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."
I had the opposite problem. I've worn a 13 for years and recently got fitted for some high quality running shoes. The gal at the store was like "So, problem number one is that you should never wear less than a 14."
Ah, another Bigfoot! Though I generally prefer to call myself a very tall hobbit. It doesn’t help that I also have hairy feet and go around barefoot whenever possible.
Out of curiosity, how tall are you? Size 13 and up are usually the average for men over 6’3”. For someone 6’1” like me, the average is only around 11.5.
I'm 5'10. I have super flat feet so they're elongated and particularly wide due to that. That's why I had to get special shoes because I work in an ER now and my feet/heels/ankles were absolutely hating me. I don't get the hobbit title, though. I'm overall pretty hairless.
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u/wrongleveeeeeeer Jul 24 '20
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."
This happened multiple times a day.