8 years ago, I posted about my experience from college about a 7th grader who outsized me in the shoe department. That post has over 200 comments.
Today I'm writing about a recent experience where I personally know a 5th grader who is wearing size 9 shoes compared to my size 8. And they're getting tight on him... He hasn't realized he's bigger than me yet, but it's only a matter of time.
What encounters with big kids have you had recently?
Well crap, update: the kid is now wearing size 10 shoes. No hope now.
ReplyDeleteI almost forgot about this site! It's been a while!
ReplyDeleteSo I have a cousin who is 11 and in the 6th grade. When I saw him last month he was wearing a size 10.5 and they were starting to get snug on him. He was complaining to his mom that she needed to get him new shoes, and she was complaining that she had just bought those a couple months ago! They were jordan 1 dunks. Having heard this exchange I had to know how they fit. He had taken them off when he went upstairs from the basement and I had an opportunity to try them on. They fit really big - more like an 11 than a 10.5 so clearly he had already stretched them some. I am sure he will end up being really tall, though at the moment he is 5'8" and so a couple inches shorter than me (still pretty tall for 11). What also surprised me was how wide his feet were. He was skinny but his feet were quite wide, much wider than mine. He also noticed that my feet were a lot smaller than his and seemed really gleeful about his feet being bigger than a grown man's and of course broadcast that to the household!
Hurray, some life here! I thought nobody wanted to talk shoe sizes any longer.
ReplyDeleteAbove: me being only a 5 or 6, that obviously happens regularly.
When such guys as above are a bigger size than you, do you also have this sense of loss of masculinity? Or of them being superior?
For sure there is something of a sense of some loss of masculinity and them being superior but it doesn't bother me nearly the way it did when I was young and "coming of age". When you are a teen it is a huge deal and other kids are always picking out stuff like that which is different (or less manly, etc) to poke fun at. When you get to be an adult people are much less likely to comment (well at least other adults are less likely, teens and kids are still likely to comment). When I was a young teen I felt the pressure I started wearing larger sizes for a short while (10-11) but when other kids noticed how big my feet were I ended the charade. My feet are around a size 9, but I actually started to wear smaller than that. I found that wearing a 9 got lots of "you have small feet attention" and I tried going down to size 7.5-8. This still gets small size attention, but in a different way. When you are 7.5-8 it changes the dynamic. Your feet are not just a little small, they are really small, and kids with larger sizes (10-12) actually stopped picking on me as much. I was now totally out of their league - where it felt like size 9 was still marginally in the competition, but just small. So I still wear shoes in the 7.5-8.5 range today and sometimes I can swing 7s too. I have learned to enjoy having small feet and embrace it! :-)
ReplyDeletecorrection: how big my feet were -> how big my shoes were
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI will add that I love seeing teens and adults who have small feet/shoes. I always notice and feel a connection with them. If I see a teen who is tall (6 feet or more) and he looks like he is wearing a size 8 I will often try to chat with them about their shoe size. I have been interested in how they feel about it and they often think it is cool that an adult also has small feet. Feedback has been mixed. I have gotten teens who will tell me "it really sucks, I wish I was a size 10 or 12" to others who totally shrug it off and say "it's just my size" and are cool with it. I have even had some tell me they "like" having small feet because it is easier to find shoes. I do find that with smaller feet they are usually pretty wide (to make up for the length perhaps). I guess I am a little unusual in that my feet are both small and skinny...which definitely makes them look smaller. In slides or flip flops my feet really look like a kid's feet.
ReplyDeleteAgain some life indeed 😊.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are unusual. So far i haven't met a single small footer who tried to be even smaller.
Yup, I'm weird, what can you do? :-)
ReplyDeleteBut really I think the fact that my feet are skinny and "look" really small (I have short toes too) which almost make going smaller more natural and more "normal" for me.
