Stuff: Shoes

By J.J. Atwell

A footnote

I talked about measuring yourself here back on August 5th. One of my very dear friends, Kathryn, pointed out that I had left out shoes. Huge mistake on my part. Shoes are such an important part of our femme presentation and finding the right size can be difficult. 

What size am I?

How do you find out what size women’s shoe do you wear? In days of old, when you went to a shoe store, a salesperson waited on you. They would use something called a “Brannock Device” to measure your feet and determine what size you were. Of course, the device was different for men and women because there are differences between men’s and women’s feet. 

You might be able to find a store that still uses these or you could do what Kathryn did and buy a Brannock Device. That might be a bit of overkill for most of us, but it might be a fun thing to bring to your next group meeting. 

Can’t I just add two sizes?

Most of us don’t have a Bannock Device handy, so we follow the usual advice when converting men’s shoe size to women’s: add 1½ to 2 sizes. I’ve found that is a good starting point, but you’ll likely find that you need to move up or down a half or full size. And that will depend on the style of shoe and the manufacturer. That’s right, once again we find that sizes are just a number and that the shoe makers have differing ideas as to what that means. 

Everyone’s feet are different

You’ll often hear people asking what is the most comfortable brand of shoe. In fact, I consulted my good genetic girl friend Alicia about that when I was looking for a nice pair of heels. Her go-to brand is Nine West (Mine, too – Stana). For what it’s worth, she works in an environment where she wears heels regularly, so comfort is really important to her. But you’ll hear many different opinions about what shoes are comfortable. They are all valid. There is no one shoe brand that is the most comfortable for everyone despite what the advertisements might claim. 

Imagine looking for a good pair of walking shoes. Something you can put on and walk several miles in them. Of course, they need to be stylish so that they go with your walking outfit. Where do you start? Look at what others are wearing? Ask your friends? Get advice from a blog? All good places to get some direction about style. But none of them consider the important factor: you. How tall you are. Your weight. How you walk. Your stride. Your gate. The shape of your feet. These are all factors that will affect how well those shoes will support you when you walk. 

And it’s not just the feet

If you’ll be wearing shoes for a long time, you need to have a pair that works for you. Think about those variables for a bit. It seems like it would be impossible to figure in all the possible variations. Fortunately, there is a great solution: trial and error. That’s right, you need to try the shoes on. Hopefully, doing so before you buy them so you avoid future discomfort.

When trying on shoes (be it men’s or women’s), you should try on both shoes and walk around a bit. Pay attention to how they feel on your feet, especially the toes, width and the back of the heel. If they squeeze too much or if they easily slip off, then that’s not the right size for you.   

But wait you say, I’m looking for girl shoes, but I’m in guy mode. I don’t want to out myself in the store by trying them on around civilians. Valid concern. I can give you the standard advice here: don’t pay any attention to the civilians, go ahead and own it. But if that doesn’t work for you and you can’t try them on first, be sure you can easily exchange them. 

I’ll be back

I hope today’s footnote has helped you get to the bottom of your femme presentation. In the meantime, I’ll be finding more Stuff to write about. I welcome comments here on Stana’s blog or by email at Jenn6nov at-sign gmail dot com.

Wearing Elágia

Iain Armitage femulating in an episode of television‘s Young Sheldon.