Although I have reached the half-century mark with my size 11 ego intact, my plight began in grade school. Despite the fact that I attended parochial school and wore oxfords every school day with my uniform, my mother would take me shoe shopping for Sunday and special occasions – which always ended in tears for me and my mother’s “nerves” would be worn thin.

I wore a size 10 and invariably the shoes she picked for me never resembled the shoes my classmates or friends wore.  I cried, I complained, and ultimately refused to wear what she picked for me.  Eventually she stopped taking me shoe shopping. Thus, I began saving my allowances to buy the shoes of my choice.

At the age of twelve, I worked the entire summer on an ice cream truck with a relative, just so I would have enough money to buy a specific pair of shoes to wear on the first day of school – one of the only days we were not required to wear uniforms.  Unfortunately, I stopped at the record shop first to buy my favorite 45, walked out leaving my wallet on the counter.  Needless to say, it was not there when I rushed back in.

It was only $50.00. But it meant the world to me.  I stood on the downtown street corner and cried as if someone had died.  People stopped to inquire what was the matter and I just could not explain.  Eventually I returned home bereft and forever jaded about the world. I discovered soon thereafter that my mother wore the same size (ten) when playing in her closet one afternoon.

I secretly began wearing her shoes.  Her shoes were beautiful and fit perfectly, the heels were a little high, however.  Whenever I asked her to let me wear her shoes, she told me they were “too grown” for me. Needless to say I continued to “shop” in my mother’s shoe closet for the rest of her life, even after my foot continued to grow to size 10 1/2.

Today I wear a size 11 and love your website! No longer do I have to endure the subtle sneers of shoe store clerks when I ask for a particular style in my size.  Funny, no one ever mentioned that your feet continue to grow long after everything else stops growing.
C. M

4.20.06

I wore a size 7 at the age of 7 and each year my foot would grow another size until I reached a size 10 at the age of 10.  I thought that was it until I was pregnant with my first son at the age of 26 and my feet grew to a size 11.  Then at the age of 29 I had another son and my feet grew to a size 12.  There’s something about those boys, because this didn’t happen with my daughter who is my first-born. (Smile)
I notice that in retail shoe stores sizes 10 and 11 are more available, but it’s difficult to find a 12.  Thank you for making larger sizes available in a wide variety of shoes.

T 4.11.06

My long skinny feet have been a problem since I was in middle school.  Shoes to wear to work or school were ugly boring things.  Living with a roommate who had 30 pairs of shoes was torment in college.

Luckily these days I’m able to solve my shoe dilemma by shopping at DesignerShoes.com.  The best part is that my former roommate loves my shoes and wants to borrow them!  Of course my shoes don’t fit her 8B feet.

For her the shoes on the other foot now!

J

4.6.06

When I was about ten I had a major operation on my right foot.  I had a bunion and my second toe was called a hammer toe. I had 42 stitches on that foot and a steel pin in my toe to make it stand straight.  I wore a cast with a heel up to my knee for I don’t recall how long. I have very ugly feet even though I had the operation so I was not in a rush to wear my feet in sandals, or even take my shoes off in front of people.
Now I’m 50; I love shoes, occasionally I can afford some really expensive great looking shoes, but am very happy to be wearing payless shoes in my size 11,12. I have a small collection of shoes, notebooks with shoes, I love greeting cards with shoes and my friends send my things with shoes on it.  How grateful I am that I have my ugly feet and did not have to have toes removed like the girl next to me in the hospital back then.  I do wear my feet out somewhat and will take my shoes off in front of people.  Hope she is as happy as my ugly feet and me.

J

3.29.06

I remember as a kid wanting to wear the shoes that all my friends were wearing.  Only one problem my feet were growing so fast all that my mother could afford to keep me in was dime-store tennis shoes (i.e. canvas Keds but cheaper).

It got so bad that between the ages of 6 and 11, I grew 5 sizes – popping the toe out of my cheap tennis shoes before I actually wore the out.  I was eleven years old 5’2”, 88 pounds and had a size 11 foot (awkward does not begin to describe it).

