How do you feel when you're put in situations where you have to announce your shoe size?
For example, asking the shoe store attendant for your size, getting bowling shoes, getting measured for a tuxedo rental?
I'm sure there are other instances. What is your experience?
I avoid places with sales clerks or try to avoid them.
ReplyDeleteIf there's no other way, then I introduce it gradually.
Starting with "I'm a rather small size" or "what is the smallest size you have in these"?
Then asking for 7s. Only then 6s. One step at a time. So there's more of a series of soft reactions than a strong one.
In Bowling i ask for 8s. No way i'm going to walk around with a 5 or 6.
Anywhere else I go out of my way not to admit my size.
ReplyDeleteheh, I try not to admit my true size, but since I usually buy 10.5-11s I don't have an issue saying that out loud. I think 10.5 is the size where people stop thinking shoes could be "small". I still think 10 can be borderline, but 10.5 is ok. But I prefer size 11 as long as they are not so big I am tripping. And I'll do 11.5 if they are not ridiculous (puffy skate shoes, like globe sabre, I can sometimes even get away with a 12, lol). Jordans though run bigger and I often have to stop at 10.5 before they are just too big (and sometimes 10.5 is too big too, but then I will add another insole or thicker socks and all's good).
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ReplyDeleteOh hey, we have a new topic! ;-) You all know I'm the weird one here...I am happy to tell people my size is 7 even though it is really more like a 9. And of course I love wearing size 7-7.5. Just got a new (well new to me) pair of jordan's in a size 7 that fit amazingly well that I have been wearing daily. When I say I am size 7 (or 7.5) people do often seem a bit amazed. It can be fun to see the reactions and the inevitable lining up their shoe to mine. It is amazing how small a 7 looks next to a size 11 or 12! ;-)
ReplyDeleteUsually for me I wear and tell people 9s for rentals (tux or bowling), even though 8s are a better fit, just to not seem so small.
ReplyDeleteThe worst was when I was getting married, my rental shoe fell apart the morning of the wedding! Everyone was scrambling trying to find shoes for me. Everyone kept asking my shoe size to swap with one of my groomsmen, but the smallest was a size 10, and I just couldn't make that work (since I was already up sizing). Eventually we got some super glue to fix my shoes, but everyone found out I had small feet (still thinking I was a size 9!)
How awful. Your lucky that 9 is still more 'slighty amusing' than a true embarrasment.
DeleteSmallShoeSizeGuy: Your comment above about introducing your size gradually, etc... I say just be confident and come out with it. Just own your size and it will be fine. It also makes it less likely for people to make fun or it. It changes everything when you are confident and it doesn't bother you. I would just ask for your size like it was nothing...say "can I try these in a size 6?" If the sales person comments or gives a funny look just say "yeah, I've got small feet. Makes it easy to find shoes on the clearance rack!". (in thrift stores getting size 6-8 is a lot easier for sure, they sit much longer). But if you just own it and don't make it a biggie it won't be a big deal and if people start making comments just have fun with it. And sometimes the embarrassment can be fun, depending on the situation, especially if you don't know the people ;-) Embrace it and you will be happy :-)
ReplyDeleteHaving small feet is sort of like being short. I have know some short people who cower and let the larger world control them because they feel inferior and I know others who are short but don't let that stop them at all. You can be short or have small feet (and even both) and still project confidence!
DeleteThis also reminds me of some fun I used to have at shoe stores...haven't done this in a while... I would go to a shoe store where they would bring out shoes and claim I was a size 10 and then they would bring out a size 10 and then have it be way too big. Then they would bring out more shoes until I left with like a size 7.5 or something.
ReplyDeleteI also did that at a Jordan store one time, I was looking at used Jordans and told the sales guy I was a size 10 but I tried on one of the size 7s and it fit fine. I pretended I didn't realize they were that small but that they fit anyway.
The sales guys were always like WTF, lol.
Hah, SSrF, I know what you mean.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's possible with 7, but try that with 6 or 5.
That seems to be a bridge too far, another league, one of which sales clerks have no recollection that it ever existed, or have never been asked for.
I've gone through:
- Minutes of rejections (that this was not possible, what country was i from so that he could convert it to the right size,... up to getting impatient that i was so stubborn to insist that i was right).
- Confusion (surely they had understood it wrong, and it was for my kid, boy or girl?).
- "Small ok, but not a FIVE" combined with friendly explanation: "That's a girls size".
