Ah, the great catch 22 of shoe shopping with ESC. My feet are difficult to find shoes for, therefore it’s best if I try shoes on before purchasing. However, my feet are SUCH weird size depending on the shoe (10 or 10 1/2? Sometimes medium width, many times wide…OK, YOU try to find a 10 1/2 wide at macys, huh? NOT GONNA HAPPEN!), that most stores don’t carry it. Thus I should probably buy my shoes online, where my shoe options are unlimited..
These options are such pains. So what I generally do is buy my shoes in a size too big on sale at Target and hope for the best.
Not surprisingly, I have many many painful days of shoe wearing. This is why I like summer: flip flops are ALWAYS comfy.
On my recent trip “up north,” when my mother and I spent a couple days on an island in lake Erie, my feet swelled to embarrassing proportions and there were blisters involved. It wasn’t pretty. AND, I was wearing WHAT I CONSIDERED to be my “comfy” shoes. Apparently, they were “comfy” only when walking less than 1 mile per day. My mother was annoyed. So annoyed that when I left to go home, she handed me a check and gave me orders: “BUY YOURSELF SOME WALKING SHOES.”
Dude. I hate athletic shoes. I mean, I’m OK with them if I’m doing athletic type things. Which hasn’t been often, lately (hoping to change that - HEY KEV, DID YOU DROP OFF THOSE PAPERS AT THE YMCA YET???). But I REALLY hate wearing them during every day activities. Like walking around Target. I think they’re ugly. SO UGLY! So grrrr, I DON’T WANNA BUY WALKING SHOES! AT THE MALL! I HATE SHOE SHOPPING AT THE MALL!
Errr, so how about I give that fancy-schmancy in-ter-nets a try? I’ve heard good things about the Zappos. You know the Zappos? I think I might be in love with the Zappos.
And because I am a THRIFTY BITCH, I managed to score TWO PAIR OF SHOES for what I had to spend (OK, with a small contribution on my part)! One for athletic-type walking. And one for your every day, outdoors and indoors amongst the people kind of shoes. Like for walking around a large open area populated by fleece-brearing animals and fiber purveyors for an entire long weekend. Or some such.
yes, hey, I know what some of you are thinking. “ESC! Your mom lives 700 miles away! Screw the shoe buying and blow the wad on yarn! You know you WANT to!” Yes, of COURSE I want to! But GOD HELP ME if I visit my parents again, or mom comes down here, and I DON’T HAVE A PROPER PAIR OF SHOES TO WEAR! I would never hear the end of it. EVER! Plus, she might stop forcing money on me. NO ONE WANTS THAT!
No, I don’t have pride. Why do you ask?
So I got these for my athletic needs:
And these for my more fun needs:
Because I am a sucker for mary janes and they will show off my handknit socks nicely.
OK, I KNOW they’re not sexy. But they’re not OLD PERSON NURSING SHOES, with…OMG, VELCRO STRAPS, which is what most of my size selections consisted of (gag) (and no, those aren’t velcro straps, according to the description they are HOOKS, so there!)
So, keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t have to take advantage of Zappos free shipping return policy!
Have you tried Keen shoes? I have wide feet and I usually have to get a half size larger for the width (or wear boys shoes -they are REALLY comfy), but Keens are wide enough and are comfy.
REI carries them if you want to go into try them our, but Zappo’s also carries them. Get two sizes and then send the ones that don’t work.
Or there are a bunch on Amazon too if you like that route better (but Zappos is better if you are determining a size for a new brand of shoe)
Oh, wow I envy you Zappos. I have kind of the same problem - I take anywhere from an eight to a nine and a half, wide. And I have high arches. We can buy from Zappos in Canada, but it takes weeks to get here, and no free returns. So it’s really not worth it.
I am all about the flips and the clogs. Anything else just makes my feet claustrophopic. Seriously.
fredlet - hi! and no, I’ve never even heard of Keen. But if my shoes come and they are a disaster, I will look into them. Thanks!
Kirstie - that’s weird. It’s like they’re treating Canada like it’s a whole other COUNTRY!
Heehee…still though, that’s weird. Is there that much animosity between US and CA postal services???
Brighton - preach it, sister. If it didn’t get so chilly here, I would live in my flip flops and Born slip on sandals all year.
I’m another person who has to know what shoes feel like on my feet before I buy them. I’d LOVE to buy stuff from Zappo’s, but I’d only buy shoes that I’d already tried on in real life, so I’d know I could wear them.
Re Keen: I’ve got 2 pair right now, a pair of sandals and a pair of hiking boots. Love them both. So Keen works for my weird and generally achy feet. But I wear a size 7 or 7.5 US, so can’t speak for the larger size.
Love the Mary Janes, though.
I also hear good things about Merrells, and I’ve seen them in not-walking-shoe styles. If the DH ever gets a job, I’m going to treat myself to some.
You need to look at keens or tevas. I have worn my tevas every darn day for about 4-5 years and they are SO comfy! I just bought a new pair. I bought some for my dad several years ago (who has NEVER owned a pair of sandals and didn’t want any either) and I swear he hasn’t taken them off yet. He has a farm and he wears them all day on the farm. Now he has a real “teva tan” on his feet!! Check ‘em out though, I just bought some new ones at Campmor online for $30.
I hear you about the shoe fitting troubles. =( Zappos is AMAZING! I nearly always find stuff that FITS and looks good! I second the Keen votes. And throw Salomon into the contender ring. Love your Mary Janes! Really and truly. What brand are they? I need to look into them. See, I’ve been lusting after a pair of MJ’s by Dr Marten but haven’t been willing to drop the bucks. Not to mention Dr Marten’s are iffy on fit for me. But then they just added swirly “LeVoodo” boots and “jolie biker boots” Dr Marten’s. Oh my! Be still my heart. Damn wallet.
I guess I should mention that the pics above link to the shoe information. The mary janes are Propet. I got the VERY LAST 10 1/2 wide they had. w00t!
Shoes are simply the devil… but I love them anyway!
No shame in “walking shoes”. They’re the only thing I wear outside or work. Ok, maybe some sandals in the summer.
Like the Mary Janes. I bet they look cute as hell on you.
I hated nursing shoes when I was in nursing, so I bought high-top tennis shoes. They wore longer and were more comfortable, not to mention loads of ankle support.
They don’t look the prettiest and there’s no sock showing-off spaces, but they do the job.
I haven’t bought a pair of shoes in a year and a half. I probably won’t buy a new pair for another six to ten months.
So, any ways, my friends surprised me, and bought me a ticket to the Michigan Renaissance festival. I walked about surrounded by women wearing bodices and other boobtacular outfits. It was a good birthday present.
I didn’t notice a single pair of shoes.
Not to end the Zappos song but I find them to be WAY more expensive the Endless.com. Take a peek there, they also have free overnight shipping. I found it easier to return to them than Zappos but just barely. I myself need to find more shoes to show off my hand made socks…
Keens are awesome. I had mine on (at least part of the trip) when I saw you last November. They’re super ugly, but so comfy no one cares how they look.