Long time no see... and the hunt for red wedges

Thought I'd do a quick post as I'm on the lookout for a pair of red wedges/medium heels for a wedding later this year. No joy so far though Barefoot Tess have some options.

I did a quick google of 'large size ladies shoes' and was pleasantly surprised to see a few new shops have opened in the UK. Lou Lou Shoes have opened up in Lutterworth, Leics, with a reasonably priced range of sizes 8-11. Big Catwalk is another I wasn't aware of. By the way these shops could have been around for a while, but I've not been shoe shopping for ages due to lack of funds!

Domestic Sluttery have also got a page they're keeping updated so I'll cross reference with that to make sure I'm up to date with my links. I know that some of those featured to the left have now closed down, which is a shame.

Also just discovered: Zinnia Shoes in Malvern, Worcs, with a fantastic range of very reasonably priced flats and heels in all sorts of fab and interesting colourways. And Pretty Big Feet - not sure if they're already on the list as I can't check while typing a post!

Large size shoe shops in Spain

Bear with me on this one, I'm going to try to catalogue all the shops I know of in Spain, as for many of us it's a cheap and easy holiday destination and why not get a few new pairs of shoes while you're there??

I recently went to Andalucia, and just before I left I recalled there being a shop in Seville that did big shoes. So I had a quick look through my list to the left and there indeed was Calzados Guellas. It's only a short walk over the river and down into the Los Remedios barrio, which is mercifully free of tourists and has a few nice cafes as well as all sorts of other shops down the main street. The shop is small but there is a lot of choice and the lady who runs it is very helpful. She's also happy to deliver to the UK and said it costs approx €35 (my Spanish is poor!). She seemed to go up to at least a 45.

Also in Andalusia, this time in Malaga and only a short distance from the main bus and train stations, is Zapatos de talla. This is part of a much bigger group called Gody, and they have a really good selection of shoes in larger sizes in their shop on C/ Cuarteles. The shop is open Mon-Sat 10am to 9pm and the assistants were very helpful despite my limited Spanish. I got a pair of the Hush Puppies sandals shown on the front page of the website and very comfy they are too (though they come up slightly large). I would have bought more but I didn't have the space (or the cash). The website also has a sale section (click on 'Outlet') and seems to have some very reasonable deals. What is annoying is that the HPs I bought in Spain don't seem to be available on any other HP website - UK, US or France! Don't know why this is but it's a pain as I'd love a pair in black as well.

What I found generally is that most Spanish shoe shops only cater for sizes up to 40 or 41 at a push. My 'Tiene usted calzados en talla 43' was met with either amazed or apologetic looks. It's a shame because there are some beautiful leather shoes there and had I had smaller feet I'd have spunked all my holiday cash on shoes!

When I have some more time I'll write about shops in Madrid and Barcelona. In the meantime if you know of any others elsewhere please comment below and I'll add them in.

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.