Big shoes are hard to fill – when you can’t find them in
standard stores
My son, the senior, went back to school a few weeks ago, which
means we have once more come smack up against the brick wall of
finding him a new pair of shoes.
This is not an easy job when you have given birth to
Bigfoot.
I have had to go through this for some years now, because ever
since hitting adolescence, both my boys have grown the biggest feet
ever for non-basketball players.
Big shoes are hard to fill – when you can’t find them in standard stores
My son, the senior, went back to school a few weeks ago, which means we have once more come smack up against the brick wall of finding him a new pair of shoes.
This is not an easy job when you have given birth to Bigfoot.
I have had to go through this for some years now, because ever since hitting adolescence, both my boys have grown the biggest feet ever for non-basketball players.
My older son wears a 13 wide, and his younger brother, a 14 wide. These are sizes not found in normal stores. Target, PayLess Shoes, Macy’s and Kohl’s seem to think no man should wear anything bigger than a 13 medium.
Over time, I have been forced to develop some unique strategies in shoe hunting.
Hunter is in desperate need of a new pair of shoes. He is a little bit pigeon-toed, which means over time he wears down the soles unevenly, outside edges first. And so at some point in the life of the shoes, like now, he slants when he walks.
He is more than overdue for new shoes, and I have been frantically searching for a pair that will fit him.
Last year, I grew completely overconfident after scoring a size 14 wide pair of white athletic shoes at a Kohl’s store. That gave me the impression that Kohl’s would always carry larger sizes. Alas, it was not to be.
This year, no 14s can be had for love or money at Kohl’s. Maybe it’s the store, or maybe everyone else with big feet discovered the same thing and got there before me.
And my backup plan, Ross Dress For Less, often does have larger sizes, but they are so strange and funky that my younger son is unlikely to want to wear them.
I went in the other day to see if there was anything decent, and although there were some athletic-type shoes, they weren’t in white, which is what Hunter wanted – he is a creature of habit, my boy.
In fact, if you are looking for sneakers in purple, pink, glitter-embellished, giant-soled or extremely futuristic high-topped styles in size 14, Ross is where you should go. If not, you’re just plain out of luck.
I know there are plenty of websites out there that sell shoes, but when it comes to the larger sizes, the websites seem to charge premium prices. I was looking at spending $95 or $100, plus shipping. And no guarantee as to whether the shoe would actually fit.
I was just about to throw in the towel and make a trip to the Mecca of Bigfoot stores – Nordstrom Rack in Santa Clara, which has terrific shoes that go up to almost unbelievably large proportions – when I happened to get a JC Penney catalog in the mail.
And lo and behold, for the first time I can ever remember, there were men’s athletic shoes in the catalog in size 14. And size 15, for that matter. Regular and extra-wide.
Hallelujah! Saved by the catalog.
Hunter had a look at it and chose a pair that is almost identical to what he has now, so I know he’ll be happy. I placed my order – and they were even on sale, wonder of wonders – so now we’re waiting for them to arrive.
And what’s next, you ask?
Finding him a pair of dress shoes to replace the ones he’s outgrown.
I think I need a few weeks off from shoe hunting before I can tackle that one.
