I was born with feet in the 1st percentile of the population and they stayed that way even despite getting taller. Now every shoe shopping experience is awkward af.

  • @i_dont_want_to@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    912 hours ago

    So I’m not sure if you know this, but in the US the big kids sizes and the adult men’s sizes are the same. For example, a men’s 5 is the same as a big kid’s 5.

    Next time you need to use a Brannock device and you’re sized out, have them get the one for the kids.

  • The Menemen!
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    2717 hours ago

    Why do they measure your feet as an adult? Is that common in the US? I don’t think i had my feet measured since I was 15 or so.

    • @frog_brawler@lemmy.world
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      510 hours ago

      Speak for yourself… I use my Brannock device each morning to check my feet and see if my junk got bigger from the chemicals.

    • @warbond@lemmy.world
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      512 hours ago

      I don’t think anybody is asking to measure his feet, but these measurement devices are practically everywhere that shoes are sold, so it’s easy to check for yourself.

    • @corvett@lemmy.world
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      -415 hours ago

      It’s absolutely not common unless you’re getting custom shoes or some other 1%er activity

        • @thebestaquaman@lemmy.world
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          210 hours ago

          I never buy clothes online, exactly because I always try them on to check the fit before buying them. I haven’t measured my feet since I was around 15. I know my foot size, so I know that shoes in the range 42-43 are a good fit, depending on the shoe model. I don’t need to measure my feet when I buy shoes to confirm that they’re still around size 42.5.

        • Redex
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          9 hours ago

          I mean, your feet typically don’t really change size after you grow up? I just buy whatever size I last bought.

          Edit: tho to be fair it’s not even always the same size because the size that’s comfortable highly depends from shoe to shoe, I always have to try on a few pairs to be sure.

          • Liz
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            18 hours ago

            Depends on if you get into barefoot style shoes or not.

  • @amelia@feddit.org
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    18 hours ago

    As a woman, I think it’s stupid that shoes are gendered in the first place. My shoe size is in the realm that exists for both men’s and women’s shoes. So in shoe stores I can grab the same sneakers from the women’s and the men’s section. Just sort the damn shoes by size and let people pick the ones they like ffs.

    • @skisnow@lemmy.ca
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      2318 hours ago

      The first few decades of my life I assumed that there’d been all sorts of important orthopaedic/podiatry research done into the difference between men and women’s feet, gaits etc that meant wearing sports shoes sold as “women’s” would in some way cause my feet long term harm. Nope, it was bullshit marketing all along.

      • @amelia@feddit.org
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        1618 hours ago

        I wouldn’t be surprised if on average women’s feet were narrower than men’s, but even if that’s the case, just make narrow and wide versions of shoes and let people pick the ones that fit their feet. Surely there are men with narrow feet and women with wide feet. It just makes no sense.

          • @thebestaquaman@lemmy.world
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            310 hours ago

            I recently learned that there’s a size rating for width. It goes from A to E, and says something about the length/width ratio of the shoe. Made my previous shoes a lot easier to buy (I also struggle to find wide enough shoes).

            • @Necroscope0@lemm.ee
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              18 hours ago

              Goes further than that, my feet are technically 11EEEEEE but I usually have to get a 12EE since basically no one in the world makes 6E if not custom made.

    • @slappypantsgo@lemm.ee
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      819 hours ago

      Not just shoes, all clothes. We can come up with better terms, like tapered or straight line. Whatever would be most descriptive. It’s ridiculous.

      • @thebestaquaman@lemmy.world
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        110 hours ago

        To be fair, I don’t think it’s “ridiculous” to sort e.g. jeans into the broad categories of “typically wider or slipper hips/thighs compared to length” or t-shirts into “typically broader back vs. typically larger chest”.

        The mens/women’s categories are probably the coarsest categories that makes sense, since the average man’s and women’s body are so different in so many ways.

      • @jsomae@lemmy.ml
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        411 hours ago

        so do mine, but i’m a woman who’s shorter than you with size 20 billion feet

      • @warbond@lemmy.world
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        112 hours ago

        I wonder if it’s a function of total surface area or if it’s more about the weight pressing on your ankles…

    • @doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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      916 hours ago

      That’s what I was going to say. Kids shoes are cheaper.