It was also that when I was 13-14 I had a friend in summer camp who wore a size 7.5 and outgrew them. His feet had stretched them enough that they now fit me perfectly and he gave them to me. They just became my size and I didn't want to go back. I wore those for most of the 8th grade year in middle school and that was now my size!
ReplyDeleteWe're probably all different. Me i have been sent to Womens, several times, to Kids, been compared to girl friends... so if anyone hides his size as far as possible... 😁
ReplyDeleteLucas, are you the guy with size 6 who used to post on here (whose posts all seem to be gone...) or are you someone new?
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself 😁. Yes, that's me.
DeleteI did not take into account that when deleting my blogspot blog/account, also my comments here would disappear. I'm sorry!
Ah ok, so we have been around this rodeo before and you already know my story :-)
ReplyDeleteYip 😊. And sorry again.
DeleteAs to the topic "outsized by younger kids"... for me that's not a special moment, but a common one.
Only when being a size 10 or more i feel knocked out, but size 7, 8, 9... nothing otherwordly.
So I was in a book store the other day, sitting reading when 2 people came by. I was looking down and just saw feet go by. I thought it was a dad and his young kid. I saw the kid's feet go by and they looked small and somewhat wide and I was expecting to see a kid maybe 12 or 13 who was maybe 5'4" and maybe a little heavy. Instead I looked up and saw a guy who looked early 20s, over 6 feet tall and lean and muscular. He was wearing adidas sambas and to me they looked like a wide size 7. I got a chance to ask him about his size (said I was doing a survey for a social psychology class). He told me his shoes were a size 8.5 and that his feet were really wide. He told me it didn't bother him too much to have small feet but that he would definitely prefer if they were bigger. But he seemed very accepting that he was what he was and said he didn't try to buy bigger shoes to make his feet look bigger. Said he preferred shoes that were comfortable and fit him even if they look small. He also said he was only 17 and not early 20s like I thought.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note I will says that I think a good number of people with small feet try to hide it by buying shoes that are too big, but even more so with teens. I thought it was cool that this kid was embracing his size and not trying to hide it.
But where do you find all these 8s? 😁. I literally know none, except online.
ReplyDeleteI see people occasionally in public with small feet. Not that common but not totally rare either, though definitely stands out when it happens. I am always fascinated when I see it and feel like I have found a kindred spirit, lol ;-)
ReplyDeleteAh ok, you have a radar for small 🙂.
ReplyDeleteThough i don't know any 8 myself, i think to have understood that some 5% of guys are still that size. Maybe i don't know any, for them hiding it or not mentioning it?
Yeah, I do have a radar for small, lol. I do think a lot of people hid it by buying shoes that are too big. That's pretty common I think.
DeleteA Holy Communion dinner. The 2 boys the dinner was for, were talking and were both a size 8. That's about the only time I heard anyone that size.
ReplyDeleteOh wait, I HAVE met a sales clerk who was a 6.5. But he was like 5'4" and really skinny and boyish. But thats about it.
Holy Communion? How old were these boys? I thought people did Holy Communion when they were like 7 or 8?
DeleteOh, the other communion then, at age 11.
DeleteI thought that was the Holy one.
Ah, it is the Holy Communion. You mean the 1st Communion.
DeleteI thought Holy Communion and 1st Communion were the same thing? I was raised Catholic (I am not religious any more) and I think I had 1st communion when I was 7-8 and confirmation when I was like 15-16. I don't remember anything special when I was 11...
DeleteAnyway, size 8 seems pretty good size for an 11 year old (I mean I know there are some bigger, like my cousin). When I was 11 I think I was like a 6-6.5 maybe? I know there was a kid in my class who wore size 9.5 and they were huge! He was not at all the tallest in the class but I think he had the biggest feet. All the kids were amazed and wanted to try on his shoes (he had some cool Jordans as I recall). I remember trying then and they were unbelievably huge for me!
Funny, me i completely associate that size with that age.
