#BigFeetProblems

Everyone has something about their body that they'd want to change. And sometimes (but not all the time) the change is achievable. For me it's my feet. I wear a size 12 shoe, narrow width, a super narrow heel and long toes. I can't go to any shoe store or clothing store and try on, let alone buy, a cute pair of shoes for someone my age. 

Image courtesy of Aleksa D at freedigitalphotos.net

When I was in elementary school, I never got a chance to wear the cute and popular styles that all the other girls my age wore. By the time I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I was wearing shoes in women's sizes instead of kids. By the time I got to middle school, the only store I could go to for shoes was an expensive specialty shoe store that didn't carry any styles for kids my age. On top of that kids liked to embarrass me by pointing out or making fun of my big feet and ugly looking shoes. I even remember one girl in my high school said (rather loudly) that girls with big feet shouldn't be allowed to wear sandals because their feet were ugly and gross. As you can imagine, all of this depleted my confidence. When I was alone, I'd cry and wonder why didn't God give me "normal-sized" feet. You could tell me that God made me unique and that I was normal all you wanted but the fact of the matter was [is] that mainstream stores didn't [and still don't] give a rat's patoot about selling shoes for women who aren't a size 9 and under.

Most women with big feet understand that they usually have to go to online stores to find shoes in their size. It's great to have those businesses stepping up and providing a much needed product. The only problem is that you can't try them on before buying them. If you don't like them or the fit doesn't work out, there's the long process of letting the company know, shipping them back, waiting for a refund, then choosing another pair and hoping for the best. Not to mention the cost of shipping on top of added tax is kinda redonkulous.

To this day, I still don't like my foot size and I still get really disappointed when I can't find shoes in my size or within my budget. I hate the fact that the options for women with big feet is still small. And when you're working with a "broke college student's budget" like I am, your choices are even more limited. 

I would love to wake up one day and find out that God shrunk my feet to a lovely size 8 and widen them to a medium WITHOUT any ill effects. The fact that my feet can get even bigger if I were to become pregnant terrifies me. Heaven forbid if I have a daughter and she ends up going through the same trauma. In the meantime, I'll work with my options and hope that one day mainstream stores start being more inclusive when it comes to shoe sizes.

I'm not going to even bother looking for vegan shoes in my size.