So, I’m a pretty average-height guy—5’7”. Not tall, not short, just… there. My feet, however, did not get the memo. They are gigantic. Size 15. Which means I leave footprints that suggest someone much larger (or possibly Bigfoot) passed through, got spooked, and took off running.
People always comment. First, the double-take. Then: “Whoa. Those are… big.” And finally, the classic: “How do you even find shoes?”
Badly. That’s how.
Shoe shopping for me is like searching for an ancient artifact. Store clerks disappear into the back, only to return shaking their heads, as if I’d asked for a unicorn saddle. “We might have one pair in the back…” And what they bring out is always tragic—some orthopedic dad sneaker the size of a small canoe, usually in a shade best described as “beige disappointment.”
For a while, I tried to hide it. I slouched. I crammed my toes into size 13s like a Victorian woman chasing a terrible beauty standard. I even considered custom shoes—until I saw the price and briefly thought maybe barefoot life isn’t so bad.
But now? I’ve embraced it. I don’t tip over easily. I get extra legroom on buses just by existing. And when people ask about my shoe size, I just smile and say, “Great for swimming.”
I wear size 15s, and I can tell you it’s a nightmare. Slightly less so since the Internet made shopping easier.
Stores don’t often stock anything above a 13. Like I’ve been in so many stores looking for a single pair of shoes, any pair, and found nothing. If you go online and filter by size, you’re looking at a 90% reduction in selection as compared to a normal size, say a 10.
And then, when you do order some shoes, it’s 50-50 one company’s size 15 will have the same dimensions as the last or next company. I know this may not be a unique problem to big shoes, but it makes it that much more difficult.
When I was younger and had a much less stable life, that is to say not having a lifestyle that was compatible with online shopping, I’d often go weeks shoving cardboard in my shoes in a feeble attempt to patch the holes in my soles. I still subconsciously avoid puddles and wet spots most people would think nothing of plowing straight through.
What is it with people repeating the same thing I’ve said like they’re disagreeing with me lately?
No, its not unique to shoes… its a major issue across all clothing.
There are no standards in sizing in anything in clothing. Hell the same company might not even respect its own sizing across batches of the same product, much less across various product lines under its name.
Its infuriating trying to buy clothes because of it.