Sunday, 13 April 2014

We’re going on a shoe hunt. We’re going to find a small pair…





So there’s Kylie Minogue – not much taller than me – draped over Graham Norton’s sofa with her red shoes dangling, and I’m thinking: “where does she buy shoes like that - which fit?” They are not the birkies, lace ups and fit-flops I depend on. No – Kylie is wearing a beautiful stiletto heeled court. And she looks comfortable in it.
I am on a crusade to find pretty shoes that fit me. But with size 35 feet (a UK two according to some brands or a three according to others – though I’ve always called it a two-and-a-half), it is a major challenge. I am no fun for the sales assistants in even high end boutiques like Emma Hope and Joseph (I know, I tried every style they stocked last weekend) – who know it’s not even worth trying to persuade me to buy a shoe that flops loosely off my foot. Though yesterday in Paul Smith, a particularly desperate sales girl tried to sell me the idea of going to the shoemaker across the road for something tailored to make my tiny feet fit into any pretty style I fancied…
Back home I have resorted to hunting online. And – who knew? – I could get a pair of Christian Louboutins, or Jimmy Choos from Net A Porter, which stocks 35s as well as some 34s… My daughters, also blessed with petite feet, have always – I tell people – stuffed tissue into their toes to make their shoes fit. But it turns out that Bella finds size threes that fit from Zara, while Coco buys all her shoes in a two from Asos. Further research has yielded the online store Pretty Small Shoes, selling – well the clue’s in the name – in all sorts of sizes, and mostly around £130.00 (well it’s a lot cheaper than a pretty small Choo).
Kurt Geiger, Bella tells me, also has a bunch of small sizes – and she seems to be right…
Someone needs to tell the lovely Japanese assistant in Agnes B who says she has to shop for shoes on visits to Tokyo. I noticed she was wearing a pair of child like lace ups – and her suggestion that I looked at “junior’ ranges wasn’t very encouraging when I was thinking of a nice pointy pump with a tiny kitten heel…
Don’t tell anyone but I do have some pretty shoes (when you have small feet you tend to buy anything that fits because it’s such a rarity) – and the problem has always been that they may look lovely but they don’t often feel it. I don’t want to wear something that makes me hobble or wobble. But that may have nothing to do with finding the right size.



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