- Sudden stunned silence.
I keep saying it, if ask for 7 or 8, the reaction is amused, at most (if there is one). But 6 seems to be a threshold for smth else.
Well, it's true that I have never asked for a 5 or 6. Size 7 is the smallest I have ever asked for in a store and the reaction has generally not been that extreme. Perhaps a 6 is like entering an impossible dimension ;-) Checking out in stores with size 7s it's generally little or no reaction, though I have had people assume they were for someone else and then seem slightly surprised when I said they were for me. Size 6s are generally just too tight for me to wear, even with stretching.
ReplyDeleteYip, 6 and especially 5 are like a bridge too far. Like it's not even a small men's size anymore.
ReplyDeleteThis is my fav thread. "How to admit your small shoe size", I'd love to hear many more opinions or tips about it.
ReplyDeleteI think we have heard from all the regulars...it's not like we get a lot of external visitors on here. Talking about small shoes and feet seems to be a niche area...very niche ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, my tips is to just have fun with your small size. I am in my 20s but still look like a teen and have been mistaken for age 12-13. Wearing a size 7-7.5 people are even more likely to mistake me for young. I have been in shoe stores where I was treated like a little kid or told that my feet will "grow". I love that sort of interaction, especially with people I will never see again.
People have not yet replied how they'd feel, when they had to 🙂
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I have too much else to add... I almost never need to tell my "true" size since if someone asks I just say 10.5-11. My true size of say 9-9.5 is more embarrassing among friends probably than if I was to ask for that in a shoe store. In a shoe store it's just a little small and probably wouldn't get much reaction, but among friends a 9-9.5 would be small and I don't like being the smallest one like that. Even one of my friend's who is 5'6" wears a size 10 (his feet are probably similar size to me). As a teen I always avoided direct comparisons and among my friends for the most part they never knew my true size. Growing up in middle school and high school I always felt a lot of pressure to not have small feet (or be perceived that way). Only the really short kids had sizes below 10, for the most part, and there was a kid my height who wore a 7.5 and people would comment on his feet being small...I never wanted to be that kid! I am sure it was my teenage years that wired me for embarrassment over size and it has stayed with me. It is hard to uncondition that, when everyone expects you to be something and it feels better to look down and thing my shoes are decent size. It gives confidence. And of course I avoid flip flops at all cost...always very embarrassing at beach or water parks where I am always trying to hide my feet. My feet look "stubby" barefoot, especially my shorter right foot. So that was probably a longer answer than you were looking for :-) But yeah, I wouldn't feel good to have people know my true size...so I fake it. People fake a lot of things in life to seem more impressive than they are I think. We all go though life feeling like we have to achieve a certain "standard". No one wants to be "below average"...well except for maybe SmallSneakersRFun ;-)
ReplyDeleteI guess I had a little more to add than I thought after all ;-)
Hah, JBC, that was a book indeed 😁. Then again, the topic IS a book, no? Well, for the small footers, the Big have the confidence or comfortable unawareness and have moved on, focus on the next thing.
DeleteNot so long ago i'd have been taken aback that "even" a 9.5 could feel embarassment - but no longer, i completely understand it.
It's worse where my right foot is an 8-8.5. If both my feet were 9-9.5 I would feel a little better. The right foot looks so small in flip flops, only really short people have feet that look short and stubby like that :-(
DeleteFew months ago I was next to a kid maybe 15-16 in the park who was sitting with his feet up on the bench next to me. His feet were really close so I could see it said 11 on the bottom of his Nike slides. After a few minutes the kid got up to leave and walked in front of me, and I could see his feet were at least an inch shorter than the slides. The slides looked really big for him and his feel looked really small and stubby. He didn't look quite as tall as me but I felt sorry for him having such tiny feet and was thinking, that's what my feet would look like! I was embarrassed for him...and for me! :-(
JBC, what height and what size do you think he was?
DeleteI would guess he was 5'9"-5'10" maybe? I am 5'11". He was heavier than me. I am only like 145lbs and he was a lot more muscular, so I would guess 170-180lbs maybe? Funny thing was that his feet were actually on the skinny side, they looked totally out of proportion, between being both short and skinny. Just looking at his feet I would have expected him to be a short, skinny 11-12 year old. Though his legs were kind of skinny too...he clearly spent more time on the bench press than the leg press, his chest was impressive but his legs were more like sticks lol!
DeleteAn 8? Less?
