UK shoes

I think I may have discovered something -

Looking at my US shoes, with fit, all narrow toward the heel, so they come to a point in the back.

The heels on my shoes from the UK, which don't fit, don't.

So the heels don't "hug" my feet, like the heels on US shoes do.

So the only way to keep from lifting my heels up out of my shoes every time I lift my feet when I take a step is by wearing shoes that are slightly small on me, so they grab my feet very tightly.

This may just be due to the brands I am buying, but as an example of the type of shoe that I need to stay on my foot, here is a shoe from Anne Klein in the US:



Notice how the back of the shoe is pointy, so it is going to hold onto your heel when you walk.

Does anyone know of any UK shoe brands that hug your heels like that? (I am poor.)


   

Dr Martens!

I was in Chelmsford yesterday and went shoe shopping.  These are my results:

Faith - size 6 was too small and size 7 was too large.  In the size 6 my toes practically hung out the front but there was a couple of fingers of wiggle room (too much for open toed shoes in my opinion) in the size 7.  Also, none that I really loved.  Classy looking silver or gold shoes are hard to find!

M&S - They had nothing worth trying on.  Basically all shoes like DH's nan wears.  So I have no clue what I wear there.

Debenhams - tried on a pair of Nine West size 6s, couldn't get my feet in them.  Are they US sizes?  A size 8 fit me, which is much closer to my US size 8.5 feet.  I didn't actually like the shoes, I was just trying to determine what size I wore.  I also tried on a pair of Debenhams own brand (I think, although now I've forgotten what the brand was called) - a size 6 fit, but no love in the cute department - they were pretty foul for the £55 they wanted for them.

Revel - there was a cute pair - once again I'm between a size 6 & 7 but the size 7 wasn't so large that I looked like a clown so I could have likely worn it.

River Island (from a Friday night shopping trip, not Chelmsford) - nothing cute but tried on some just for fun.  I was between a 6 & 7 again.  Probably closer to a 7 yet again, but wearing an open toed, strappy heel 7s just look too big on me...again.

Clarks - I'm a steady size 6.5 there - this is where the majority of my UK bought shoes come from (all three work pairs!).  They don't appear to have an holiday shoes in so there was nothing cuter and strappy.

A local bridal shop had Rainbow Club shoes in half sizes that I can order to be dyed (which I'll likely do when I have more time).  The shoes aren't badly priced considering that I hold onto shoes forever and don't buy until I'm ready - about £70-90 including dying.  Turn around time on them was too high for this time though.

There were a couple of local shops - I tried on a size 39 in one shop - which, was too big.  I ended up buying a pair of black size 38 from there, but in other local boutiques the size 39 fit me. 

They're cute (and much needed, my current black of black heels is easily 10 years old and have had the heels replaced several times - I wore them to both of my high school proms!) but I'm not sure how well black shoes go with red formal dress.  But at least after shopping I'm convinced that no one else is going to notice because they weren't able to get shoes that actually went with their outfits either.

DH has a theory about UK shoes/clothing and me.  He feels that the UK is more fashion-forward and actually changes clothes with the seasons and buys new clothes every year.  To the UK female population keeping up with a fashion is worth spending a couple of hundred pounds in clothing and buying new shoes every season.  Once the season is over the the shoes are out of style it's not such a big deal to them.

Me on the other hand, I keep clothes forever.  I've been the same size for the last 8 years, don't throw clothes away, and own nothing that could be considered remotely "stylish".  My black high heels that are 10 years old are still being sold by Chinese Laundry 10 years later.  Not the most fashionable things, but very classic.  DH thinks that I'm not willing to spend my money on things that will date in the next 5 years (he'd likely be right) so therefore shopping over is hard for me.  Monsoon was beautiful this summer but the lime green was incredible - why lime green?!  By fall no one will be wearing it.  This is a typical shopping related battle cry from me.

So I expect a pair of £50 shoes to last forever...and over here they don't, they date.  So not only do I have trouble finding my size.  I won't buy them even if I do because they'll be craptastic within a year.

That said, my black shoes were inexpensive (£25 on sale) and I'll likely hold out for Silver Stuart Weitzman "Delovely" - which are classic and I can't find anything similar over here at all:  But if you know where to get something similar, let me know!!

Well, I still don't understand the problem some people seem to have.  I certainly haven't "settled" in fitting on any of my UK shoes - except in ways that I would have had to in US shoes as well (i.e., ankle boots needing to be bigger in the foot because my ankles are thicker than they apparently should be for my small feet...).  And I still have shoes I bought my first year here that are still in good shape AND fashionable 5 years on.  Some styles are timeless...the trick is not to get caught up in the disposable fashions.

Sometimes I wonder if it's just mindset.  Because my sizing is all over the place shoe- and clothing-wise in the UK and the US, I have to try everything on - and if I buy over the net, I just cross my fingers...!