DeleteA friend of mine of 5'7" is a 9, and though that doesn't seem like much, he completely blows me out of the water. 9s are rarely ever impressive, but he is, so for sure things as width or solidity make a huge difference. I'd even say that he's more impressive than two 13s i know.
Well, Jordan GS range normally goes to 7Y (though now they have the extended GS range to a 9.5Y in some styles), but GS is for Grade School, which is through 5th grade, so I guess I would think of a 5th grader as not normally being more than a 7. I would have said a sz 8 is more common by age 12, though feet have gotten bigger, so maybe age 11 is creeping up too.
DeleteI think width and toe length make a huge difference. I agree that some 9s can look impressive if they are wide and the person has long toes. It can create the illusion of the foot being larger and more substantial than it is. My feet are skinny and I have short toes and even though my feet are really more like a 8.5-9 I have been told I look like I have sz 7 feet (or kids feet). There was a time that I was wearing slides and went into a bathroom stall. My friend came in and used the stall next to me. When I came out of the stall he was washing his hands and seemed surprised when I came out of the stall. I got him to admit that he thought there was a young kid next to him due to my feet looking so small. He told me he imagined it was probably a kid 10 or 11 given the feet. So yeah, that demonstrates your point of how width or solidity make a huge difference! It also makes wearing a sz 7-8 more natural for me. I have known other people with size 9 feet like me and none of them have feet that "look" as kid like as mine. I know as a teen this was another factor in me wearing smaller sizes. Now at least if I wear slides or flip flops my feet don't look smaller than people would expect given my shoe size.
Gosh, I keep finding US sizing complicated. That division into mens, womens, youth...
ReplyDeleteIn Europe we don't have that, you're one number and that's it. OK, it can still be a bit different depending on the brand.
I would think the transition still exists even if the numbering stays the same? Usually going from youth to men's sizing the width changes from B to D.
DeleteYip.
DeleteGenerally the shoe sizes go from 37 to 46, with 37-41 in the Womens section and 41-46 in the Mens section.
So you don't specify 'mens' or 'womens' or 'youth', the number already says it.
But that's generally, roughly, traditionally, for now there's also 47 (13US), 48, etc.
Are these pics any better? 👇
DeleteDo they LOOK small?
Just in the general world, or pics, where there are no reference points either.
If so, too small, or better-hide-small, or just normal, or or...
A bit difficult to take pics in a way that others would see your shoes 😁. The tiles are normal 12 inch ones.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/GRZtM21
What sizes are those shoes in the pictures? They look on the small side, but probably not as small as a sz 6. In those pictures I would guess 8-9, but pictures can be deceptive. Also, how tall are you? Since that makes a difference too as to how small feet look.
DeleteThe shoes you posted don't look as small as some I wear. What size would you guess these are?
Deletehttps://imgur.com/a/VMJALLg
Here is also another black pair for contrast. What size do they look like?
Deletehttps://imgur.com/a/2dMAJev
I'm 5'9" and a bit.
DeleteYour shoes do look small, but it's funny, now me I'd estimate them to still be a 9 or 9.5.
And the black shoes 8.5 or 9.
DeleteOk, so that is not too short. I am 5'10".
DeleteThose white, grey, red shoes are a size 6Y. It is rare for me to be able to wear a 6 but for whatever reason they fit so I got them. They were from a thrift store so I am sure the previous owner had outgrown them. They are a little more snug than some of my others but surprisingly comfortable really. Do the black ones I posted look about the same size or bigger or smaller?
So the black ones are a 7Y and feel a lot more roomy than the 6Ys. They probably fit more like an 8. They are quite roomy and comfortable and the narrower width prevents my foot from constantly sliding around like in men's sizes.
DeleteThe black ones look smaller.
ReplyDeleteBut funny how everything still looks 8.5, 9...
For sure because of them being pics.
Yeah, contrast always helps. Here are the 6Ys compared to a sz 8 and then the 7Y compared to the 6Ys.