DeleteI would guess a narrow 8-9. I kept thinking, my feet look like that...or especially my right foot. He probably had around the space I would have if I wore size 11 slides. I have a pair of slides in size 9 that I almost never wear, but at least they look like my feet fit them. If I go 10 or above it just emphases my small feet too much given the extra room.
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DeleteWearing smaller slides/flip flops I would say make my feet look smaller, so interesting you say wearing 9 actually makes your feet look bigger you think? I have some slides in size 7 that at a little big for 7 and my feet fit them perfectly. When I have worn them I have had friend's say they make my feet look like a 7. Maybe it is just that my feet tend to look tiny based on their shape? I don't know? Though I agree if you go too big it will also make your feet look small. I have worn size 11 slides and they really look huge and make it seem like my feet are really tiny. So maybe it works both ways or maybe my feet just always look small, lol? I love having fun with what will create the best illusion of small.
DeleteConclusion: the majority would not admit their size or feel embarrassed to do so, with cut-off around 10 or 10.5? With minority on the contrary loving to do so 🙂.
DeleteAnd no grey area, where there's indifference to it.
This is quite a small sampling here ;-) I know I am in the minority, but I think there are some in between too. I have known people with smaller feet who recognize they are small but are not worried about telling people. I knew a guy at my last job who wore an 8-8.5 and he was happy to tell people "yeah, I have small feet, I'm like an 8.5", and he was taller than me too, like 6 feet or so. He overall was a very confident person and it didn't seem like small feet got in his way. But my guess is he was something of a minority too. I suspect most people do feel embarrassed and try to hide it. It probably also makes a difference as to the degree of small...8 vs 6 etc. This guy who was 8-8.5 actually liked to wear his size (which even to me I thought looked really small on him proportionally), where I suspect a lot of people who have small feet do like JBCx does and wear bigger shoes. I have seen it a lot, especially back when I was in high school. Kids with size 11-12 and way too much room. So I think your conclusion is sound, most people with smaller feet want to hid and not admit their size if below like 10-10.5.
DeleteThanks SSrF!
DeleteI thought this was a BIG sample 😁 because in person i don't know any 6-8.5, and forget about 3 or 4 of them.
Really? I would have thought 8-8.5 was not that rare. I think below sz 8 is what gets to be rare. I think grown men wearing Nike GS size 7s or below is what gets really rare. Anything in a Nike GS size 7s I love. I have a pair I have been wearing for over a month that I really love. They fit amazing and are comfortable enough to wear everywhere with no pain whatsoever. I definitely get looks and occasional comments. I love being able to wear essentially 2 sizes below my true size and be totally comfortable.
DeleteYou guys are highly complicated with your sizes 😁. I never know what size you actually are. Me i'm so simple, 6, period.
DeleteAt least one advantage 😁.
And, mm, maybe i do know someone who is an 8.5, maybe even 8, but since they never advertise it...
Hey JBC, of course i don't want people to know my size!
DeleteWith simple i was referring to me being one number only, be it left foot, right foot, this model, that make, - whereas you guys fluctuate, and i never remember what size you are.
I only ever have to remember the number 6 🙂
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DeleteYeah, it's true, my feet are a whole size different from each other. Left being 9.5, right being 8.5. I would prefer if they were the same size...both 9.5 not 8.5 ;-) Well I would really prefer if they were both a size 11 or 12 ;-) Then one might ask, if my feet were say a size 11-12 would I then be tempted to wear a size 13-14? Maybe, but I would feel pretty good about anything in the 11-12 range so I probably wouldn't feel the need. Though maybe it would be tempting ;-) Everyone wants to be more alpha right? Though there is a limit. I think shoes beyond sz 14 would start to look clown big on me, lol. Big thing would be that I would no longer feel embarrassed to expose my feet in public if my feet were size 11-12, which would be really nice.
DeleteI think that as of around 10.5 there's general confidence, and thus no more issue or self awareness. Sure, they'd like to be a size up, but it's no big deal, they're already equipped like anyone else.
DeleteNot only do i not go into situations where i'd have to admit my size - I also don't like it when other small footers do that. Why mention that you're an 8 or 7, why would you do that?
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DeleteWell, I tried sneakers, safe around a corner in a large, very calm store, when to my shock I seemed to sit right under a really big sign saying Womens 8. Fortunately the store was so calm, for this could have become SOME store-wide announcement 😱😁
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