Well, I still don't understand the problem some people seem to have.  I certainly haven't "settled" in fitting on any of my UK shoes - except in ways that I would have had to in US shoes as well (i.e., ankle boots needing to be bigger in the foot because my ankles are thicker than they apparently should be for my small feet...).  And I still have shoes I bought my first year here that are still in good shape AND fashionable 5 years on.  Some styles are timeless...the trick is not to get caught up in the disposable fashions.

Sometimes I wonder if it's just mindset.  Because my sizing is all over the place shoe- and clothing-wise in the UK and the US, I have to try everything on - and if I buy over the net, I just cross my fingers...!

It might just be a mindset, who knows.  I actually usually have a luck in half sizes, but so few stores seem to carry them.  I adore UK jeans and bras and wouldn't dream of putting myself through US bra hell again - thank you M&S!!  But shoes are just another story for me.  This is why I don't think it's the mindset for me necessarily.  I'm perfectly fine buying clothing over here, when I actually buy it, but shoes, ugh the shoes...between the horrible styles (for me, not everybody!) and the sizing I dread shoe shopping.  I seriously think I might start buying The Rainbow Club bridal shoes and getting them dyed should I ever need to buy formal shoes again here.

I think the issue is, perhaps, there is just more variety in sizes in the US. There  have been quite a few posts from people trying to find Plus Size clothing here; I've had the same issue with petite clothing.

In the US, there were shops that sold only petite clothing (no such thing in the UK), and the petite section in a department store took up a whole floor. In UK shops, the petite "department" (for those shops that even have them) is maybe 2 gondolas.

With clothing, though, you can wear clothing a bit too loose or a bit too tight, or with rolled up cuffs or the waist and shoulders in the wrong place,even though it may be slightly lesss attractive or a bit uncomfortable; it's not going to cause the same type of problems that wearing the wrong size shoes all the time would.

The fact that only some shops in the UK sell shoes in half sizes adds weight to this argument (and explains why some people have no problem at all finding shoes that fit, and others do). I've never heard of US shoes not being availabe in half sizes.

I think maybe US and UK women also just have different feet. Before you laugh, I have two theories to support this:

1. The UK is more homogenous ethnically, so more people have similar shaped feet than in the US, thus there is less need for a wide variety of sizes to be available. (Yes, I'm aware that there are a lot of minorities in the UK, but in general, it's more likely that you'll find someone who's "only" of English descent, whereas pretty much everyone in the US is a mix of something.)

2. If you grow up wearing a particular size or type of shoe, your feet will start to conform to that mold (just like footbinding, as someone joked above), so if you try to buy shoes somewhere with a different mold, they just won't fit quite right.

Just wanted to add that my shoe shopping experiences have been similar to Larissa's.

I even spent more money on shoes for my wedding than on my wedding dress (wedding dress only cost £100, to be fair), because I bought three pairs of shoes (and it took me several full days of shopping to find them) and after purchasing each of the first two, decided that they would be too painful to be standing in all day in what was supposed to be a happy day for me.

I pathetically have a wardrobe of shoes purchased in the UK that don't fit because I somehow think that they will magically transform themselves overnight into sizes that fit me, or that my feet will miraculously change shape.

I pathetically have a wardrobe of shoes purchased in the UK that don't fit because I somehow think that they will magically transform themselves overnight into sizes that fit me, or that my feet will miraculously change shape.

I think that is true no matter where you live or what size feet you have.  My friends here, my friends in the states, my mom, my aunt, and myself all own several pairs of cute shoes that don't fit right but we bought them thinking, "Yeah, these could work, maybe with some breaking in, I could get them to stretch, or with the right socks they will snug up, or they are just too good of a bargain to pass up." 

random factoid- i've had leather shoes stretched here in the uk.  well worth it.

So I expect a pair of £50 shoes to last forever...and over here they don't, they date.  So not only do I have trouble finding my size.  I won't buy them even if I do because they'll be craptastic within a year.

That said, my black shoes were inexpensive (£25 on sale) and I'll likely hold out for Silver Stuart Weitzman "Delovely" - which are classic and I can't find anything similar over here at all:  But if you know where to get something similar, let me know!!

With very few exceptions, shoes date.  Fashions and styles come and go and unless you are talking about a pair of basic black pumps, they will more than likely not be fashionalble in a few years.

Also, I have found that £50 shoes here are cheaply made and will most certainly not "last forever", where say $100 dollar shoes in the US are usually good quality but won't necessarily last forever either, specially if worn a lot.

So, my solution is but lots of shoes so you don't wear any one pair out

June

i have a problem with the fit- but my main complaint is the price.  if you want real leather, good quality, you pay an arm/leg.  i buy most/all shoes in the US because of this.

So, my solution is but lots of shoes so you don't wear any one pair out

June

I wish!  Unlikely a lot of women I can't get into shoes, or handbags.  That's not entirely true, I love handbags, but only antique things to collect, not to actually use.  I have less than 12 pairs of shoes, including my 4 pairs of flip flops, so I could easily find myself doubling my shoe wardrobe over night

British Feet

http://discovermagazine.com/1996/jun/britishfeet799

What a load of cobblers!!