ReplyDeletehttps://imgur.com/a/aOOQQ5g
Gosh, impossible to tell anything.
ReplyDeleteSomehow i can tell that they're not big, but whether that means 8 or 9, one has no idea.
Which is a relief 😁.
I think sometimes narrower gives the illusion of longer, so that could be a factor too. A super wide sz 7 or 8 will look much smaller than a skinny one (to me). On the other hand, I know someone who wears a size 8.5 and has wide feet and he says people think he wears a 10. I think the style matters too. He likes to wear running shows that have a lot of extra shoe that goes beyond the length of the foot. That also creates the illusion of "bigger".
ReplyDeleteWe're masters in how to look bigger 😁 or at least non-noticeable small.
ReplyDeleteContinuation: or only so to the Small? I can't help but think that the big size guys DO see it. For them being used to other proportions.
ReplyDeleteA test:
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to guess the size of these sneakers?
Try, and only then go to the 2nd picture.
Just to see how good or not we are in estimating a size, in pics.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/VmFksB9
They look big, but I would not have guessed the size. I might have guessed sz 13 or better... It is hard without anything to compare them with.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of the Melville quote:
"...for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself."
Thx. That's still remarkable, that without any reference point whatsoever, just purely the sneaker... you still know they're big and even 13...
ReplyDeleteHow do we do that?
I think the proportions start to change on larger sizes, which can also be a give away.
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteA sales clerk once explained to me that Mens were wider than Womens.
Something that, by the way, he explained by means of his sneaker, and which felt rather shocking that he felt the need to explain that to me, as in "of course you don't know anything about that" 😱😁
I think I told this story before, but I remember having a sales person one time who was probably a teen 17-18, and he was probably 6'2" and quite strong and athletic looking. He looked like he wore a sz 12-13. I asked for Adidas sambas in a sz 7.5-8 and he says to me "are you sure that's the right size for you?" I assured him it was. He comes out with an 8 saying they didn't have a 7.5. He still seemed very skeptical and insists on helping me to try them on. If I don't put all my weight on my foot a size 8 can almost seem too big. He felt my toes in them and just had a look of shock on his face. He also check the width and declares "lots of room", while fidgeting nervously as if his own masculinity was now in question. Even after all that he still asks me if I am sure they are ok, as if somehow this will change reality. I told him I could probably do a 7.5 but that the 8s would be ok (that was not what he wanted to hear). At checkout he started using more of a condescending tone, clearly asserting his manly superiority. It was clear he had never met a grown man who wore shoes that small. I know it is not uncommon for tall people to have other tall friends (and more so if he was on a sports team in high school, etc.) so probably everyone he knew was over 6 feet tall and probably wore a sz 12 or better.
DeleteOooh i know these experiences SO well!
ReplyDeleteDisbelief, thinking that surely i come from a country with a different size system, or all of a sudden calling me "boy", clearly trying to suppress a laugh, or visibly finding it charming, anything under the sun. Only once a contemptuous "your smaller than my girl friend". Most often though very positive, but also in a way that surely i must find it as amusing as they do, and surely would be interested in their size or to know that they now stock 13s.
A sort of repwtitive training that small is cute, elegant, classy, amusing... but also undangerous, unpressive, and theirs is much better.
Yeah, especially younger sales guys who are still teens. They seem to find it harder to contain themselves. The older sales people are usually more professional and tend not to comment at all...so as not to insult, etc. Though they will often still behaving differently to "small" without realizing what they are doing.
DeleteYip! Yip! Yip!
DeleteSales Clerks, understandably, are more upbeat, try to come up with positives, are more into creating a bond etc. So all in all that's OK. The rest of the world is less worried about the reaction thougj!
ReplyDeleteThat kid of i can't even estimate what age - 9? 10? 11? - that looked at me with really big eyes, when on some crossroads of aisles and sections he saw i was trying smth at the rack 6. He saw that, looked up at me (and that was way up) silence/big eyes, then looked down, as though he had never seen such a thing. Then walked on into the Mens aisle.
