that's all the shop had in a 9, but that's another story!). But now I find some 8s fit me fine, while some 9s, often flats now I come to think about it, are tight. This article and comments explains a lot so thanks Amber and all the commenters.
And we can always rely on Emma to find just what we are looking for!
Posted by: Fi | August 9, 2007 10:33 AM
Amber, don't you also have a proclivity for red shoes? (or is that just me?)
If so, you totally need Henrietta in red as well (http://www.frenchsole.com/product_info.php?shoe_id=dGfwpCVMboXXMr3). They're such a stunning colour!
Posted by: Erin | August 9, 2007 10:44 AM
Lovely writing, lovelier writer...:)
I don't want to be the anti-climax here, but taking Gerald's comment into consideration, why don't you try walking your dog in wedge Havaianas? Not only are you maintaining your feet's arch, size, etc. it's also quite comfortable. I know, that's a bit nutty when the weather is far from nice, but just a thought. I certainly would not want to ruin my stilettos or flats in mud, seeing that flip flops are easier to clean
Posted by: Jule | August 9, 2007 12:12 PM
The choice of footwear will definitely impact the size and shape of the foot. Shoes help provide the foot with structure and aids balance. Flats provide little if any support. I often wear cowboy boots or riding boots because of the firm heel cushion and balance they provide. When I wear them my spine straightens, I stand taller, my foot feels secure, and I have better balance. Most women subconsciously become attracted to heels for the same reasons. Moreover, a little elevation off of the ground makes us all feel more confident and more interesting. I don't wear sneakers, because I don't like how they expand and lose their initially comfortable rigid fit.
Posted by: Gerald Joseph | August 9, 2007 5:41 PM
As Gerald has already said, the choice of footwear will definitely impact the size and shape of the foot. This can happen both over time (actual change in the shape (that's width AND length) of your foot) and in the short term while in your choice of footwear (ie. when wearing high heels, your feet tend to be pushed further into the shoes because of all the weight that's been distributed to the front and you're using more of the length of the shoe than you would with flats). Feet also change in size throughout the day- they usually tend to swell (slowly or quickly) depending on genetics and also the type of shoe (material, build of shoe, etc). All manufacturers have their sizing quirks but for people who vacillate between half sizes have either wide or narrow feet. If you put two shoes up against one another in the same make, model but in two different sizes you'll be able to note that there is no huge difference in the length of the shoes even if they're 2 sizes apart or more (It's usually a 3-5cm difference, at best). The marked difference between the two shoes, however, will be the space (hidden from view, of course) inside of the shoes. If a person is a size 9 in length but has wide feet, they'll either have to size up in width or go up half a size. If you find yourself in the half-size dilemma, just buy half a size up and have your cobbler put in a leather insole underneath the factory insole-- this will make up for the half-size difference and your shoes will fit perfectly (quite frankly, putting those sticky pads on the back of the shoe are messy and hardly ever effective).
Posted by: Kim | August 10, 2007 6:14 PM
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