For want of a shoe !!

My feet have been giving me trouble ….thankfully not the kind of trouble that requires the services of expensive podiatrists or prescription medication, but trouble of a different kind…
I’ve trouble getting them covered!! Now, my feet are very small for an adult, so I always have a good deal of trouble hunting for shoes (or sandals, slippers, or whatever the occasion demands…).
My doting friends have christened me from time to time with many a moniker, ranging from Vaman, to Stuart Little… one friend even used to insist that i take a picture of my feet….
Even back home, in India, I had difficulty finding shoes, but at least managed to find something that fit my feet…even if was mostly non-branded stuff…
No major brands would have shoes my size…even good old Bata, had most of its good designs starting from size 4 onwards (mine is smaller than that!), so I rarely had the privilege of buy their footwear, which is more famous for the weird improper fractions they have as prices, than for their style…
Well, as a kid, I didn’t have much of a problem finding school or casual shoes… (at least, I don’t remember… may be I should ask my mom if she had trouble finding shoes that fit me)…but I guess the real problem was that as I grew up in age, my feet for some reason failed to catch up with the years, and remained kid- sized !
Even when I got sandals from non branded stores, I used to ask the store people to punch extra holes in the strap, as the straps would be loose even after buckling them in the last hole….

After marriage, there was another twist to the tale, as dh turned out to be a firm believer in branded stuff… (I had to convince him that there was no such thing as a branded salwar, and that they varied with every store)
according to him, if I couldn’t have branded shoes, I should atleast have them bought from a major retailer…I on the other hand, could never bring myself to spend some extra hundreds just because it came from a fancy store in an upscale mall…finally, I gave in, and spent hours walking up and down malls looking for shoes, dh in tow....

I bet it would have been easier for Cindrella’s prince to find feet to fit the solitary glass shoe…..

Some months back, I travelled for the first time to the US of A, and since I was landing there in the middle of winter, armed myself with a pair of sneakers in addition to my strappy sandals. Of course, the sneaker has its own story…as usual, we hunted down the aisles of branded stores, and when we managed to find a model which both dh and I liked, the only pair that the store had in my size was old and a little damaged, so they had to order another and dh picked it up after a few days…finally, I was the proud owner of a Nike sneaker, after setting my indulgent husband back by almost a couple of thousand INR !
Well, after a few months here, my sandals gave away…and the hunt began…we started store hopping, and mall hopping... To start with, American shoe sizes are different from Indian sizes....and in between every size, they have a half-size too, so you have 6 ½, 7 ½, etc…
Seeing the shoes, I guessed the feet of the average American woman should be larger than her Indian counter part, and they should be having a great sense of balance, to walk without falling, given the pointy heels that most shoes have….so now, in addition to finding a size that fit, I also had to look out for shoes which were not stilettos, pencil heels or any other contraption that would require me to have the skill, balance and dexterity of a tight rope walker !
Phew, this time I even tried kid’s shoes….really…the sizes were more closer to mine…but I didn’t want to be seen around town in shoes that had pink butterflies, pretty bows or polka dots on them !
Dh mumbled something about trying to find a -2 size… out of sheer exhaustion and exasperation, he came up with a solution, though temporary….he bought a couple of tubes of super strength adhesive and stuck my sandal where it had come off….
Now, is my want of a shoe a lost battle ?
I’ll let you know if I find a shoe before the glue wears off…..watch this space….

hi sowparnika,
humourous write up!!!
i do understand your difficulty and wish you all the best to find one new pair very soon!!!!
regards
pavi

wow,pavi,
thanks for being the first one to reply...almost immediately after i posted !

