Big Foot easy child and The Footwear Hunt

gcvmom

Here we go again!
My easy child, who is 10 1/2, now wears a women's size 8.5 or 9. Wide. :surprise: And she really does need the extra width in her shoes, otherwise she gets ingrown toenails.

Well let me tell you, it is HARD to find wide shoes for a girl her age that are appropriate in height, design and fit. Athletic shoes are pretty much her staple, or flip-flops (which she cannot wear to school). And right now, she's only got one pair of tennies that fit that she can wear to school. Wearing them every day tends to generate a less-than-desireable smell :sick:, so I decided to break down today and look for a second pair for her to wear.

I hunted up and down the aisles of an outlet store near us. Started in the women's size 9 athletic section, and let me tell you, the pickings were pretty much nil for a wide width. So then I thought I'd try 8.5 wides, and lo, and behold! There were about 7 or 8 different pairs of tennies in an 8.5W :D

You'd think that having a hard-to-find size would be ENOUGH of a challenge. But no! She has to be PICKY on top of everything!!! :mad: Fortunately I found a pair she liked, light blue. But when she told me the price ($46.95) I about choked! So I kept looking, and found another pair in white with kelly green accents that she gave a thumbs up. This time the price was $39.99, which is still more than I wanted to pay, but definitely headed in the right direction.

So I decided to get them, and got in line to check out, and when it was my turn, the clerk scanned them, hit the total button and the total with tax came to about $28 -- they were on clearance!!!

:bigsmile:

I just love it when the planets align like that!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I have the opposite problem; I wear a 9-10 shoe and have extremely NARROW feet.

I sometimes find myself wearing MEN'S shoes. They actually run a lot narrower, men's B will fit a narrow foot. An E or EE will fit a wide woman's foot.

If you wear a 9, you will take a 7-8 in a men's shoe.

Also, if you go to the New Balance website, you can actually get a listing of heel and toebox designs.

Once you make those selections, you get a display of footwear that matches. I won't kid around, NB shoes are very spendy, BUT, you can, once you get the sizing figured out, find many other dealers that carry them via the internet.

Also, if you have a DSW discount shoe place near you, they carry NB and other name brand shoes at amazing discounts.

For example, a pair of Naturalizer walking shoes that would've cost me close to a hundred dollars elsewhere, cost me 49 dollars at DSW.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
GN, turns out it was New Balance that I bought for her. The last pair of tennies I bought were Reeboks, and they weren't cheap, either! But I know NB is one of the few manufacturers who DO make a variety of styles in wide widths. That's what I usually buy for husband, who has a EEE foot (!)

I had narrow feet as a kid, and my mom had a hard time finding shoes that fit me, too. But they've spread to a B width now as an adult :)
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Do they have a Nordstrom Rack in your area? They always carry wide shoes and you can get them for a reasonable price. husband is a 10.5 EEEEE.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
My feet have also spread out to "nearly" a B, but I still have an unbelievable narrow heel.

I think my feet spread out from the excess weight I'm carrying as I hear it can also happen during pregnancy.

I find the Naturalizer shoes to work well for me, as do I the NB shoes with the narrow last but high toeboxes (I've had problems for years with my feet sliding forwards in too wide shoes--I have problems with ingrown and abnormal toenails as a result)

I finally figured that I'd get my clothing at thrift stores if needed, but I was NOT going to play around with shoes.

My back and knees go crazy if i wear ill fitting shoes.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Witz, that's exactly where we went today!

GN, I had no idea NB had shoes designed for a narrow heel, high arch, low arch, etc. Now I just have to figure out exactly where easy child and husband fall in these categories. The web site doesn't really tell you how to measure or what a measurement ratio means... do you know where I can find that info?

I suspect easy child has a normal heel width but a wide ball-of-the-foot. Her instep is high as is her arch on the bottom. husband, on the other hand, is wide everywhere AND has a high instep, though his arch looks normal. He typically can't wear slip-on dress shoes because he can't get them over the top of his foot. And like you, he gets horrible lower back pain issues if his shoes are worn out or don't fit right.
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Hey, GCV, JP Penney's carries NB and they frequently have very good sales on them. I got my last pair there in June for $32, plus if you get on their mailing list, they frequently send out $10 off coupons.
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
Wow, I wish we had prices on new balance shoes like you all seem to in the US. I imagine it seems high priced to see 49.99 for shoes there. To me, it sounds like nirvana!

