Monday, September 14, 2009

A shoe story


Like most women, I love shoes. And like most women I have a closet full of sneakers, ballet flats, sandals and high heels. In fact, the shoes are also overflowing off a shoe rack in the living. But unlike most women, the majority of my shoes are ones that I bought, wore once, and then relegated to the "never wear again" pile.

I have a bit of an Achille's heel when it comes to shoes, and its something that took me a long time to discover. I've always had a hard time finding shoes that fit me. In fact, most of my life I stuck to sensible, boring shoes that fit because all the cute styles just seemed not to work on my feet. And when I bought the cute shoes, I might wear them once and then they'd render my toes numb or leave me in pain so that I'd never wear them again. Once in a while I got force a fit, as I did with an awesome pink and purple pair of Diesel sneakers I found a few years ago.

It was just a few years ago that I realized though my foot is a small woman's size 5 1/2 - sometimes a 6 - it is wide. That's a shoe size combination that is virtually missing from most department and shoe stores. But it is a discovery that made me realize if I search far and wide, I can actually have cute shoes that are comfortable and fashionable.

I was in heaven when I finally found sneakers that fit comfortably - the New Balance outlet in Gilroy is awesome because they have shoes in virtually every size and they are cheap.

Nowadays I turn to online shoes stores for my shopping needs. Endless Shoes is a favorite because I can search by my size and specific styles I might want.

Still, each time I search for shoes I generally turn up a half dozen that I like, and after ordering them - Endless Shoes offers free shipping and free return shipping - maybe two pair will work well.

I'd been wearing the same pair of burgundy heels almost every weekday for going on a year when things went south, prompting a recent shoe search.

The heels were perfect in the beginning - not too high, comfortable for walking a few blocks at work - and the color is subtle enough that they went with all my dress slacks, skirts or even with jeans. The back of the shoe had been slipping off my heels for months, since the leather had stretched out, but it was still manageable. But then the inside of the shoe tore along the instep and basically started poking my foot with every step I knew it was time to shop.

I started complaining about it at work and even inspired a column by my coworker about his wife's love of shoe shopping. I will probably never love shoe shopping, but I managed to find two pairs of shoes last week. I ordered five pair and sent back three including cute pair of wedge sandals that I was so tempted to keep, but in the end decided they wouldn't look so cute sitting on the shoe rack after I stopped wearing them because they hurt my feet.

I think I'll bet set for shoes for another year now, or at least until I have to start looking for shoes to go with bridesmaid dresses next May.

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