I have had problems finding shoes in my size for as long as I can remember. As a teenager, I was always the tallest in my class, which also meant I had the biggest feet. In my secondary school, the girls were allowed to opt out of wearing the regular school shoes for ballet flats with stockings. And for us then they were the coolest things ever. The more adorable looking your shoes were, the cooler you were. But at Size 8/9, there were just not too many cute shoes that could be found for me. So I always had to wear orthopedic looking shoes like these ones, and therefore never got to be one of the “cool kids”.
I am 25 now, working, engaged and no longer worried about when I’ll get accepted by the mean girls of school, but I am still worried about my feet.
My shoe size is currently at 11, which as you can imagine must be a pain in the ass. Whenever I am shopping for shoes, and find a pair I love that don’t come in my size – and that happens about 9 out of ten times, – I get incredibly depressed. My fiance always says it’s just shoes, and he doesn’t get why I stress over them, but the problem is I am a shoe lover. I love love love shoes, and actually have a mini collection going, but shopping for them is always so hard.
I know it isn’t impossible to find beautiful shoes in my size, but the prices are always astronomical. Every once in a while I damn the consequences and splurge my salary on shoes, buy I’m not an Otedola and because I am about to start a family with the man I love, I know I should be coming up with financial plans and stuff like that instead of saving up three months worth of salary on a pair of shoes.
I always wonder if there are other women with feet as big as mine, because so far I haven’t met any. If they are out there, we need to start a little support group for the trauma we go through because of our big feet -like hi my name is Gbemi and I wear Size 11 shoes-. Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right places, and there is a magical land full of beautiful size 11 shoes.
If anyone finds it out there, please let me know because God knows I’ve tried my best.
