Shoes Rescue

Hmmm. Great idea Marilyn, but I don't buy it. No, that's like a wonderful sales gimmick for sure, but it's also the stuff of fairy tales, like...

One shoe can change your life.

Thanks Cinderella, but your fairy tale idea is, well, a fairy tale.

I used to envy ladies I knew with a closet full of shoes to match every outfit perfectly. Cool colors - red, blue, purple, pink, most anything. I also admired those ladies I knew who wore those amazing stiletto heels all the time, but that never could have worked for me even if I could find shoes like that. I did good to have dress shoes that were not too awful looking. And my selection of colors was minimal; your basic black and brown and sometimes, maybe tan. Boring.

You see, I have unique feet. Unusual. Different. Which equals a unique shoe size. 10 AAAA. Yes, that's 4 A's there, with just the first one representing narrow. So... super narrow. And, years ago, a shoe salesman who measured my foot told me that actually, my heel was a 5A, not just 4. Hmmm. Thanks??? So not only are my feet unusually large, they are also unusually narrow. Can't have just one unusual thing there. Narrow feet run all on my mom's side of the family. But of course, mine are the most narrow. Yay me.

I thought maybe the solution to this challenging issue was that my feet would get wider with pregnancy. I had several of my female cousins tell me that would happen since they experienced it. Nope. My shoe size did not change at all. Oh well.

When I was in elementary school, finding shoes was a nightmare. My feet were women's size 5 by the time I was in 4th or 5th grade. My feet weren't super narrow yet; that would come later. I had big feet that were somewhat narrow at that time. And the shoes that fit my elementary school girl feet were grown up style, so it was difficult to find something that fit and didn't look entirely inappropriate.

Side note: I vividly remember in Junior High when "flip flops" were so popular, not the same style as now, but the general idea. I remember one day wearing these to school, and to my horror, I was made fun of because my toes were so long. Yep. Kids are so mean. But they were right. I had long, narrow feet, and long, narrow toes to match. I didn't wear anything that showed my toes again in school or in public for years. :( Fortunately, I got over that and I love painting my toenails and showing them off. :)

As a young adult, finding dress shoes for work was a huge challenge. I was very accustomed to being waited on by a sales clerk and when I shared my shoe size, the response was: "Oh, we don't have anything in that size." Or, sometimes, they would say: "We don't have that size, but we can bring you the most narrow shoe we have in a size 10." If the one or two pair they might bring out weren't embarrassingly ugly, sometimes I could wear a wider shoe by placing pads designed to take up space inside. But this was a cumbersome fix and never a substitute for a shoe that fit to begin with. Another issue was that leather shoes stretch so the shoes would get wider with wear.

Rescued!

But then, I was rescued! Some 30 or so years ago, I discovered this wonderful, magical place in Houston called Brucette's. The first time I walked in and told them my size, I was amazed and pleasantly surprised at their response. The nice employee didn't bat an eye, but measured my foot and disappeared to the back and came out with... wait for it... 10 or more shoe boxes! It was like Christmas with everything I ever wanted. I had died and gone to shoe heaven! For the first time in my life, I had a real selection to choose from. I had to limit myself because yes, the shoes were expensive. But... they actually fit and they were high quality shoes. And that was incredible to me.

In addition, probably around 10 years before I discovered Brucette's, My then husband and I went with another couple to a Bass Pro shop. Our husbands were doing the Bass Pro shop thing, so us wives decided to check out the tennis shoes. Just like most all shoes, tennis shoes that fit were difficult if not impossible to find. When I told the guy my size, he recommended a particular shoe by Reebok called Princess. Because of the way the shoe was styled, I could lace them up tight and they fit and were comfortable. Another rescue! This was in the mid to late 80's. Fortunately, Reebok still makes this shoe and I hope they never stop. May not be the trendiest or coolest shoe, but it fits!

If the shoe fits, wear it. I googled this, since Google knows everything. This quote appears to also be somehow related to the story of Cinderella. But this time, I got to live in the fairy tale. If the shoe fits, wear it. And I do.