A week or so ago I saw my sometimes twin the awesome and inimitable Ray Gunn. After a light lunch at Le Pain Quotidien (which is insanely cool! Why did no one tell me about it before now? Did you all want the place to yourself?) we walked around Union Square and chatted a bit.
At which point I mentioned that I hate shopping for shoes because my feet are huge:
Ray Gunn: [Looking at feet] “No they’re not. Don’t be ridiculous. What size shoe do you wear?”
Miss Print: “Ten. Wide wide.”
Ray Gunn: “Wow. That is big.”
And there you have it.
But in all seriousness, I think a lot of people have that one thing they hate shopping for. I don’t love shopping for clothes but I will do it. Shoes, I hate. Whenever possible I order online (preferably from Zappos because they use magic mail) because while I inevitably have to return some pairs the availability is so much greater when shopping online as compared to stores that only have shoes going to size nine, or just in regular widths, or just plain old out of my size (all of which happen often).
Anyway, what are your thoughts on shoe shopping? Am I alone in my hatred of the whole endeavor?
Miss Print 
I’ve been a size ten since I was 12 years old. I’ve had to suffer “Wow, your feet are HUGE” comments from shoe salesmen, guys at the show repair shop, etc. I also prefer to order online or buy from places where I can find the shoes myself and try them on myself without any feedback from salesmen.
On a related note, my mother is a size eleven. So it could be worse.
That is true. My cousin is a size 14 and practically needs custom made shoes . . . though being a boy I think he gets much less flack about big feet.
I’m a size 11 and it is worse. I had a sales girl once say to me that she didn’t even know they made shoes that big – nice. I shop a lot online or at outlets where you can see right away if they have your size. I’ve had luck in the store with places like Easy Spirit. One of the hardest things for me is finding a shoe that’s flattering. I don’t like to where high heels because I’m tall and it’s very difficult to find flats that don’t make me look like Bozo the clown.
Flattering shoes are hard to find. My mom once said a pair of shoes I was trying on looked like a boat–it’s still a sore point.
The amazing thing, to me, is at stores like DSW where all of the discounted shoes in size 10 or up seem to have three inch heels (or higher). Who decided women with large feet are short enough to need so many high heels?