Shoe Complaints

What's up with shoes?

Yes, shoes. I am a size 8. Up until this past year, I could buy any size 8 without having to try it on. Sneakers, heels, flats, loafers, you name it - I could wear it. Of course, I always sensibly did try shoes on before I bought them - but it just proved time and again I was a standard size 8.

Now, my wedding shoes did not fit right. The manufacturer warned that they ran big, but even when I got down to the right size, the shoes were still quite long that tapered off a half-inch (at least) behind my heel. Rick and I shoved 2 sets of heel pads into each shoe and called it a fix. It probably would have been a comfortable fix if I hadn't stood in them for something like 6 hours straight. I chalked it up to an anomaly. Sunday, Rick and I went shoe shopping, and every shoe I tried on did the same thing. They're made extremely long so that my heel continually either a) pops out or b) is giving me blisters. I finally bought 2 pair, which I though fit, but I've discovered I have painful blisters on the back of each heel.

What's with un-standardizing shoes?? Is this because of people of . . . shall we say, more generous proportions? Is there actually a market for this?