ReplyDeleteThe closest to that I had was when I was at a party for one of my cousins who had just turned 12. His parents wanted everyone to take their shoes off at the door. I took mine off and noticed that there was another similar pair of Jordan 5s already there. Because of this, I put mine at the other end of the pile and tried to hide them slightly, hoping there wouldn't be confusion. I couldn't help but look and see that the other similar shoes were a size 9.5Y (mine were an 8Y). Towards the end of the party I hear a kid yelling "someone messed with my shoes!". The parents go out to the hall to see what was going on. I went and looked and the kid (who I found out was still 11) was trying to put my shoes on and they were way too small for him. Turns out someone had moved the shoes around (maybe to organize them) and my shoes were out in the open and his had become slightly hidden. The kid finally decided they couldn't be his shoes and one of the other parents realizes there is another pair like them. She then asks who these belong to. I admitted they were mine and the look on the kid's face was utter disbelief. He then wanted to compare his feet with mine and they were still a good bit longer even though I am really a 9 (his 9.5s were getting tight on him). I am not usually embarrassed about my shoe size but that was really awkward...
DeleteHere is a picture of the shoes I was wearing:
https://imgur.com/a/qLDL7j4
Could it be that elegance is your THING?
DeleteMaybe for your tall/slender proportion, making that stylish/elegance is what you've been complimented about, or what is your most suitable style?
And then even smaller shoes, enhance that?
I can't say I think much about elegance, per se, but I do think being skinny, with a relatively small frame, that a sz 7-8 matches my proportions well. I rarely get comments about my feet being small. And them being narrow matches with me being skinny.
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DeleteHere for example is a picture of my foot next to my size 6Ys (and my foot is forward slightly so doesn't quite match up with the backs of the shoes). Does it look unnatural for them to be my size? Certainly widthwise?
Deletehttps://imgur.com/a/80DfWsu
Mm, yes, it looks as though they should be too small for you.
DeleteAdmittedly those are a little snug for me. Here are some 7Ys which I think look more of a natural fit?
Deletehttps://imgur.com/a/AF7q7fI
At the same time i do like those red/white ones, while they also look Kids 🤔. Not sure if i would dare to wear them.
DeleteI like the red/white ones. They definitely look like a "kids" style for sure though. They are surprisingly comfortable and I have worn them a fair bit. I think they probably get more looks than the black ones due to the color. The black ones probably go unnoticed most of the time.
DeleteYip, really likeable.
DeleteThere you go, you "Look maxxed". Proportions/style all uniform.
ReplyDeleteFor myself i don't like "elegance" at all. There was this sales clerk who i suppose was looking for positive words, and pointed me to "the elegant sizes" and "this one is very elegant", which i didn't find positive at ALL 😱😁, almost worse than a girl once saying "how cute" 😱😁
ReplyDeleteYeah, elegance sounds very feminine. The closest to that was in high school when one of the kids call me chiquito (which mean 'little one' or 'petite' in English) as a joke... This wasn't because I was short but because I was skinny and had small hands/feet. I was upset and disagreed, but the Spanish teacher agreed I was "chiquito", sigh.
DeleteYip. Why would you think that "elegance" would work? As though he couldn't come up with anything else 😁.
DeleteBut a guy nearby can get an appreciative nod, then explained to me as a 13, which is, according to the hand sign language really strong, according to the tone awesome, etc.
Maybe i have to say that for some 10 purchases i always went to the same store nearby, with the same sales clerk, so he became chatty, probably permitted himself more towards me, as half-a-friend.
Oh, I have been in shoe stores when a guy asks for a sz 13 and the clerk responded with "a 13? Awesome, let me go get that!". Awesome would never be used for a size 8 or 9. Probably not even for a size 10 or 11. 12, maybe, 13 "awesome"...
DeleteOh yes, 13 is seen as great, awesome etc, very much so. I find that too.
Delete