Wide shoes!
I have shoes! Went to London to visit mum in north London and she drove me to Wembley to Wide Shoes - a specialist shoe store who do drop in fittings twice a week and take referrals from podiatrists and care homes the rest of the time so they really know their feet.
The fitter took a look at my wide toe, narrow heel feet ("fine-boned, madam") and suggested some styles that would work, with pointers so I know what to look out for in future. Lace-ups are better than slip-ons, and the sandals have a good high up the foot strap. It's not so much that some shoes are cut for a narrower heel, more that it doesn't matter for the fit how wide the heel is.
He said things like "Your feet are not that wide," and "These shoes are too wide for you," (which they were - good length but space for a finger in the toe box). And "If you've had a good experience, do tell your friends" which I am absolutely doing here.
It was such a treat to have the first candidate shoe go on without pain - and then for there to be more sizes available so I could go up and down a size or width fitting to find a pair that actually fit nicely. I'm used to High Street shops where in their widest available, I go up and up a size till I can get my toes in, then they fall off the back, and I leave with no shoes. After the first successful pair (black lace-ups good for walking) I asked what other styles they had as I have nothing else in my shoe wardrobe - and I got purple lace-ups, ankle boots, and two pairs of the same sandal in different colours. What size I am depends on style, and I ended up with a 4K (boots), 5H (black shoes), 6H (sandals), and 6K (purple). There's lots of designed-for-wide-feet features in them - additional removable insoles to adjust the fit (or replace with your own orthotics), choice of soft leather so there's more give on the toes.
hey don't have huge warehouse stocks so recommended I bought them now not later online with delivery. But they're so light I was able to carry them all home, unboxed, in a big tote bag with no problem.
Plus lots of cool geekiness about special soft leather and removable insoles for flexible fit.
I was not looking forward to carrying multiple shoeboxes home on the train so I asked about buying from their online store for delivery - but they don't carry the lines for ages, they do sell out quickly, so recommend I bought them at the store that day. But they did take all the shoe boxes from me, and the shoes themselves are so light I was able to stuff them all in a tote bag and carry them home on the train, even though I am weak and easily tired.
Mum also bought a pair of shoes, and we will go back in September for winter shoes for me and anything else I think I'm missing. Not too expensive either - £450 for five pairs. And if I'd been luckier with the styles on sale (last few sizes) it's only £30.
They also specialise in dancing shoes and made all the shoes for Riverdance :-) But I will not be hopping about too much.
So there's my recommendation for
https://www.wideshoes.co.uk/
and I can tick "Buy shoes" off my list after months and months of failing.
The fitter took a look at my wide toe, narrow heel feet ("fine-boned, madam") and suggested some styles that would work, with pointers so I know what to look out for in future. Lace-ups are better than slip-ons, and the sandals have a good high up the foot strap. It's not so much that some shoes are cut for a narrower heel, more that it doesn't matter for the fit how wide the heel is.
He said things like "Your feet are not that wide," and "These shoes are too wide for you," (which they were - good length but space for a finger in the toe box). And "If you've had a good experience, do tell your friends" which I am absolutely doing here.
It was such a treat to have the first candidate shoe go on without pain - and then for there to be more sizes available so I could go up and down a size or width fitting to find a pair that actually fit nicely. I'm used to High Street shops where in their widest available, I go up and up a size till I can get my toes in, then they fall off the back, and I leave with no shoes. After the first successful pair (black lace-ups good for walking) I asked what other styles they had as I have nothing else in my shoe wardrobe - and I got purple lace-ups, ankle boots, and two pairs of the same sandal in different colours. What size I am depends on style, and I ended up with a 4K (boots), 5H (black shoes), 6H (sandals), and 6K (purple). There's lots of designed-for-wide-feet features in them - additional removable insoles to adjust the fit (or replace with your own orthotics), choice of soft leather so there's more give on the toes.
hey don't have huge warehouse stocks so recommended I bought them now not later online with delivery. But they're so light I was able to carry them all home, unboxed, in a big tote bag with no problem.
Plus lots of cool geekiness about special soft leather and removable insoles for flexible fit.
I was not looking forward to carrying multiple shoeboxes home on the train so I asked about buying from their online store for delivery - but they don't carry the lines for ages, they do sell out quickly, so recommend I bought them at the store that day. But they did take all the shoe boxes from me, and the shoes themselves are so light I was able to stuff them all in a tote bag and carry them home on the train, even though I am weak and easily tired.
Mum also bought a pair of shoes, and we will go back in September for winter shoes for me and anything else I think I'm missing. Not too expensive either - £450 for five pairs. And if I'd been luckier with the styles on sale (last few sizes) it's only £30.
They also specialise in dancing shoes and made all the shoes for Riverdance :-) But I will not be hopping about too much.
So there's my recommendation for
https://www.wideshoes.co.uk/
and I can tick "Buy shoes" off my list after months and months of failing.
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