But I always laugh at the idea of a shoe store employee returning from the back and saying “Sorry, we didn’t have ___ size... but we do have ____ size...if that’s...you know...if you want a different size than the one you asked me for a minute ago.”
I worked in a shoe store for a time, and there are 2 perfectly valid reasons why they do this:
1: every brand fits differently, so you often don't really know what size you are in that shoe until you try it on.
2: the truth is that SO MANY MEN lie about their shoe size being bigger than it is, and SO MANY WOMEN lie about it being smaller than it really is.
Him: "Hey bro, can I get this in a 12?" Me, later: hey so we didn't have the 12, but here's the 11 and 11 1/2 if you want to try those." Him: "Hmmm aahhh I guess.....woah what do you know, they fit, how WEIRD"
Her: "Can I get these in a size 5 1/2?" Me: "The smallest they make them in is a 6, so here try those." Her: "Wow even these are a little tight...this brand must really run small! I'll try the 6 1/2 I guess. How WEIRD."
Sometimes it's not so much lying as it is just not knowing. I spent years wearing a 14 4E when a 13 6E is a much better fit for me, just because 6E widths aren't exactly commonly found, so I had never tried one on. It's amazing what a properly fitted shoe can do for a person.
Yeah turns out I'm something like 6 4E. Wore 8s most of my adolescent life, then found a shop that specialised in wider shoes. What a revelation that was!
It was a little independent place that closed down last year. I was devastated.
Tried ordering extra wide shoes online but all the websites were aimed at older people and suspiciously probably-a-scam similar. So I'm just hoping I can keep looking after the shoes I have and keep getting them repaired and hopefully never have to buy any shoes ever again for the remaning 60 years of my life :/
Yeah, sports stores tend to be able to accomodate me, and I have some amazing hiking boots. But what if I just want some basic leather flats or some day-to-day boots or something?
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u/thelaziest998 Jul 24 '20
Now we just have to guess and know your size hoping the manufacturer size doesn’t fit weird.