Originally Posted by pavithrasriram

hi sowparnika,
humourous write up!!!
i do understand your difficulty and wish you all the best to find one new pair very soon!!!!
regards
pavi

Dear Sowpar,

Hey great thing come in small packages. Your wonderful feet might not find a perfect shoe but its going to take you places.
I am glad you came with a solution though a temporary one. Sometimes we find what we like even in the shops which are not essentially branded. I like the Stilettoes of Citywalk as also some unbranded ones from Fashion Street or Colaba Causeway,Infact both have fetched their fair share of compliments.
Hey to be stranded in a foreign land where you cant even walk barefoot like you can sometimes if need be in your own. Reminds me whenever i've been to Kerala, I would go to the temple in my footwear and come back barefoot coz by the time I am out after the darshan the shoes are gone , and then to find my kinda shoe there would really be a herculean task, so I can completely relate to that feeling my dear .
Times are changing dearie, The prince got Cindrella her shoe but your dear husband takes you around and makes sure you have the best. All for love. Shows how much he loves you! Trying different ways to protect your dainty feet,Youre one helluva lucky gal!
Loved your writing and waiting to know the next episode! Hope the glue stays on!! You know humour is proving to be your USP, hope to read many more such wonderful posts.

Love,
Chechi

hi Sowparnika,

it was really interesting to read your shoe hunting...my God i couldn't stop me from laughing you tried kids shoes too...but can imagine your condition....your hubby got a good solution...enjoyed your post..

Dear sow,

enjoyed reading it.You have good sense of humour.

Even i have the same problem.MY feet size is also very small.
My dd's friends(all kids<10) tease me too for that.

Hi,

Very nice write up. Can relate this to my daughters experience.. but a reverse one.

She has looong feet.. hence cannot fit any of the kids sizes and cant find a good enough one without heals from the adult section... and hence hates footwear shopping.

Anu

Dear Sowpar
Great writing.. wonderfull.. so enjoyed it.. I am surprisedin U.S you didnt find smaller shoe sizes since I always thought they cater to all sizes.. even my mil and mother were able to find small sizes.. so keep looking.. and more important keep writing:)

hi chechi,
great to see your lovely fb,sweet as always,coming from u.....
yup, many times we find nice ones from small shops...in chennai too, there are areas like fashion street, where an entire road is full of these small shops...its such a delight to walk down these roads, dodging the crowd, taking a peek every now and then... :)
Fashion street reminds me, when we were in mumbai, one day we, along with some frnds went out, and decided to go to fashion street...dh, in all his innocence, thought it was some place which housed all the big names in fashion...i had no clue he did'nt know abt mumbai's fashion street(it was his first visit !)...shud have seen his face when we got there....he was so disappointed

yup, i too have lost slippers in temples... :(

ya, am lucky in a lot of ways, touch wood....how many women have a hubby who does not grumble on shopping trips....he would patiently spend time even at a saree or jewelry shop, and then foot the bill without a murmur...Braveheart, really :)

Originally Posted by Devika Menon

Dear Sowpar,

Hey great thing come in small packages. Your wonderful feet might not find a perfect shoe but its going to take you places.
I am glad you came with a solution though a temporary one. Sometimes we find what we like even in the shops which are not essentially branded. I like the Stilettoes of Citywalk as also some unbranded ones from Fashion Street or Colaba Causeway,Infact both have fetched their fair share of compliments.
Hey to be stranded in a foreign land where you cant even walk barefoot like you can sometimes if need be in your own. Reminds me whenever i've been to Kerala, I would go to the temple in my footwear and come back barefoot coz by the time I am out after the darshan the shoes are gone , and then to find my kinda shoe there would really be a herculean task, so I can completely relate to that feeling my dear .
Times are changing dearie, The prince got Cindrella her shoe but your dear husband takes you around and makes sure you have the best. All for love. Shows how much he loves you! Trying different ways to protect your dainty feet,Youre one helluva lucky gal!
Loved your writing and waiting to know the next episode! Hope the glue stays on!! You know humour is proving to be your USP, hope to read many more such wonderful posts.

Love,
Chechi

hi padma,
thanks for stepping in, and for the nice feed back !
glad you enjoyed it !
btw, you must have heard about the feet binding of Chinese women right...read an article about it and was horrified....thankful that the horrible practice has been stopped....how painful it must have been....

Originally Posted by padmatvt

hi Sowparnika,

it was really interesting to read your shoe hunting...my God i couldn't stop me from laughing you tried kids shoes too...but can imagine your condition....your hubby got a good solution...enjoyed your post..