Bewitched by brogues

I have a new heart's desire: brogues. Specifically, a pair by Accatino that only go up to 7.5UK Why can I not get my hands on these??. So that's not going to happen and instead I need to find something equivalently lovely.

As I had to finally retire my favourite Hush Puppies 3/4 length flat black boots last year, I need a replacement. I'm hoping Hush Puppies might come up with the goods again. Any suggestions on either front gratefully received.

When in Edinburgh last week I tried to do a little light shoe shopping and the only place that came up with the goods was Clarks, god bless 'em. Duo didn't have anything that really grabbed me and all the Debenhams offerings were a bit cheap and nasty. Clarks have an increasingly big range in size 9s, and the ones I got are both cute and extremely comfortable.

Also in the news: Long Tall Sally in Edinburgh carried a range of shoes by French Sole and a few other designers and so I'm now wondering if they are starting this across all their stores. I like LTS's designs but their 9 is too small and the 10 too big (same old story) so I never find anything that suits, bah.

Finally: walking boots. I went to Cotswold Outdoors recently to try on various pairs to suit my narrow feet and minimal budget. The saleswoman was very helpful and had me try on numerous makes, telling me that German makes are often wide while Italian ones are generally narrow. So I went for a pair of Scarpa Terra GTXs and road-tested them while in Scotland recently, and they were great. I got them from Rutland Outdoors, saving myself £25 in the process (they're £125 in Cotswold). Success!

And now, a new hunt begins...

This time, for a pair of cute shoes to wear to a wedding. I'm thinking I really fancy a pair of Mary Jane type ones, possibly patent, with a lowish heel (although the fella isn't coming so I can wear shoes as high as I like! ;)

I've not chosen a dress yet but I'm thinking I might aim for something that would go with bright red patent shoes. Then all I need to do is find said bright red patent shoes. Here goes...

Still searching for the perfect pair of boots...

...and while I was at it, I thought I'd update the listings on the left. It seems a few more shops have shuffled off to the great shoe shop in the sky - The Tall Lady (although they are still doing a clearance), Step Tall and a few others have closed their doors. Tough times at the moment, and the crappy exchange rate won't have helped. I hope those that remain are able to keep going through the downturn.

Speaking of the crappy exchange rate, I fell in love with John Fluevog's Heidi boots:

but have been thwarted by the rubbish Canadian dollar rate at the moment. When I was last over there I was getting C$2.20 to the pound, now it's more like C$1.60, which makes a helluva difference when your heart's desire costs C$385.

So I set about scouring the shops on the left for something similar, or something a little dressier. The criteria: flat(ish), brown, no snakeskin, must be suede or leather, round or slightly pointed toe and a sole that can be resoled (ruling out most of the plastic-soled/moulded-sole boots that are common these days). Yes, I am fussy, what of it?? I want to wear the boots with a casual dress or perhaps with jeans tucked in; basically I want a comfy but sexy pair of boots that will last for a good few years.

Here are the options I found:

But then I just found a link to here: lovely Spanish riding boots. Very reasonably priced, and exactly what I'm looking for.

The BBC highlights our plight!

(with thanks to Iain for the link)

One high street shoe retailer has seen a marked increase in sales of larger sizes. But are our feet really getting bigger or are we coming round to the idea of "sensible shoes"?

Good to see bigfoots getting some press at last. I haven't bought any shoes in a while (apart from a £5 pair in New Look) but although things are definitely better than they were in my youth, it's still bloody hard work to get shoes above a size 8. Whether retailers take any notice of this article is another matter.

Interesting bit from Debenhams though: Earlier this week, department store Debenhams reported a boom in sales of ladies' size nine shoes - up 23% last year on 2008. It's a similar story for men, according to the retailer, which said last year sales of men's size 12s had soared while "requests for whopping size 14 and above are flooding in".

I didn't even know Debenhams stocked size 9s. I might have made more of an effort to look in there if I had, but it's probably only in a few styles, like Clarks, none of which I like very much. I wonder if you can order them online?

Amber and Jade update

Just sneaked a peek at the new Amber and Jade website. They've had a redesign and have some really pretty styles - looking forward to seeing the boots as last year's designs were lovely (though I sadly missed out on buying a pair). Not sure if it was there before but beneath the size options there's a note saying if you're size 13 we'll get you some shoes, so well worth knowing if you're that size. When I've tried their shoes on in the past I've found they come up small, however, but it seems they now do a wide fitting too.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

... and how many actually fit?

I was pondering this last night as I unpacked my numerous pairs of shoes. I have about 40-50 pairs of shoes, boots and summer sandal things, and of those I think probably only 20 or so pairs fit me properly. Which says it all really - I'm so desperate to find shoes I like that I'll buy pairs that don't fit and which then end up sitting in my wardrobe. I just can't bear to get rid of them. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else hoards shoes like this!

What would be ideal would be to arrange some sort of swapmeet where bigfooted gals can bring all their shoes that just don't fit and perhaps swap them for someone else's shoes. I suppose the trouble with this is that anyone at the top end of the scale (size 11 and above, say) isn't going to have as rich pickings as someone who's an 8.5 to 10.

Unfortunately I no longer live in London otherwise I'd attempt something like this, but it might be an idea for those living in the metropolis.

Finally, if anyone knows of any good big shoe shops in the south-west, please drop me a line.

The cute shoes arrive when I am stony broke

Just found these on Totally:



Really tempted to get a pair but not sure they're the right thing for my new career in horticulture...