Thankfully I grew taller, and gained a few pounds. Although last year, at 34 years old I gain an additional size, making me now a size 12 and a nightmare to find shoes.  DesignerShoes.com has been a dream come true.

J M.

2.27.06

I’ve had big feet since I was a little girl. I was teased a lot by other children. My mama always told me when kids pick on me to say God blessed me with big feet because tall graceful women always have balance.

When I graduated college I lived in a neighborhood that was OK, but had a lot of break ins. Sure enough one night my place was broken into. The day it happened was rainy and the ground was covered in mud. I was wearing size 11* men’s Timberland boots. The police and crime scene investigator came to check the place out and see if they could get any evidence. I followed them around the apartment without thinking to take my shoes off first.
The crime scene investigator looked around and noted, “looks like the perp didn’t wipe HIS feet before HE broke in. This might make good evidence against HIM.”
I stuck my boot covered foot into the print onto the carpet and told the bewildered cops, “those prints belong to me and I didn’t break into my own place!”

N

2.10.06

*note:  Size 11 men’s is roughly equivalent to size 12.5 – 13 women’s.

I’ve always been Tall and been super conscious of the size of my feet.  My husband tells my daughters that when he first met me 12 years ago I would never take off my socks, and I wore sneakers.

Recently, with the availability of stylish shoes in large sizes for women I’ve shed my socks.  Now, I can’t wait for summer so that I can get a pedicure and don my open toe sandals.  I get compliments for men and women alike.  The best compliment I received was from girlfriend, a lady who wears a size 6 1/2.  She told me that although I wear a size 13 you couldn’t tell because my shoes always look good.
Finally, I earned my right of passage! I can now talk with the girls about shoes, the styles, which designer I’m wearing and the feeling is great. To know that I can find the same shoe and sometimes and even better looking shoe than my girlfriends who wear “average” sizes. HOORRAY! So at 6ft size 13 shoes, I stand out and set the pace for them to follow, and they’re having a hard time keeping up. LOL!

Adrienne 12.9.06

I bought my first house in 1995.  I wanted to keep my house clean, so I left my size 12* men’s Nikes on the front porch before going in.

On the night of my first date with my husband “to be”, he stopped to kiss me on the front porch.  It was the best kiss of my life!  He then asked me out again and again. We were married only 60 days after we met in 1996.  We celebrated our 9th anniversary this past month.

My mother commented to my husband how relentless he was in pursuing me in the beginning when my husband replied, “I figured she was dating another guy when I saw the big tennis shoes on her front porch that first night, I figured I had to compete for her and show her I was the best one!”

J

12.6.06

*(note:  A men’s size 12 is roughly a women’s size 13.5 – 14)

The first thing Dr. Paris announced when he pulled me from my mother’s womb was, “Well, she may be a ‘premee,’ but she SURE had a lot turn out for feet!”

Big-footed at birth with the most pitiful wail my mother said she ever heard a child cry, I continued that clamoring anytime I went searching for shoes. The well was dry. The scenario was dreadfully repetitive: “Looking for anything special?” the salesclerk would always ask.  “All the time!” I’d shoot back quickly.  It was the 70’s, and I was a woman in search of fashionable size 11 shoes. Wearing men’s sandals with socks wasn’t getting it! I got to the point where I’d just say to the clerk, “Got anything for these cruise-liners of mine that isn’t frumpy, matronly, or pumps?”

In the 80’s, I recall finding adorable, black, high-top, lace-up boots that were made in 11’s but the store wouldn’t stock them. They always had some lame excuse for not ordering them. So, I wrote the manufacturer directly. I dipped my foot in red paint, pressed my mammoth footprint on a page, and typed around it a pleading request to send me their boot in that elusive size 11. I was a desperate woman, emotionally and physically distraught!

Today, however, there are options!  It’s called DesignerShoes.com, and that’s no small feat (literally)! Imagine what it must have taken to pull this fabulous collection of shoes off for us.  Thanks to a weary friend, who was tired of hearing my plight for housing my feet attractively, I googled “BIG SHOES FOR WOMEN.” I will never lack again, thanks to DesignerShoes!

K

12.2.06