Has anyone noticed UK shoes/heels are all too wide? What to do?

We had a thread about this once years ago that I'll never forget because somehow it turned out I had "Scandinavian" feet and "wealthy" feet?!   

Yupyup!  I know what you mean.  I have German feet.  High arches and wide.  German-made shoes cradle my feet in comfort.

No, unless you mean flat as in sneaker type things. My ex referred to Converse and that sort of shoe as a pump.

Yes, this is my experience.  I have also heard Converse (high-tops) referred to as 'football boots' by a few guys in the UK.  'No no!' I've corrected them--'they are for *basketball*! And they're not boots!'

I never heard the term 'court shoes' until recently.  It sounds really old fashioned to me, like something from the 18th century.  Maybe that's when the high-heel on a woman's shoe first developed?

I feel as if I have fairly normal shaped feet, and I've never had a problem with shoes here. I think makes of shoes are all different and it's just a question of finding some you like. In the US, I never bought Nine West because I found them incredibly wide and they were always falling off me!

I feel as if I have fairly normal shaped feet, and I've never had a problem with shoes here. I think makes of shoes are all different and it's just a question of finding some you like. In the US, I never bought Nine West because I found them incredibly wide and they were always falling off me!

I feel Nine West is my foot friend. I have a normal to medium width foot and have no problems finding shoes that fit. As a 9.5 US, I have to try both 7 and 8 and hope for the best. The higher the heel, the lower the show size. I guess my feet prefer UK shoes for the width but I'd never thought about it until this thread.

I feel as if I have fairly normal shaped feet, and I've never had a problem with shoes here.

I thought I had normal shaped feet till I moved here.  DH says I have feet like Bugs Bunny's. I only wear a size 2-4, depending on the brand, so he doesn't mean that I have big feet, just that they are a funny shape (to him).

A language blog I follow has just had a whole discussion about shoes:  http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&updated-max=2012-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&max-results=4

I wear a US 9 narrow or slim (AA or AAA with a 5A heel). I think there may still be one shop in Manchester that carries narrow widths, but it's been years since I tried to buy shoes here.

Generally, UK shoes are wider. Don't fall for the 'buy a size smaller, it works fine' sales line because it won't - and your feet will suffer.

If you have a brand/size that you know will fit, order on-line is my advice.

Yupyup!  I know what you mean.  I have German feet.  High arches and wide.  German-made shoes cradle my feet in comfort.

   I think this is hilarious!  Are there really "ethnic feet"?  I suppose there must be.  It's just something that had never crossed my mind until that thread on UKY a while back and I was laughing about it then.  Now I'm wondering if there really is such a thing as "Scandinavian feet"?

Have you found the actual heel liners for the back of the shoe? Not sure if they have them there or not:

I haven't found them in the UK but I have brought them back from the US to use here.

Generally, UK shoes are wider. Don't fall for the 'buy a size smaller, it works fine' sales line because it won't - and your feet will suffer.

Yes, I agree.  I've gone for the "size smaller" when I really liked a pair of shoes that were too wide, and regretted it.

I've also made the mistake of buying too wide shoes a size too small.

A complaint I have is that many shops in the UK don't sell shoes in half sizes. There's a big jump from one full size to the next.

I thought I had normal shaped feet till I moved here.  DH says I have feet like Bugs Bunny's. I only wear a size 2-4, depending on the brand, so he doesn't mean that I have big feet, just that they are a funny shape (to him).

Wow, you have tiny feet sweetpeach!

And I have to agree, the lack of half sizes is annoying.

I feel as if I have fairly normal shaped feet, and I've never had a problem with shoes here. I think makes of shoes are all different and it's just a question of finding some you like. In the US, I never bought Nine West because I found them incredibly wide and they were always falling off me!

That's funny, I've always thought of Nine West as running a bit narrow. I have slightly wide feet, most of the time I can wear normal shoes but not if they run slightly narrow and have difficulty fitting into Nine West a lot of the time.

I have trouble finding shoes that fit well here in the UK too!  And I have wide feet - but wide at the ball of my foot and then narrow at the heel.  The standard width shoes sold here are too narrow for me.  And the wide shoes that will fit me at the ball of my foot are frequently too big at the heel - so I agree with whoever said the shape of the shoes is different.  I was trying on some party shoes about a year ago - a couple pair that had those wide straps all around the heel...my ankles & heels were just swimming in them - it was beyond ridiculous!  Oh where are those cankles when you need them?!  

I've taken to sometimes buying men's shoes for a 'utility' shoe - like walking boots or trainers...the men's shoes like that seem to fit me better.

But finding pretty women's shoes that fit & feel good & comfortable - blah!  And I don't think the selection is very good either.  I was looking for some navy coloured shoes yesterday - googling a variety of UK websites, retailers, etc - and finding an abysmal/non-existent selection of the styles that I wanted in my size.  Yet I went on the US websites & retailers and instantly found pairs & pairs & pairs of exactly what I was looking for, and in sizes that I know will fit me - i.e., US 9 Wide!  Good thing I'm going to the US soon - I see shoe shopping in my future - woohoo!!!

aimless, I always found Nine West too narrow as well, but I take a wide shoe in the US myself.

I've also made the mistake of buying too wide shoes a size too small.

Oh goodness, me too. And I still wear them quite often because I haven't had luck finding shoes that fit and can't afford to keep trying. It seems I don't notice how squished my toes are until I'm walking to work. Some of my toes are properly disfigured now.

Mrs R, what US brands of shoes did you buy online? We seem to have similarly shaped feet, wider at the front than at the heel, so maybe they will work for me in my size.

Really odd. I always found Nine West to be narrow and hurty-pointy at the toe, and loose and ill-fitting at the heel. I can't tell you how many times I lost a shoe walking up or down stairs at work!