I've had problems in past with shoes. All my life. We were poor (as in dirt) and I only ever had bargain basement shoes that wore out in a nano minute and we were to wear until we outgrew them or they literally fell apart. Money was so tight, footwear had a zero priority. As I got older and had my own income, I went and had my difficult child and then my easy child and it was again not a priority in my life. I had learned so young that cheap shoes are still shoes. So I went with that. Despite paying good money for the kids shoes.

I kick myself now for those years of torture to my feet. I still shop for a good deal, but I don't talk myself out of shoes when I need them even if I can't find a great price. I am a complete new balance convert. They are unreasonably (in my opinion) expensive here.

I rarely find any without a price tag of between $90-120 a pair. But I have discovered that a local shop that carries a large inventory of NB, every couple of months has a buy one get one half of special. I tend to shop during those promotions. I either buy 2 pairs for myself at once and have a much longer period of time before needing to purchase again, or I will buy one for me and a pair for one of the kids.

I have seen such a huge difference since refusing to skimp on my footwear. Especially since my MS diagnosis. Wearing good shoes can literally mean the difference from running errands for a few hours and being okay afterwards, or doing errands and then being unable to stand without assistance for a day or two. I realize now that even if my kids aren't complaining with cheaper shoes, it is a injustice to them over the long term to have them wearing ill fitted shoes. I do make sure they take good care of them due to the cost. We do sacrifice what we must when we all need shoes at once (hugely expensive!!!) so that we can ensure nobody has shoes that will cause problems now or down the line.

I am off to check out the new balance web site. I had no idea you could do so much on their site to get the proper fit for your feet.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Mattsmom, why not try shopping for them online? That might save you a considerable amount of $ -- no doubt there are import taxes tacked on for you, making them more expensive.

GN, thanks for that link!

Shari, I didn't realize JCP carried the as well. I'll keep my eye out for deals there, too!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I think the NB shoe lasts are sized based on instep height, toebox width and height, and heel width.

You should be able to find something that works for you, there.

I was lucky in that dirt poor as we were growing up, my parents did not stint on shoes. I wore orthopedic shoes for several years and remember that they cost three weeks of dad's salary per pair.

on the other hand, husband's father, who had a cushy gov't job and made darned good money, used to insist that husband's shoes come from KMart or similar AND be worn until they fell apart.

husband already had trouble with his feet when I met him while he was still in his teens. He had a very wide foot and high instep. By the time I met husband, he already had hammertoes and the start of bunions.

Combined with a lot of marching while in the service and then working in a professional kitchen, husband's feet were a lifelong misery to him. Even the military special ordered boots for him.

With my family, we were so poor that for years I thought my parents PREFERRED chicken backs and the like. Once when I was twelve and earning my first money dog walking and babysitting, I decided to make a special dinner for my family.

I got extra chicken backs so my parents could have their "favorite parts". They acted very enthused, though in retrospect it's just sad.

I didn't even realize we were poor until we moved to the suburbs and had people to compare with. I didn't know it was weird that we ate the way we did, or that my sister and I wore clothes made from my mother's worn out work clothes (I remember when she made me a dress out of a worn out skirt that had been my favorite--I was so thrilled)
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
I just usually tape the box to my feet. :(

I'm somewhere between SamWiseGanghee - (sans the hair) and Sasquatch

BUT - beautiful tall buildings have to have fantastic, sturdy foundations. ;)
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Feet get larger and wider during pregnancy because the ligaments, which hold the bones in place, loosen up so that a baby can pass through the hips. Without this loosening of the ligaments no baby would survive natural childbirth.

Feet do get larger as we age because our ligaments become less tight. It is not the same as during pregnancy. Weight may be a factor in how much they change, but my underweight mother has increased a shoe size in the last 3 years.

If you go to www.joesnewbalanceoutlet.com you will find a new deal every day plus many other very good deals on shoes. You can specify width, gender, size and price for your search.

thank you is now in men's shoes. He is just barely 10.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
BUT - beautiful tall buildings have to have fantastic, sturdy foundations. ;)

Ah, yes! She is an Amazon as well -- tallest in her class since about kindergarten. Perchance she will blossom into a statuesque goddess one day (like her mother was, once upon a looooong time ago!) :D
 
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