      I’m 5’10" with a size 14 shoe, and it’s frustrating because they stop making half sizes above 12 which means it’s often difficult to find a good fitting shoe. I also have a 6’5" wingspan so shirts always either have too short of sleeves, or they are way too long on the torso.

      • vortic
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        516 hours ago

        I also assume that kids shoes don’t last as long, though. There is no reason to build them to last.

      • @P00ptart@lemmy.world
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        214 hours ago

        I HATE that about having big feet, I’m on my feet all day and it doesn’t matter if I go up one or down, my feet are going to hurt, just in different ways.

  • Deez
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    1021 hours ago

    Get me a small man’s foot-suit, please.

    • @Leggomylego@lemmings.worldOP
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      821 hours ago

      Be careful what you wish for. Small feet on a man mean you’ll be sentenced to a life of small dick jokes. Which is certainly not the worst thing in the world but it isn’t great.

      • Deez
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        920 hours ago

        My message was a tenuous reference to Flight of the Conchords (New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk-comedy duo). So it’s understandable that it was misunderstood, however, I did appreciate your thoughtful response.

        Here’s the song if you need a laugh: https://youtu.be/yjfSZu246zE

    • ...m...
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      81 day ago

      …i shop women’s shoes when i can; they generally offer a much wider selection…

  • @lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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    191 day ago

    Skinny 5’3 guy here. I’ve had that experience buying pants. “Maybe you’ll find something in the kids’ section”.

    • @VitoRobles@lemmy.today
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      314 hours ago

      Went out with my cousin who is 5’ 4". He buys pants at the kid section.

      I tried to poke fun at him and this short king eviscerated me how I had to pay a “Height tax” since his clothes are durable and cheaper.

    • @Taalen@lemmy.world
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      221 hours ago

      180cm tall guy, with longl back and short legs. Actually knowing it’s impossible to find pants that are short enough has made buying them easier. Once I accept I need to take them to a seamstress to have them shortened anyway, I just need to find a pair with the right width.

      Sadly no such simple solution for most shirts out there being too short.

      • @adavis@lemmy.world
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        217 hours ago

        I have the same problem with shirts. If it fits across my chest it’s too short, if it fits length wise it is baggy across chest and stomach.

        Recently I found a brand that offers a extra long sizes. Eg if the sizes are Small, medium and large they offer small+, medium+, large+. The only difference is the cut is 5 cm longer.

      • @polle@feddit.org
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        120 hours ago

        Get a sewing maching, even better, an overlock. Buy the bigger/longer size and sew them thinner. Its surprisingly not that hard.

  • @AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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    1392 days ago

    I had a girlfriend who had the inverse of your problem — her feet were far too large for shoes aimed at women. She ended up becoming friends with a bunch of drag queens, and finding that the specialist store they got their shoes from was the best place for her

    • @anomnom@sh.itjust.works
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      122 hours ago

      Same here, and now our seven year old is already a size 3, like OP.

      I’m 6’3 with what I thought were fairly small feet at 10.5/11. OP’s on a whole ‘nother level, but hopefully saves a lot of money on sneakers at least!

    • @SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net
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      61 day ago

      I have this problem, but width only, not overall size.

      I just wear men’s shoes, and even those are wicked hard to find. There isn’t really a category of shoes for my size (not big enough overall for drag shoes to be right, but far too wide for normally sized women’s shoes - I wear 6-8 [brand dependent] 4EW in men’s) and I’m not willing to spend a fortune on shoes to have cute custom ones made, so men’s shoes and sandals are my options. Boring.

  • @FermatsLastAccount@lemmy.world
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    461 day ago

    I’m just confused by why you keep getting your feet measured. I haven’t done that since my feet stopped growing, I know my size by this point

  • Jerkface (any/all)
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    1982 days ago

    You know it’s become a personal beef when you know the trade name of the device that insults you.

  • @OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world
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    1652 days ago

    Wow dude, that’s crazy. Like, in a cool way.

    My great-uncle was very small when he was born - the family story is that he used to sleep in a shoe box instead of a crib until he was almost a year old.

    Probably not your shoe box, though.