Shoe shopping
Jun. 27th, 2009 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshYea, I did verily do battle with the shoe industry and thusly did I rise triumphant.
Seriously, folks, my feet are just a little bit freakish. Very small (a size five usually, which many shoe brands don't come in), a high arch/instep, and a narrow heel. Trying to find a well-fitted, solid and durable shoe, that is also attractive and in a style/color I like can be a very frustrating and fruitless endeavor, which is why I often just go to Payless and buy something crap. If I'm going to get something that doesn't fit well anyway, why spend a lot of money on it?
Today, however, I bearded the lion in the den, and went to Littles Shoes. They sell mostly sensible, comfortable, but expensive shoes. Merrill, Keen, New Balance, are all well-represented. I nearly despaired today. The stats:
Merrill - one shoe in my size, in stock. Wrong color and style
NAOT - several in my size, but they either didn't fit well (my narrow heel wreaked havoc with the NAOTs), were unspeakably ugly, or unspeakably expensive or some combination of all three.
Keen - Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. I have to give props to the saleslady for thinking outside the box. Keen was a last ditch effort for her, after I'd tried on six or eight different shoes, none of which were even close to fitting or being what I wanted. And when she went back to find a Keen, the only thing she could find in the color and style I wanted was a youth size three Newport. They fit perfectly and are a nice dark brown. They are more sandal-y than I particularly wanted but Littles doesn't seem to sell year-round shoes, at least not in early summer. And, already pretty much convinced I was going to buy them, I then was informed that because they were a Youth size instead of an adult size, they were nearly fifty percent less expensive. Woot!
So I now have new shoes, that I'll be able to wear probably seven months out of the year if I'm willing to wear them with socks in the fall and spring. And bonus, I've been lusting after Keens for several years now, but holding back because I didn't think I could afford them. Now that I know the secret, however, I will certainly be buying more in the future.
Seriously, folks, my feet are just a little bit freakish. Very small (a size five usually, which many shoe brands don't come in), a high arch/instep, and a narrow heel. Trying to find a well-fitted, solid and durable shoe, that is also attractive and in a style/color I like can be a very frustrating and fruitless endeavor, which is why I often just go to Payless and buy something crap. If I'm going to get something that doesn't fit well anyway, why spend a lot of money on it?
Today, however, I bearded the lion in the den, and went to Littles Shoes. They sell mostly sensible, comfortable, but expensive shoes. Merrill, Keen, New Balance, are all well-represented. I nearly despaired today. The stats:
Merrill - one shoe in my size, in stock. Wrong color and style
NAOT - several in my size, but they either didn't fit well (my narrow heel wreaked havoc with the NAOTs), were unspeakably ugly, or unspeakably expensive or some combination of all three.
Keen - Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. I have to give props to the saleslady for thinking outside the box. Keen was a last ditch effort for her, after I'd tried on six or eight different shoes, none of which were even close to fitting or being what I wanted. And when she went back to find a Keen, the only thing she could find in the color and style I wanted was a youth size three Newport. They fit perfectly and are a nice dark brown. They are more sandal-y than I particularly wanted but Littles doesn't seem to sell year-round shoes, at least not in early summer. And, already pretty much convinced I was going to buy them, I then was informed that because they were a Youth size instead of an adult size, they were nearly fifty percent less expensive. Woot!
So I now have new shoes, that I'll be able to wear probably seven months out of the year if I'm willing to wear them with socks in the fall and spring. And bonus, I've been lusting after Keens for several years now, but holding back because I didn't think I could afford them. Now that I know the secret, however, I will certainly be buying more in the future.
